Implementation Guide - Mood Meter

Regulating Emotions Lesson 3 | Middle School
with the Mood Meter

RECOMMENDED Lesson 3:
GRADES: 6 - 8 Regulating Emotions with
Purpose: To provide the Mood Meter Middle School
students with strategies
to regulate their emotions Procedure
effectively throughout the This activity involves an introduction to the concept of “emotion
school day and beyond. regulation” followed by a discussion about strategies to regulate
emotions in each Mood Meter quadrant. Students can extend their
Learning Objectives: learning from this activity in a variety of ways. For example, when
Students will… students have trouble staying focused in class, they can reference the
• Understand the definition strategies developed in this activity to help themselves get back on
of “emotion regulation” track. A Strategy Wall will be developed to help students choose and use
• Understand different effective strategies.
types of emotion goals
• Be able to generate Part 1: Emotion Goals
thought and action
strategies to achieve 1. Introduce to students the concept of emotion regulation:
different emotion goals
• Create a Strategy Wall Emotion regulation involves goals and strategies. In order to regulate
that they can reference to our emotions, we first need to figure out our emotion goal. Typically,
choose and use effective we want to feel more, less, or the same of an emotion, depending on
strategies the situation. This is our emotion goal. Let’s brainstorm some specific
examples of emotion goals: When you are looking forward to going to
Materials and a party, would you want to experience more, less, or the same amount
Preparation: of joy or enthusiasm just before the party begins? How about when you
Students will need… are feeling proud of an accomplishment but your friend comes to you
• 1.5 Regulating Emotions feeling discouraged, would you want to feel more, less, or the same
with the Mood Meter amount of pride? And, what if you are feeling content after a relaxing
worksheet Sunday morning and want to keep from getting stressed about the
• Large sheets of paper and school week, would you want to feel more, less, or the same amount of
markers contentment?
• (Optional) Poster, SMART
Board, or MS PowerPoint Elicit several other samples from the group.
of the Mood Meter

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B232 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Regulating Emotions Lesson 3 | Middle School
with the Mood Meter

2. Break students into pairs or small groups. To ensure that they Time: 30 - 40 minutes; this
understand this concept, have each group come up with one example activity can be shortened
each for a time they might want to feel more, less, and the same of or lengthened depending
a particular emotion. You might assign all groups the same emotion on how much time is
(such as anxiety) or different emotions. Ask several groups to share. devoted to group sharing
and writing strategies for
Part 2: Thought and Action Strategies the wall. This lesson can
be conducted several
1. Next, describe to students how to generate thought and action times with a focus on
strategies to achieve their desired emotion goal: different quadrants and
feelings. For example, a
Once we know if we want to feel more, less, or the same of an emotion, classroom might have
we can brainstorm ways to help us regulate that emotion. In general, Strategy Walls for various
we regulate emotions either by doing something or by thinking about emotion families, like
something. We use the term “thought strategies” to describe things anxiety, excitement, and
we think about to regulate emotions. Thought strategies might include disappointment.
changing the way you think about something, distracting yourself, or
telling yourself something positive or encouraging. The term “action Evaluation: Assign
strategies” is used to describe behaviors we use to regulate emotions. students a writing task
Action strategies might include getting out of an unpleasant situation, that summarizes their
doing a constructive activity (like a hobby or sport), speaking up understanding of emotion
to someone who is making you feel a certain way, or asking someone regulation strategies.
for help. Both thought and action strategies are necessary for Have students brainstorm
regulating emotions. a personal example of
a time they wanted to
At times, it may not be possible to use an action strategy. For instance, change how they felt in
in the middle of class, a student who is angry usually cannot simply some way and what they
leave the classroom; therefore, the student needs to modify her thinking did. Students should write
(reframe the situation). Other times, changing thoughts about an event three to five sentences
is not sufficient and taking action may be necessary. For instance, an explaining why they
apology often is a better way to reduce feeling guilty for hurting a wanted to manage that
classmate’s feelings than is reframing the situation. particular emotion and
what thought or action
2. Inform students that the goal of this lesson is to brainstorm effective strategy they used or could
emotion regulation strategies – that is, thoughts and actions that can have used to regulate the
help them to feel more, less, or the same of a particular emotion. emotion.

CASEL Competencies:
Students will develop
the following CASEL
recommended
competency:
• Self-management
• Social-awareness

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B233

Regulating Emotions Lesson 3 | Middle School
with the Mood Meter

3. Assign students to small groups, with each group representing one
quadrant of the Mood Meter (depending on the size of your classroom,
you may have two or more groups representing each quadrant). Pass
out the 1.5 Regulating Emotions with the Mood Meter worksheet.

4. Ask each group to brainstorm together and write out on a large piece
of paper what they can think about and do to:
• Feel less anxious
• Feel more excited
• Feel less hopeless
• Continue to feel content

More specific descriptions of the prompts can be used: “Suppose you
wanted to prevent feeling anxious about an upcoming test. What could
you think about or do to help prevent that feeling from occurring?” or
“What can we think about or do as a class to initiate feelings of excitement
about a new student arriving next week?” Allow students ample time to
discuss and write strategies that help to achieve their assigned emotion
regulation goals.

5. Ask groups to share their thought and action strategies with the class.
When students share their strategies, ask open-ended/clarifying
questions to ensure they (a) understand the strategy and (b) can
explain why the strategy may be effective. For example, students often
respond with strategies pertaining to avoiding or suppressing emotions
like sleeping and napping. While sometimes effective (for example,
sleeping might give students more energy), oftentimes these strategies
are used to avoid dealing with a particular issue.

