Teaching Emotional Vocabulary

March_Blog_Post_3_Emotional_Vocabulary Often when I initially meet with a child, I explore their emotional vocabulary. I may refer to my chart of emotions (do you have one in your classroom/home? ) or my flip book with emotions. I will ask them to share social stories  related to each emotion. Ex: what kind of things make you feel sad… happy… angry… frustrated… In these exercises I often find that my kids know a great deal of emotional vocabulary. The ability to read others’ emotions and anticipating social behavior in others is a necessary skill in order to maintain one’s own emotional balance. We practice the skill of reading others' emotions as well as expressing different, complex emotions by playing a charades game where we role play the different emotions and take turns acting them out and guessing. I find that many of my children understand and are knowledgeable about emotion words; however, this is good practice to explore with students in your class or your children at home in case there is a misunderstanding about what certain vocabulary means or you find that (while they are extremely gifted in other ways) they are limited in their ability to identify how they or you are feeling. Hope some of these recourses spark your creativity and start great conversations with your kids that will make a lasting impact on their ability to regulate their emotions. As always, I am here to help, too! Emily