Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Watch the episode

20 minutes

Find Out: My important place

25 minutes

Take Action: Important place poster

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning Intentions

Students will:

recognise different emotions
explore mindfulness strategies for emotional regulation.

Success Criteria

Students can:

describe people, places and things that are important to them
explain their emotions
practise mindfulness strategies
communicate ideas through a poster.

Tune In: Watch the episode

Step 1

Share the Bluey episode Stumpfest with your students.

Bluey 'STUMPFEST' - (clickv.ie/w/0_I0)

Stumpfest synopsis: Dad and his mates hit the backyard, ready to rip up some tree stumps! But when Bluey and Bingo take over a stump as a nail salon, Dad finds he’s got some negotiating to do.

Step 2

Engage students in a class discussion about the episode. Consider using the following questions:

What did you see in this episode?
What did this episode make you think about?
I wonder why Mum and Dad wanted to remove the stump.
I wonder what might have happened if Mum and Dad let the girls keep the stump.
I wonder how Bluey and Bingo felt when the stump was gone. Can you show me what that face would look like? What would your hands and body be doing during that feeling?
Mum mentioned that Dad and his friends are having fun in their own way. I wonder whether Bluey would find Stumpfest fun too.
What questions do you have about this episode?

Find Out: My important place

Step 1

Remind students that the stump was an important place for Bluey and Bingo. Pose the following:

Where the important places in your lives?

You can start at school or around the neighbourhood: it may be a favourite tree or place to play in the schoolyard or a neighbourhood park, a culturally significant place like a church, or a personally significant place like a family member's house.

With each important place ask the following:

What do you do at your important place?
Who else goes to your important place?
How does your important place make you feel? Can you show me what that face would look like and what your hands and body would be doing during that feeling?

Step 2

Share the Zones of Emotional Regulation chart. Explain to students that throughout the day we move through the blue, green, yellow and red zones, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes, we change zones even when we don't want to! It can be tough when our emotions are leading the way, and this is where our important place can help us.

Step 3

Ask students to settle comfortably into their chairs and close their eyes. Invite them to imagine they are in their important place. Pose the following questions:

What can you see around you?
What can you hear?
What can you grab and feel with your hands?
What can you smell?

With their eyes still closed and the images of their important places in their minds, lead students in some mindfulness belly breathing:

Breathe in while counting to five, feeling your belly inflate with the air.
Breathe out while counting to five, feeling your belly deflate.
Do this twice more.

Invite students to share how they feel after this breathing exercise. Explain that this is a mindfulness activity that is useful for when your emotions are leading the way. By picturing ourselves in our favourite place we can change our emotions to the ones that we feel when we are in our special place.

Take Action: Important place poster

Step 1

Students will now work independently to create an A4-sized poster of their special place.

The poster should include:

the name of the place
information about who else (or what else!) uses that place
how this place makes students feel.

Depending on your cohort, students could include other information, such as:

Where this place is
The first time they visited this place
How often they go to this place.

Step 2

Bring the class back together and have some students volunteer to share the poster of their important place. Try to highlight a diverse variety of places.

Reflection

Invite students to reflect on the activity they took part in through a class discussion. Pose the following questions:

What do you think we were practising?
I wonder what 'mindfulness' means.
How do you think this lesson helps us to manage our feelings?

Through practising mindfulness students develop self-management techniques for calming themselves, removing themselves from painful stimuli, and addressing the source of pain through clear understanding and communication to an adult.

Mindfulness - My Safe Place

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Summary

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