6. The culmination of this activity is creating a Strategy Wall. The purpose
of a Strategy Wall is to record effective strategies to manage emotions
in each of the four quadrants that students can reference throughout
the year. Decide with students if you will record strategies for each
quadrant or for specific emotions on a large display, in a classroom
book, or on a web-based blog, website, or wiki.

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Regulating Emotions Lesson 3 | Middle School
with the Mood Meter

Learning Extensions: This activity can be extended to the curriculum
by having students add strategies that different characters and people,
both fictional and real, use to regulate emotions. Consider having
students create their own Strategy Walls (in written journals or online) that
document their favorite emotion regulation strategies for each quadrant.
Throughout the year, encourage them to add to their personalized
Strategy Wall as they learn about new emotion regulation strategies from
each other and from characters or historical figures.

Examples of questions to ask for the Strategy Brainstorm activity

What can What can
we think about we think about
or do to prevent or do to initiate
feeling anxious? feelings
of excitement?

Energy

What can we think What can we think
about or do to about or do to
reduce feelings enhance feelings
of hopelessness? of relaxation?

Pleasantness

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Regulating Emotions Lesson 3 | Middle School
with the Mood Meter

Our Class Strategy Wall

Strategies to Prevent or Reduce Strategies to Initiate, Maintain, or
Red Feelings Enhance Yellow Feelings

Take a Meta-Moment! Smile Think about a
happy time or place
Talk to Myself, Say:
“I Can Do This!” Walk Away

Drink a glass of cold water; cool off Listen to happy or upbeat music
I put my head down
Surround myself with happy
or optimistic friends

Do an activity I enjoy

Strategies to Prevent or Reduce Strategies to Initiate, Maintain, or
Blue Feelings Enhance Green Feelings

Talk to a teacher or a friend Take several deep breaths

Listen to music that Read a book Listen to calm,
makes you smile Stretch relaxing, grounding
music
Do something active like take a walk
Write or reflect in my
Practice or study extra hard journal
to build your confidence

An example of Strategy Wall in one Middle School.

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B236

4LESSON

Using the
Mood Meter
Daily

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Lower Elementary

RECOMMENDED Lesson 4:
GRADES: K - 2 Using the Mood Meter Daily
Purpose: To provide
students with multiple Lower Elementary
opportunities each day to
check in with their feelings Procedure
and to learn and use After the first three lessons on the Mood Meter, teachers should use the
strategies to help them tool to conduct regular “check-ins” with students. Recommended times
regulate their day. for check-ins are at the beginning of the school day (such as during
Morning Meetings), during classroom transitions (such as before and after
Learning Objectives: lessons, after lunch or recess), or at the end of the school day. Check-ins
Students will be able to… can be conducted orally or in writing with lower elementary 1.3 Mood
• Use a variety of ways to Meter Check in (Lower Elementary) worksheets or journals using the
check in on the Mood processes outlined below.
Meter throughout the day
• Generate strategies they Written Mood Meter Check-ins – these check-ins take between 5-7
can use to regulate their minutes because they include time to reflect and to write or draw, so will
emotions require a little more time than oral check-ins:

Materials and 1. Provide students with 1.3 Mood Meter Check in (Lower Elementary)
Preparation: or hand out their Mood Meter Journals.
Students will need…
• A lower elementary 2. Ask students to color in the area of the Mood Meter that describes how
Mood Meter on a poster, they are feeling. Then, have them come up with a word to describe
SMART Board, or MS their feelings. If able to write, have them write about why they feel that
PowerPoint way; if they are not able to write, have them draw a picture describing
• 1.3 Mood Meter Check how they feel.
in (Lower Elementary)
(see Appendix) 3. Have students share their feelings or drawings with a fellow student (in
pair shares) or present them to the class. Students can practice skills
Time: Oral Mood Meter of active listening and asking good questions while other students are
check-ins can be sharing:
conducted in as little as a. Ask students to turn their chairs to face their partner and sit eye to
two minutes. Written Mood eye/knee to knee with their hands on their laps. Remind them to be
Meter check-ins typically serious and not silly.
take between five to ten
minutes, depending on
the amount of reflection,
writing, and sharing
included.

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Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Lower Elementary

b. Decide who will share first. One student shares for about a minute. Evaluation: Regular
Then say, “Stop”. The listener can then ask one question about what Mood Meter check-ins
the other student shared. evaluate ongoing student
understanding of the
c. Switch roles. Mood Meter.

4. (Optional) Some teachers use the SMART Board for this activity. For CASEL Competencies:
example, one teacher created a large Mood Meter with photos (head Students will develop
shots) of each student below it. Students then drag their pictures to the the following CASEL
area that represents their current feeling. Then, they shared why they recommended
were feeling that particular way. This gave students the opportunity competencies:
to speak in front of their class. Other teachers have created felt/fabric • Self-awareness
Mood Meters with student pictures or names on fabric with Velcro on • Self-management
the back or safety pins attached. • Social-awareness

Oral Mood Meter Check-ins – this process can be conducted quickly, in
just a minute or two:

1. Throughout the day, particularly when you notice a change in students’
facial expressions or behavior, ask them to “check in” on the Mood
Meter. Refer them to a lower elementary Mood Meter displayed as
a poster, on their individual desks, or on a SMART Board or MS
PowerPoint. This can be done in silence or by asking for a quick raise
of hands (such as “How many of you are in the BLUE?”). This will help
students link their feeling states to the events that caused them.

2. Then ask students to think about if their current location on the Mood
Meter is a helpful place for them to be. You may suggest what area of
the Mood Meter will be most helpful for the current or upcoming lesson
or activity. Some of them might be in a good place on the Mood Meter,
while others may need to shift.

