How Thoughts, Actions, Feelings Lead to Self-Concept: Lesson for Pre-K

What makes pre-kindergartners special? Their thoughts, actions, and feelings!

Pre-kindergartners think, act, and feel all the time, but they may not be aware of it. In this SEL lesson, pre-kindergartners become aware of their thoughts, actions, and feelings and learn how they all contribute to their overall sense of self.

The lesson begins with an engaging puppet play featuring two loveable hedgehogs, Squeak and Mimi. Pre-kindergartners listen intently as the puppets talk about having thoughts and feelings, and doing actions.

Following the puppet play, the students refresh their memory about what thoughts, actions, and feelings are. Then, they practice doing each one while using hand movements to help them remember.

Afterward, pre-kindergartners are asked to reflect on how they feel if they have positive thoughts and do positive actions. This helps students understand that the way they feel about themselves depends on their thoughts and actions.

They learn that this is why they should choose positive thoughts and do positive actions to have positive feelings about themselves!

A reinforcing song is played before the lesson ends. Pre-kindergartners sing and dance along to the "I Am A Positive Action Kid" music. The cheerful and upbeat music reminds students to always do positive actions to build a positive self-concept!

Various effective and age-appropriate teaching strategies are utilized in this lesson. The puppet play supports the engagement of the students, which is proven to be effective at retaining their attention. Hand movements help the students retain the lesson concepts. Lastly, the music immerses the students better in the lesson.

The goal of this lesson is to help pre-kindergartners be aware of themselves. In this lesson, they learn about their self-concepts, which is the way they feel about themselves. They also learn about their own thoughts, which help them understand their own actions and feelings. Finally, it helps pre-kindergartners achieve self-awareness which is one of the core competencies of social-emotional learning.