Gather Together/Warm-Up/Bell Ringer: A Word Whip (5 Minutes)

Welcome the students and introduce this quick Word Whip activity. Go around the room and ask each student to contribute a word that comes to mind when they hear the word “school.” Go around the room a couple of times. Chart the words as the students go.
Process by asking:

“How do these words make you feel? (Are they negative? Positive? Happy? Sad? What do these words say, if anything, about our feelings about school?)”

Main Activity: The Don’t Laugh at Me Song (20 minutes)

Introduce the song very simply saying:

“I’m going to play a very special song for you now. It’s entitled Don’t Laugh at Me. Let your mind become open to the music and the words of this song. Don’t try to understand or analyze it. Just let yourself listen.”

Then say:

“I’m going to play the song again and this time I’d like you to be aware of the feelings and thoughts you are having as you listen to it.

I’m going to ask you to raise your right hand if the song is making you feel happy at that moment, to raise your left hand if the song is making you feel sad at that moment, and raise both hands if you’re feeling both sad and happy at the same moment.”

After the song, discuss as a group:

• How many of you thought that this song was sad? Please raise your hands.
• How many of you thought that this song was happy? Please raise your hands.
• How many of you thought this song was both happy and sad? Please raise your hands.

• Ask: Who is right? Is this song happy or sad?

• What were some of the lyrics in the song that made you feel happy?
• What lyrics made you feel sad?
• Did you have other feelings while listening? What were they and what were the lyrics at that time?

• Let’s list the feelings you experienced when you listened to the song.  (Chart the feelings.)
• Explore a couple of the feelings charted: How many of you felt that feeling during the video? [show of hands] When in the song did you feel that feeling? (Leave the chart up.)

Summarize the points made by the participants.

Now show the video of “Don’t Laugh at Me”.

First, tell the children that the song in this video is sung by the group Peter, Paul & Mary. Tell them a little bit more about the group than what was stated above:

“Peter, Paul & Mary, who you see singing in the video, recorded the classic children’s song, “Puff the Magic Dragon” and many other very popular songs in the 1960’s and 70’s. They were the #1 singing group in the United States in the early 60’s. Peter, Paul & Mary believed that music could bring people together in ways that could help them solve important problems in the world. They used their music to create a fairer, more just society. This trio supported the work of, and sang in marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s; they worked for peace, for equality for women, for a safe and sustainable environment and for many other important goals. Today, their music is still sung by students and adults in schools and summer camps, in churches, synagogues and mosques, and in gatherings where people come together to join their hearts in an effort to advance peace and understanding. Peter Paul and Mary are considered a very important part of America’s legacy of folk music, a music that continues to inspire people of every generation.”

Ask:

“How was watching the video different than just listening to the song? Did you have any different feelings while you watched? When?

How do you think the people in the song and the video want to feel? What actions by others could help them feel that way?

What do you think we might learn from this song?”

Summarize and explain:

“As we meet together, we are going to look at how we treat each other and how that makes us feel, but for now we are going to look at the feelings we have in a variety of situations because if we learn to name our feelings, we can learn how to manage them, which we call “emotional intelligence.”

Integrated Arts: Hands Around the Classroom (10 Minutes)

Now have students identify one feeling they would like to have in the classroom. Have students draw an outline on brightly colored card stock or construction paper around each of their hands and cut them out. Students should write their names on one hand and a word for a feeling that he or she would like to feel in this classroom on the other hand. Decorate the hands with glitter glue and buttons or pompoms, feathers, etc. and post around the classroom.

Closing (2 Minutes)

Do a go round of one commitment each student can make to help others have the feelings they want in the classroom. Be sure to include your own.