3. Have students take two to three deep breaths and come up with a
strategy either to (1) help them shift their feelings or (2) help them stay
in a good place (if they are in a useful area of the Mood Meter).

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

B239

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Lower Elementary

Learning Extensions: For a quick check-in in the lower grades, students
can make oak tag self-portraits for each quadrant of the Mood Meter.
They can use yarn for hair, beans for facial expressions, etc. When
completed, the faces can be attached to a Popsicle stick or dowel.
Teachers can do a quick Mood Meter check-in by asking students to hole
up one of their four faces to show where they are on the Mood Meter.

Following are examples of two lower elementary Mood Meter check
in worksheets.

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B240 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Lower Elementary

A fourth grade classroom in Oceanside plots feelings throughout the year
on a large Mood Meter

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

B241

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Upper Elementary

RECOMMENDED Lesson 4:
GRADES: 3 - 5 Using the Mood Meter Daily
Purpose: To provide
students with multiple Upper Elementary
opportunities each day to
check in with their feelings Procedure:
and to learn and use After the first three lessons on the Mood Meter, teachers should use the
strategies to help them tool to conduct regular “check-ins” with students. Recommended times for
regulate their day. check-ins are at the beginning of the school day (such as during Morning
Meetings), during classroom transitions (before and after lessons, after
Learning Objectives: lunch or recess), or at the end of the school day. Check-ins can be
Students will be able to… conducted orally or in writing using 1.4 Mood Meter Check in (Upper
• Use a variety of ways to Elementary and Older) worksheets or journals using the processes
check in on the Mood outlined below.
Meter throughout the day
• Generate strategies they Written Mood Meter Check ins – these check-ins take between 5-7
can use to regulate their minutes because they include time for students to reflect and to write or
emotions draw. The amount of time depends on how much writing and/or sharing
you would like for students to do. Make sure to respect students’ privacy
Materials and and let them know in advance whether or not they will be expected to
Preparation: share their writing with the class.
Students will need…
• A Mood Meter displayed 1. Provide students with a worksheet 1.4 Mood Meter Check in (Upper
on a poster, SMART Elementary and Older) or hand out their Mood Meter journals.
Board, or MS PowerPoint
• A journal and/or use the 2. Ask students to plot themselves and then to answer specific RULER
worksheet 1.4 Mood questions or just journal freely. Some sample RULER questions
Meter Check in (Upper include:
Elementary and Older) a. Recognize: “Where are you on the Mood Meter?”
b. Understand: “Why do you feel this way?”
Time: Oral Mood Meter c. Label: “What word best describes your current feeling?”
check-ins: two to five d. Express: “What about your appearance or behaviors tells others
minutes. Written Mood about how you are feeling?”
Meter check-ins: five to e. Regulate: “What strategy will you use to maintain or shift your
ten minutes, depending on feelings so that you can get the most out of the current or upcoming
the amount of reflection, lesson or activity?”
writing, and sharing
included.

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Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Upper Elementary

3. While students are plotting and writing, walk around the classroom to Evaluation: Regular
gauge the different feelings in the classroom. This will help you know Mood Meter check-ins
if they are in the best place for upcoming lessons or not, and whether evaluate ongoing student
you will need to do something to shift the mood of the entire class or understanding of the
just check in with certain students. Mood Meter.

4. After about three to five minutes, bring the class together and ask CASEL Competencies:
volunteers to share where they are on the Mood Meter. Make sure Students will develop
you also share (1) your plot, (2) the best feeling word that describes the following CASEL
how you are feeling, (3) why you feel that way, (4) some aspects of recommended
your appearance or behavior that illustrate your feelings, (5) whether competencies:
that feeling state is ideal (or not) for that part of the day, and (6) what • Self-awareness
strategy would be most useful for you to shift or maintain your current • Self-management
feeling state. • Social-awareness

5. Students can then share their feelings with a partner, in small groups,
or with the whole class. When working with a partner, students should
face each other and listen to their partner for about one minute. After
one partner shares, the other can ask one or two clarifying questions
about what their partner shared. Remind students that active listening
skills and clarifying questions help the person who is sharing feel
respected. They also help the listener to better understand the
person’s experience. Moreover, stress the importance of respecting
and validating each other’s experiences. It likely will be necessary
to review the details of active listening and clarifying/open-ended
questions regularly, which include:
• Maintaining eye contact with their partners
• Allowing their partners to talk with minimal interruption
• Staying on topic and avoiding responding with distracting comments
or questions
• Using facial expressions/body language to communicate interest
in what their partners say
• Avoiding judgmental facial expressions and body language
• Paraphrasing what their partners say: “I think you said…” “Sounds
like you felt…”
• Showing respect, empathy, and concern for their partners:
“That must have been very difficult…”

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B243

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Upper Elementary

“The Mood 6. To close the lesson, ask students to focus on and employ their
chosen emotion regulation strategy. However, if you have a specific
Meter check emotion-related goal for students (for example, you want them to
in allows me be in the GREEN quadrant to participate in a Math lesson), you can
a chance alert students and ask them to think of a strategy that will help them
to check in reach that goal. As students discuss effective strategies to manage
and connect emotions, many teachers create a Strategy Wall for students to refer to
with each throughout the year.
student in the
morning – at Oral Mood Meter Check-ins – this process can be conducted quickly, in
that time I just a minute or two:
can give my
undivided 1. Throughout the day, particularly when you notice a change in students’
attention to facial expressions or behavior, ask them to “check in” on the Mood
each student. Meter. Refer them to a Mood Meter displayed as a poster or on a
SmartBoard or MS PowerPoint. This can be done in silence or by
” asking for a quick raise of hands (“Take a minute to plot your energy
level and degree of pleasantness on the Mood Meter. How many of you
are in the BLUE? RED? GREEN? YELLOW?”). This will help students
link their feeling states to the events that caused them.

