Teaching Guide:
Controlling Anger
for grades K-5
This page is from the teaching guide for the video "Groark Learns to Control Anger" in the video series Getting Along with Groark featuring the Popcorn Park Puppets™. Even if you aren't showing this video there is a lot of useful material here you can use to create a lesson. Feel free to modify it to suit your needs.
HOW TO
HANDLE YOUR ANGER
1. STOP. . .
Count to ten. Take a deep breath. Or walk away until you have calmed down.
2. SAY. . .
what's wrong. Use your words to say what you don't like.
3. TELL. . .
what you would like to have happen.
EDUCATIONAL
GOALS
CHILDREN LEARN:
• How anger can cause us to lose control of our behavior.
• How anger can lead to violence, even when we don't intend it.
• How we can calm our anger and stay in control.
Groark ruins Nubbs' model airplane.
Groark becomes so angry at his own silly mistakes that he accidentally damages his best friend's (Nubbs') model airplane. This leads to a heated exchange, and the two nearly come to blows. When the fight is interrupted by the school bell, Groark turns to a group of real elementary school children for a lesson in managing anger. He learns how to tell when his anger is getting out of control, how that can lead to fighting, and how to calm his anger. He uses his newfound skill to calm his friend's anger, and the two make up.
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Color these characters!
Click on the Popcorn Park Puppets below to get blackline masters you can print out for your children to color.
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
If you are using the video, ask the first three questions before viewing.
1. What are some things that make you angry? (Make a list.)
2. Is it okay to get angry sometimes? When?
3. How do people act when they are angry?
4. Why was Groark so angry at the beginning of the video? Who was he angry at?
5. How did Groark behave when he became angry? What did Nubbs do when he became angry? Was that a good way for them to deal with their anger? Why, why not?\
6. Did they lose control of their anger? How can you tell?
7. Does losing control of our anger make things better or worse? What happens when we lose control of our anger?
8. How can you tell when you are losing control of your anger? What can you do to calm down?
9. What are some good ways to get rid of anger?
10. How can you tell when someone else is getting angry? What are some of the warning signs? Does everyone have the same warning signs?
11. What are some good ways to handle someone else's anger?
12. Did the kids in the discussion part of the program say anything that you strongly agree or disagree with?
13. What did you learn from this video?
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STUDENT ACTIVITIES
1. Teach children how to relax and calm down with relaxation exercises.
Breathing Deeply: Have the kids take a deep breath while counting to five. Then as you count back to one, have them slowly release the air.
Muscle Relaxing: Have the kids pretend to become frozen by slowly tightening each part of their bodies until they are "frozen solid". Then, let them "thaw" by relaxing each part of their bodies and allowing their anger to melt away.
Combined Breathing and Muscle Relaxing: Have the kids pretend they are balloons filling up with air. As you count to five, they slowly breath in and fill up their balloons, stretching and tightening their muscles. Have them hold it a few seconds. Then, as you count back to one again, have them release the air and relax their muscles as though their balloon is deflating.
2. Have students identify ways in which they
handle their anger in positive ways. List these on a chart. Post the chart
in the classroom and refer to it when situations arise.
3. Role play situations that create anger. Younger children may use puppets. Have students show how they would react in each situation. Discuss how controlling their anger can change the situation and role play it again. Examples of some situations are:
a) Your friend teases you about your hairstyle.
b) You find out that your best friend has gone roller skating with someone else and didn't invite you.
c) Your sister or brother borrows your favorite sweater without asking.
WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. HANDLING ANGER BOOKS. For younger children this can
be done as a group activity. For older children it can be done in smaller
groups or individually. Have children cut out pictures from magazines,
draw pictures, and use words and phrases to show all the things that
help people relax and get rid of anger. These books can be bound and
kept in the classroom for students to look at or read.
2. CARTOON STRIP.
Have students create cartoon strips showing situations where characters
deal with anger. Have them show the positive solutions as well as the
negative.
For younger children, have them find comic strips from the newspaper
that show the characters dealing with anger. Share them with the class
and discuss how the characters might be able to handle the situation
better. Make the strips into a book with children drawing pictures to
show the situations in a positive way.
3. ANGER IN THE NEWS.
Have students bring in news articles that show how anger affects communities
and world events. Discuss the various situations and how calming down,
thinking things through and talking things out might have affected the
result. Have students write a news article showing how events could
be different if people controlled their anger. Create a bulletin board
with articles and pictures showing the positive and negative results
of anger in the community or world.
For younger children, have them find pictures from the newspaper or
create pictures for the bulletin board showing situations where anger
affects people.
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HOME ASSIGNMENTS
To enlist the involvement of parents, make copies of the "For Parents" block (see below) and send them home with the children. Tell the children to discuss the video with their parents, and to perform the following activities.
1. Draw a poster or a picture that can remind you how to deal with your anger. Put it up in a place where you can see it.
2. Read a story or find a picture that shows anger. Share with someone more positive ways in which the anger could be handled and how it would change the situation.
3. Watch a television show where the characters deal with anger. Discuss with your family how television might affect how people deal with their anger. Does it affect you or your family?
Note to the teacher or group leader: It might be a good idea to think of some way for the children to share the outcomes of these activities with each other. Perhaps they could give written or oral reports or discuss their experiences in small groups.
(Copy this block and send it home to the parents.)
FOR PARENTS
Dear Parent,
Your child is learning some valuable skills which will help him or her get along well with others, solve conflicts peacefully, and avoid violent situations.
The current lesson is about controlling anger. We have shown your child a video entitled "Groark Learns to Control Anger", which presents a puppet show and discussion about how to deal with angry feelings
Here are some things you can do to help your child learn to handle angry feelings peacefully.
• Ask your child to tell you about the video program and what he or she learned from it.• Discuss with your child the steps he or she learned for controlling anger.
• Affirm to your child that anger is normal, that we all get angry at times and must learn how to deal with these feelings. This is part of growing up.
• Tell your child about times when you or other family members made things worse by losing control of anger. Discuss how keeping control could have made things better.
• When your child becomes angry, help him or her calm down and stay in control.
• Don't lose control of your own anger in your child's presence. Remember, you are your child's most influential teacher.