2. Then ask students to think about if their current location on the Mood
Meter is a helpful place for them to be. You may ask them what
quadrant of the Mood Meter they think will be most helpful for the
upcoming lesson or activity. Some of them might be in a good place
on the Mood Meter while others may need to shift slightly within a
quadrant or from one quadrant to another.

strategy either to (1) help them shift their feelings (if they are not in a
3. Have students take two or three deep breaths and come up with a

useful area of the Mood Meter) or (2) help them stay where they are (if
they are in a useful area of the Mood Meter).

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B244 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Upper Elementary

Learning Extensions: Once the Mood Meter is mastered, turn students’
attention to a main character in a book. Ask them to plot the character on
the Mood Meter at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. Instruct
them to write a paragraph about what strategies the character used
during the story to manage his or her emotions that were either helpful
and unhelpful, including why or why not they were helpful.

An example of an upper elementary Mood Meter Check-in.

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B245

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Middle School

RECOMMENDED Lesson 4:
GRADES: 6 - 8 Using the Mood Meter Daily
Purpose: To provide
students with multiple Middle School
opportunities each day to
check in with their feelings Procedure
and to learn and use After the first three lessons on the Mood Meter, teachers should use the
strategies to help them tool to conduct regular “check ins” with students. Recommended times
regulate their day. for check-ins are at the beginning of the school day (during Morning
Meetings), during classroom transitions (before and after lessons, after
Learning Objectives: lunch), or at the end of the school day. Check-ins can be conducted
Students will be able to… orally or in writing using 1.4 Mood Meter Check in (Upper Elementary
• Use a variety of ways to and Older) worksheets or journals using the processes outlined below.
check in on the Mood
Meter throughout the day Written Mood Meter Check-ins – this Mood Meter check in will require
• Generate strategies they about 5-7 minutes to provide students with adequate time to reflect and
can use to regulate their to write or journal.
emotions
1. Provide students with a worksheet 1.4 Mood Meter Check in (Upper
Materials and Elementary and Older) or hand out their Mood Meter journals.
Preparation:
Students will need… 2. Ask students to plot themselves and then to answer specific RULER
• A Mood Meter displayed questions or just journal freely. Some sample RULER questions
on a poster, SMART include:
Board, or MS PowerPoint a. Recognize: “Where are you on the Mood Meter?”
• A journal and/or b. Understand: “Why do you feel this way?”
worksheets: 1.4 Mood c. Label: “What word best describes your current feeling?”
Meter Check in (Upper d. Express: “What about your appearance or behaviors tells others
Elementary and Older) (in about how you are feeling?”
Appendix) e. Regulate: “What strategy will you use to maintain or shift your
feelings so that you can get the most out of the current or upcoming
Time: Oral Mood Meter lesson or activity?”
check-ins: two to five
minutes. Written Mood
Meter check-ins: five to
ten minutes, depending on
the amount of reflection,
writing, and sharing that is
included in the activity.

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B246 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Middle School

3. While students are plotting and writing, walk around the classroom Evaluation: Regular
to gauge the different feelings in the classroom. This will help you know Mood Meter check-ins
if they are in the best place for current or upcoming lessons or whether evaluate ongoing student
you will need to do something to shift the mood of the entire class understanding of the
or just check in with certain students. Mood Meter.

4. After about three to five minutes, bring the class together and share CASEL Competencies:
where you are on the Mood Meter. Make sure you share (1) your plot, Students will develop
(2) the best feeling word that describes how you are feeling, (3) why the following CASEL
you feel that way, (4) some aspects of your appearance or behavior recommended
that illustrate your feelings, (5) whether that feeling state is ideal (or not) competencies:
for that part of the day, and (6) what strategy would be most useful for • Self-awareness
you to shift or maintain your current feeling state. • Self-management
• Social-awareness
5. Students can then share their feelings with a partner, in small groups,
or with the whole class. When working with a partner, students should
face each other and listen to their partner for one or two minutes. After
one partner shares, the other asks one or two clarifying questions
about what their partner shared. Remind students that active listening
skills and clarifying questions help the person who is sharing feel
respected. They also help the listener to better understand the
person’s experience. Moreover, stress the importance of respecting
and validating each partner’s experiences. It likely will be necessary
to review the details of active listening and clarifying/open-ended
questions regularly, which include:
• Maintaining eye contact with their partners
• Allowing their partners to talk with minimal interruption
• Staying on topic and avoiding responding with distracting
comments or questions
• Using facial expressions/body language to communicate
interest in what their partners are saying
• Avoiding judgmental facial expressions and body language
• Paraphrasing what their partners say: “I think you said…”
“Sounds like you felt…”
• Showing respect, empathy, and concern for their partners:
“That must have been very difficult…”

TM

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B247

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Middle School

“The Mood 6. To close the lesson, ask students to focus on and apply their chosen
emotion regulation strategy. However, if you have a specific emotion-
Meter also related goal for students (for example, you want them to be in the
allows our GREEN quadrant to participate in a Math lesson), you can alert
class to come students and ask them to think of a strategy that will help them
together as reach that goal. As students discuss effective strategies to manage
community emotions, many teachers create a Strategy Wall for students
– we can to refer to throughout the year.
listen and
share how Oral Mood Meter Check-ins – this process can be conducted quickly, in
we are doing just a minute or two:
and it helps
the students 1. Throughout the day, particularly when you notice a change in students’
and myself facial expressions or behavior, ask them to “check in” on the Mood
relate better Meter. Refer them to a Mood Meter displayed as a poster or on a
to each other SmartBoard or MS PowerPoint. This can be done in silence or by
because we asking for a quick raise of hands (“Take a minute to plot your energy
can be open level and degree of pleasantness on the Mood Meter. How many of you
and honest are in the BLUE? RED? GREEN? YELLOW?”). This will help students
with each link their feeling states to the events that caused them.
other. (Middle
School 2. Then ask students to think about if their current location on the Mood
Teacher) Meter is a helpful place for them to be. You may ask them to think
about what quadrant of the Mood Meter will be most helpful for the
current or upcoming lesson or activity. Some of them might be in a
good place on the Mood Meter while others may need to shift slightly
within a quadrant or from one quadrant to another.

3. Have them take two or three deep breaths and come up with a strategy
either to (1) help them shift their feelings (if they are not in a useful area
of the Mood Meter) or (2) help them stay where they are (if they are in a
useful area of the Mood Meter).

Learning Extensions: Once the Mood Meter is mastered, teachers can
create a Mood Meter frequency sheet for use throughout the day. In each
period (both before and after if desired) students can plot themselves.
They can then engage in a daily or weekly self-analysis using a line graph
to see patterns and fluctuations in their moods, which could lead to
various action plans to shift their emotional states during certain lessons.

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B248 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Using the Mood Meter Daily Lesson 4 | Middle School

Below is an example of a middle school Mood Meter
Check in.

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B249



Tips and
Suggestions
for Using the
Mood Meter

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

Tips and Suggestions
for using the Mood Meter

“I like using the Mood Meter Journaling
Journaling is an effective way for students to check in on the Mood
Mood Meter Meter and to practice their RULER skills. It provides them with daily
check in to opportunities to self-reflect and to write about their feelings, what
start my day. caused their feelings, and how their feelings are being expressed and
(3rd Grade handled. Provide students with or have them choose a spiral-bound
Student at notebook or a binder of loose-leaf paper for their Mood Meter journal.
Parkland Provided below are a few tips about Mood Meter journaling that
Elementary teachers have found helpful.
School)
1. Keep journals organized. Since comparing entries from day to day is
an important part of the journaling process, make sure that students
are organized. Establish a minimal but consistent structure to each
entry that includes writing a date, page number, and title on each
entry. Have students keep journals in a designated place within the
classroom.

2. Get students excited about journaling. Have students customize their
journals by decorating the cover with images. Consider allowing
them to write in different colors of ink to reflect their various moods.
Suggest they can add drawings or photographs to their writing
entries. The more students can identify with the journal itself, the
more likely they will be to put time and care into their entries.

3. Provide general writing guidelines. Suggest an appropriate amount
of time for students to collect their thoughts and to write about them.
Let students know the expected duration and length of each writing
entry. Set a rule for “no talking during journaling time” if it occurs
during class time. Let students know that you may be reading their
entries and what you will be looking for in terms of content, spelling,
and grammar.

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B252 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Tips and Suggestions
for using the Mood Meter

4. Offer timely and thoughtful feedback. Classroom discussions immediately following
journaling time are a good way to provide feedback. When this is not possible, feedback
also can be offered as questions or notes in the margin of students’ entries. Ideally, written
feedback can engage the students into thinking more deeply about their writing. For
instance, “How might you feel if….?” Or “Next time, I’d like to hear more about…” Even the
smallest note lets students know you are reading their entries and thinking about what they
have written.

5. Expand student thinking. Simply encouraging students to reflect on and write about how
they are feeling on the Mood Meter is beneficial. However, journaling can enhance thinking
and writing skills even more when instructions are varied. Suggest that students experiment
with different writing styles and formats. For instance, ask them to write an acrostic
poem using the word that best labels how they are feeling; or, have them write a letter to
someone who contributed to their positive feelings.

6. Encourage students to journal outside of school. Give students suggestions about when
journaling may help them when they are not at school. For instance, they could do a
quick Mood Meter check-in and journal entry before bed every night. Or, if they are feeling
unpleasant after a difficult situation with a friend or family member, they could brainstorm
in their journal about ways to remedy the situation and move themselves to a different
quadrant of the Mood Meter.

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Tips and Suggestions
for using the Mood Meter

My Mood Meter Journal

For Daily Check-ins

Energy

Pleasantness

Name: H annah

An example of a journal created to record daily Mood
Meter check-ins and reflections.

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Tips and Suggestions
for using the Mood Meter

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B255

Tips and Suggestions
for using the Mood Meter

“Using the Sharing after Mood Meter Journaling
After Mood Meter journaling, have students occasionally share their
Mood Meter experiences with their classmates or advisors in small groups, large
and my groups, or pair shares. Below are a few helpful tips about sharing Mood
Mood Meter Meter journaling.
reflection
journal help 1. Set clear expectations. Provide students with clear expectations
me because about sharing their journal writing with others. Students feel
I can express comfortable and safe when they know what is expected of them. By
my feelings knowing what to expect, they will be emotionally ready to participate
in private and learn.
without
worrying 2. Model and encourage active listening and warmth. Active listeners
about anyone focus their full attention on the speaker, refrain from interrupting, and
laughing at rephrase what is communicated. Model active listening by keeping
me.” eyes focused on students who are talking and responding to them
(Grade 4/5 in various ways. Paraphrase the speaker’s words and describe the
Students at speaker’s emotions with examples of body language, facial expression,
Kilmer or vocal tone. Encourage students to listen actively by prompting
Elementary them with questions like, “What do you think is saying?” or, “How
SD43) do you think was feeling as he/she told that story?” and, “What
makes you think that?” Incorporating active listening into discussions
” validates students’ ideas and feelings. It creates an atmosphere of
open communication, enhanced understanding, and increased trust
and cooperation. In turn, more students will feel comfortable sharing
their thoughts, opinions, and work.

3. Use door openers. Paraphrase what students say to validate their
feelings. Examples include: “It sounds like you felt nobody cared
about what you needed.” “Say more to help me understand.” “I’d like
to hear more.” Avoid “why” questions because they may elicit
a defensive response.

4. Take note of students’ feelings. Notice and acknowledge students’
feelings, behavior, and attitudes towards others. This will help you to
both gauge students’ social and emotional skill levels and to identify
their areas for improvement.

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Tips and Suggestions
for using the Mood Meter

5. Be sensitive to students’ needs. If a student is in the BLUE because of a sick parent, do not
prompt the student to “feel better” or to move to the YELLOW. Sometimes emotions simply
need to be experienced, maintained, and accepted. Don’t rush or be afraid of silence. It
may be necessary to say: “You can take a moment and think about it, and I’ll come back to
you.” Then, it is critical that you return to the student. Or, you might ask the student, “What
do you need right now?”

6. Celebrate survivor’s pride. Validate acts of strength, bravery, and resilience. For example,
if a student talks about standing up to a bully, you might say: “You showed real courage in
facing that difficult situation.”

7. Let students learn about you. Students feel more connected to teachers to whom they can
relate. Teachers can help students feel connected by sharing personal details—their
childhood, their experiences in school, or their current hobbies and interests. Students will
be more comfortable sharing and will be more likely to contribute to classroom discussions.

8. Respect students’ abilities, backgrounds, and varying levels of comfort with receiving
positive and negative feedback. Some students thrive on public recognition while others
feel embarrassed when singled out. Teachers should keep this in mind and also respect
students’ varying comfort levels with sharing personal information.

9. Curtail inappropriate dialogue. In the rare event that a student becomes inappropriately
personal, teachers should conclude the dialogue carefully. Then, the teacher should
address the situation privately with the student, and, if necessary, with the student’s
parents, the principal, or both.

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B257



Mood Meter
Enrichment
Act i v i t i e s

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

Mood Meter Enrichment Activities

Mood Meter Enrichment Activities
The following enrichment activities are designed to deepen students’ understanding of the
Mood Meter and RULER skills. The frequency and pacing of these activities depend upon class
culture, student skills, and teacher preference. Teachers report greater success when these
enrichment activities take place earlier in the year, building a strong foundational understanding
of the Mood Meter.

• Collage of Emotions: This activity, which may be combined with Lesson 2: Develop a
Feelings Vocabulary, requires the building of a large Mood Meter collage of images. Consider
collaborating with the art teacher on this activity. You may use colored pieces of construction
paper, paint, markers, felt, and/or stacks of magazines, photographs, or other images. Have
students create or select images that represent each quadrant of the Mood Meter. Pictures
of the students themselves can be taken with digital cameras to add to the collage. Older
students can be instructed to find pictures representing different intensities of emotions within
each quadrant. This enrichment lesson is completed with a discussion about the specific
images, facial expressions, and body postures associated with different emotions in each
quadrant.

• Emotional Themes: In this activity, students examine how emotions change over time.
Construct or display a large Mood Meter to record students’ responses. Then, have students
explore how the emotions of a character or historical figure change over time. They can either
draw pictures or describe in writing the causes of the change in emotions. Older students can
plot on a line graph or timeline the trajectory of a character throughout a novel or historical
event; this graph or line could be used as a writing prompt for an essay.

• Utility of Emotions: In this activity, designed primarily for older students, students brainstorm
in small groups when it is useful and not useful to experience feelings in each quadrant.
For instance, it may be helpful to feel competitive when entering into a debate; it is not a
desired emotion when working on a collaborative science project with a group of classmates.
Moreover, while excitement about an upcoming event feels pleasant, it might distract a
student from focusing in class. The goal of this lesson is to show students that all emotions,
even highly unpleasant ones, can be useful at times. However, in certain situations, emotions
also can be harmful or not useful. This activity can be adapted to younger students. Prompt
students to think about specific classroom activities (quiet reading, recess, art class, read-
alouds); then, ask them what area of the Mood Meter would help them during these different
activities.

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B260 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Mood Meter Enrichment Activities

• Curriculum Enhancement: Teachers can use the Mood Meter to enhance curricular
objectives. One way of doing this is by asking students to plot the emotional shifts of literary
characters, historical figures, or other people being discussed in class. One teacher used the
Mood Meter to enhance her lesson on the novel, The Boy with the Striped Pajamas, by John
Boyne. Small groups of students were assigned different characters from the book and asked
to find textual evidence to support when those characters experienced emotions in all four
quadrants of the Mood Meter. She concluded the lesson by having students pick one emotion
that the character was feeling in the book and then discuss a strategy the character could
have used to regulate the emotion more effectively.

• Music and Emotions: For this activity, teachers select songs that represent each quadrant
of the Mood Meter. Teachers may ask older students to bring in their own selection. Songs
are played for the class, and students plot them on the Mood Meter. Younger students can
act out or dance to the music in each quadrant. Then, a discussion takes place about the
characteristics of the song, including its lyrics, tone, and how the song made the students feel
and why. This helps students to develop skills in recognizing and understanding emotions.
After completing this activity, the songs can become a part of a “musical library” and can
be used when the class needs to generate feelings in a particular quadrant. For example, when
students return from a physical education class feeling antsy and rambunctious, the teacher
and/or class can suggest and play calming music to bring themselves into the GREEN
quadrant for a reading activity.

• The Arts and Emotions: In this activity for older students, teachers break the class up into
four groups, one representing each quadrant. Each group is assigned to listen to music that
corresponds to their assigned quadrant while creating a piece of art (painting, sculpture,
poem) that represents the mood of their assigned quadrant. Even if students are presented
with the same basic instructions, their final pieces will likely be quite different. Have students
share their art with the class and discuss the role that musical mood induction played on their
artistic process.

• My Daily Moods: In this advanced activity for older students and teachers, a Mood Meter
chart can be developed to track moods – both within days and across days. One teacher
created a worksheet for students that consisted of a large grid. Across the top was the day of
the week. Within each day, there was a box for (a) before school, (b) each period of the day,
(c) dinner time, and (d) bedtime. Students colored in the box with the color on the Mood Meter
that corresponded to their mood at that time. At the end of each week students analyzed their
moods and created an action plan for managing their moods during the following week.

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Mood Meter Enrichment Activities

• Where I live on the Mood Meter: In this advanced activity for older students and teachers,
students can evaluate where they “live” on the Mood Meter. Ask students to consider
where they spend most of their time on the Mood Meter. Are they someone who lives in the
YELLOW, GREEN, BLUE, or RED most of the time? If so, how does this impact their daily
lives, and in particular, their relationships? What influences where they spend most of their
time? Would they like to experience emotions in other quadrants more often? If so, what
might be an effective plan for shifting their emotions?

• Family Mood Meter: A fun activity for students in the lower and upper elementary grades is
to make a Family Mood Meter. Students teach their family members about the tool and have
discussions at home about feelings. There are many ways this can be done – encourage
creativity! In one classroom students glued four pieces of construction paper onto a larger
piece of paper. They also created a pocket for the front in which they put digital pictures (with
magnets) of themselves representing each quadrant. The Mood Meters were laminated and
given to family members as a present with instructions and tips for using the Mood Meter
at home.

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Mood Meter Enrichment Activities

An example of how one student tracked daily moods throughout the week.

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B263



Mood Meter

FAQs

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

Mood Meter FAQs

1. What do I do if a student says she/he is all over the place and can’t pinpoint
one feeling?
• Reassure the student that sometimes we all feel multiple emotions at once.
For example, when we lose our luggage at the airport, we feel angry (about the
incompetence of the employees), nervous (that we may not find the luggage), and
hopeful (that we’ll get it back).
• Ask the student to rank his feelings: “What’s the main or primary feeling?”
• Be more specific in your question by asking, “How are you feeling right this
minute?” or “How are you feeling about this specific lesson?”
• Sometimes the inability to plot one’s feelings is related to a lingering mood or a
limited emotion vocabulary, and sometimes we must accept that we don’t know
why we are feeling the way we do. Considering the day’s earlier events can help,
but it is often that we are in moods due to things beyond our awareness (for
example, watching sad news on television before coming to school).

2. What if a student says, “I don’t know what I’m feeling; I can’t plot anything!”?
• Reassure the student that this is common, particularly when just learning the Mood
Meter, and that over time identifying feelings becomes easier. It also is possible
that the student is somewhat disengaged (more broadly), ambivalent, or does not
have the vocabulary to express him or herself. Indeed, it is rare that someone
is just “neutral.”
• This is a great time to ask both RULER questions and specific questions about
an upcoming lesson or the current activity.

3. Once one student shares his/her plot on the Mood Meter, all the other students
copy the plot. How can I encourage my students to think independently from
one another?
• Something called a “contagion effect” is common when people are sharing their
emotions; once one person shares, everyone else starts to experience the same
emotion. You can prevent this from happening by having students write down their
plots before sharing them. You also might have students close their eyes and raise
their hands to indicate their chosen quadrants on the Mood Meter.
• The teacher can create a contagion effect as well. Prevent this from happening
by sharing where you are on the Mood Meter after your students have shared
their plots.

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Mood Meter FAQs

4. My students say they feel one way (such as angry), but they look like they feel a
different emotion (such as discouraged). What do I do?
• In the beginning some students may not be comfortable telling the truth about how
they feel. For example, in many schools it is not “cool” for boys to admit feeling
discouragement, so they default to anger.
• One way to deal with this is to ask guided RULER questions such as, “What
happened this morning that caused you to feel angry? Where would you place
yourself on the Mood Meter this morning? Your energy looks a little lower than that
to me. Is it?”

5. What do I do if my student says: “I’m a -6/+6. I’m off the Mood Meter.”?
• Remind the student that the Mood Meter ranges from -5 to +5 on both axes. -5/+5
represents the least/most amount of pleasantness/energy possible.

6. My students always plot themselves at the extremes: +5/+5 or -5/-5.
What do I do?
• The best way to handle this is by questioning students. “So what you are saying is
that right now you are feeling the most excited you have ever felt in your entire life,
is that correct?”
• Additional RULER questions also will help students, including “What word comes
to mind to describe how you are feeling now? What happened to bring you where
you are?”
• Modeling what the extremes look like for students using body language, facial
expressions, and voice oftentimes assists students to gain a clearer understanding
of where they are on the Mood Meter in reality. Consider posting images of the four
extreme points on your class Mood Meter to remind students what they look like.

7. One of my students is always in the BLUE. What do I do about it?
• If a student or someone else is chronically in the BLUE or RED, it could be an
indicator that he or she is depressed or anxious. This is when teachers may
consider making a referral to the school psychologist or social worker.

8. My student shares something highly personal during a Mood Meter activity –
how do I handle this?
• Most importantly, if a student shares something shocking or inappropriate, it is
critical to maintain your composure and demonstrate empathy. We never want to
shut down or embarrass a student. Let the student know that he or she can talk

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Mood Meter FAQs

with you more about it after class. For example, you might say, “Thank you for
sharing that with us today. That must have been very hard for you.” You might also
ask the student, “What do you need?”
• Develop a list of your own “catch phrases” that you can use when your students

share too much during Mood Meter check-ins. Some examples are: “I would really
like to hear more about that, but we have to move on right now, so let’s try and
talk during lunch” or “Thank you for trusting us enough to share that with us. That
wraps up…” Setting clear guidelines for what is/is not appropriate sharing in your
class can help to prevent this from happening.
• At that point you can decide if the school counselor, psychologist, or social worker
needs to get involved.

9. Do some people “live” in one quadrant?
• Each of us has a baseline temperament. That is, most of us live our lives primarily
in one quadrant. For example, some people tend to be down/critical (BLUE),
disagreeable/anxious (RED), mellow/serene (GREEN), or animated (YELLLOW).
People of all temperaments can function well in school, but building an awareness
of the quadrant in which we are most often is key to effective communication,
teaching, and learning. For example, teachers who are mostly in the YELLOW or
RED may overwhelm students, whereas teachers who are mostly in the BLUE or
GREEN may under stimulate students. Furthermore, the natural temperament of
students will impact which teaching style they prefer as learners.

10. My emotions and moods are different than those of others. There is no word
for how I’m feeling. What does this mean?

• The richer one’s emotion vocabulary becomes, the easier it is to identify specific
feelings. As we learn more words, it becomes easier to have “agreed upon norms”
for the meanings of different feeling states, for example, by moving beyond two
words in the angry family (such as angry and enraged) to a richer, more nuanced
vocabulary (such as peeved, annoyed, irritable, angry, furious, enraged).

11. Some of my students are very private and have told me that they don’t want to
share their feelings with the class. What should I do?

• Sharing of emotions is central to emotional Intelligence, but privacy also is
respected. You can ask students to keep a private Mood Meter journal. It is not
absolutely necessary for students to share with everyone in the class.

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Mood Meter FAQs

• If you feel like your classroom is not a safe place for students to share (honestly)
how they are feeling, then you may want to consider: Do you and your students
value open and honest expression of feelings? Is your Emotional Intelligence
Classroom Charter alive and active? What needs to shift in the climate of your
classroom in order for this to happen?

12. Where is the best place to be on the Mood Meter?
• There is no “best” place to be on the Mood Meter. Research shows that all
emotions are valid and important. With that said, for most of the school day, we
would want students’ emotions in the GREEN and YELLOW quadrants. In those
quadrants we tend to be more focused, concentrate better, assimilate information
better, and make better choices.
• Over time, students can learn to understand that being in the RED or BLUE for short
amounts of time is useful in certain circumstances, but staying in those quadrants
for too long is not ideal. Emphasize that the right side of the Mood Meter is not a
better place but it is usually a healthier or more productive place to be.

13. What if two people plot the same word in a different quadrant?
• Some emotion words have different meanings in different contexts. For example,
for some people, the experience of surprise makes them angry (RED); for others
who love surprises, the plot might end up in the YELLOW. It’s hard to argue either
one as being “right.”
• Most emotions, however, can be accurately plotted within a range on the Mood
Meter. For example, surprise in its most simple form likely will end up between
the RED and YELLOW quadrants because it is more pleasant than shocked but
not as pleasant as awestruck. As students develop a more sophisticated emotion
vocabulary, the placement of emotions on the Mood Meter becomes easier.

14. My students are afraid to share their Mood Meter plots because they don’t
want other students to make fun of them. What should I do?

• One of the reasons why we develop the Charter prior to using the Mood Meter
is to set the stage for a warm and trusting classroom environment.

• If, after developing the Charter, students still seem hesitant to share in front
of their peers, you may need to talk to the class about the importance of being
non-judgmental of others’ feelings.

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B269



Student
Wo rks h e e t s

© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC TM

Mood Meter Worksheet 1.1

Directions: Draw what your face looks like when you are in each quadrant of the Mood Meter.

EnergyEn
erg
y

PPleleaassantnneessss

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B272 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Mood Meter Worksheet 1.2

Labeling Emotions with the Mood Meter Worksheet

Directions: List the feeling words that correspond to each quadrant. Then, plot
them on the Mood Meter.

RED BLUE YELLOW GREEN

Energy
En
erg
y

Pleeaassaanntntensesss

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B273

Mood Meter Worksheet 1.3 Lower Elementary

Mood Meter Check-in
Draw a picture of how you feel today

Color in the quadrant of the Mood Meter that shows how you feel and describe your feelings.

I feel: ____

erEgnyergy Because: ________
________
En ________
________
PlPelaesaasanntntneessss ________
________
___ ____
___ ____
______

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B274 © 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC

Mood Meter Worksheet 1.4 Upper Elementary
and Older

Mood Meter Check-in

1. Plot where you are on the Mood Meter.

+5

+4

Red +3 Yellow
+2

Energy +1

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5

-1

Blue -2 Green
-3

-4

-5

Pleasantness

2. What caused you to have these feelings?

3. What word(s) currently describe how you are feeling?

4. How are these feelings being expressed right now?

5. What strategy will you use to maintain or shift these feelings so you get the most
out of today?

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© 2013 Emotionally Intelligent Schools, LLC B275

Mood Meter Worksheet 1.5

Regulating Emotions with the Mood Meter Worksheet
Things we can think about or do to help us regulate our emotions

EnergyEn
erg
y

PPleleaassaanntnessss

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