Emotions described in acrostic poems

Wrote poems about mad, sad, glad, scared, and ashamed

Tried this poem-writing activity with a 14-year-old boy who struggles to identify and articulate him emotions. The result was five poems written about mad, sad, glad, scared, and ashamed. Several things happened before writing the poems to help him become familiar with feelings and the bodily sensations that go along with emotions. We discussed emotions and the different ways they can impact your body: tense, tight, tears, tingly, hot, cold, etc. Then we read several children’s books about emotions. His last exercise before writing the poems was to draw stick people to depict mad, sad, glad, scared, and ashamed, with the most important aspect the facial expression.

The poetry exercise began with showing him an acrostic poem where each letter of a person’s name or a word become the first letter of a line of poetry. For example, tree, might become a poem like this:

Tree

They are big or sometimes small
Reaching always for the sky
Every kind grows in the park
Each one has leaves, a trunk, and roots.

The boy wrote one acrostic poem using his name to describe himself, then another poem using the word “rain.” Next,  I asked him to write one poem for each of the main emotion words we had discussed and that he had drawn pictures of. The result was close to astonishing! This boy who, a short time ago, described everything as being either sad or happy, and when asked how emotions felt in his body said, “Can’t feel anything,” could now distinguish nuances of emotions! When I asked him what he thought about his poems, he said, “I feel very proud!” And, he should!

Here are two examples of what he wrote:

Glad

Gives you energy
Let’s you laugh
Always makes you smile
Does not make you feel lonely.

Scared

Sometimes can make you cry
Can make you nervous
And make you tense
Reminds you of scary thoughts about it
Even can make you shake
Does not make you feel relaxed.

The process of having to think about different ways to describe an emotion helps embed it in the child’s brain. The more opportunities we give a child to articulate and talk about his or her emotions, the less potential their is for acting out those emotions inappropriately.

From nothing to love

Nothing, by Mick Inkpen, tells the story of a sad, lonely, misshapen stuffed cat. He’s left behind in an attic when the family moves out. He can’t quite remember who he is or what his name is. One of the movers shines a flashlight on him and says, “Oh, it’s nothing,” so he decides his name must be Nothing. He meets up with a mouse, a fox, and a frog, and eventually a tabby cat. Nothing cries to the cat, “I don’t know who I am!” The tabby cat befriends Nothing and takes him on an adventure. Eventually, the tabby cat takes Nothing home. Nothing finds out that he, in fact, belongs to this family. They clean him up, fix his injuries, and envelop him in love. He has a family! He’s home! He’s loved!

The story is excellent and the illustrations are exquisite. It looks very much like a young children’s book, but the message is appropriate for all ages. Recently, I gave this to a 14-year-old boy who was intrigued by the book.

Discussion or writing topics:

• How did Nothing feel in the beginning of the book? Have you ever felt like that?
• How did Nothing feel at the end of the book? What helped him feel differently?
• What are five feelings that Nothing might have had at the beginning of the book?
• What are five feelings that Nothing might have had at the end of the book?

Book info:
Nothing by Mick Inkpen. Written for young children, ages 4-8, but applicable for older children, teens, and adults. Helpful for individuals dealing with issues relating to adoption, life changes, feeling alone, worthlessness, and grief and loss.

Touching Spirit Bear

During a TV show about bullying, one boy said that his life had changed–he had stopped being a bully, when he was required to read Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. I HAD to read it.

Cole is a mean, angry 15-year-old bully. He beats another student so badly the boy is hospitalized withe severe, life-long injuries. No matter who talks to Cole or what they say, he is belligerent and argumentative. Not a shred of shame or remorse for his actions.

He’s given an alternative to jail which is banishment for a year to a remote, deserted Alaskan island. This decision is made when Cole becomes part of Circle Justice, a  program based on Native American principles that encourages change and healing as part of justice. Cole pretends to agree with the plan but in reality, he takes no responsibility for his actions. Instead, he blames his behaviors on his parents and others, never himself.

When Cole is left on the island, he has a small cabin for shelter and a year’s worth of supplies, with plans for regular visits from his temporary guardians. Within hours, he burns down the cabin and all his supplies. Later, he is severely mauled by a mysterious white bear. He is taken to hospital to heal from his extensive injuries, but is then returned to the island.

Slowly, Cole makes small shifts in his thinking. His setting forces him to learn new skills. Eventually, he develops self-awareness, thoughtfulness, sympathy, and remorse.

This is a powerful book. A child or adolescent could read it to themselves or a parent could read it to them.

Writing topics:

• Why do you think I had you read this book?
• Write about three things you learned from this book.
• How is the main character, Cole, similar and different to you?
• How would you describe Cole’s attitude at the end of the book? Of all the things he had to do to survive on the island, which one do you think contributed the most to his change in attitude?

Book info:
Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen. Ages 11-16. Especially appropriate for children struggling with issues of anger, aggression, abuse, and bullying. Also touches on themes of parental abuse and trauma.

Handling the mad

Feeling mad is a common emotion for children struggling with challenges in their lives. They may be angry because they aren’t getting their way, or because they’ve lost a loved one, or because they don’t fit in with the other kids. Mad often covers up other emotions such as scared, hurt, or lonely. But because mad is so noticeable, it’s often a good emotion to start with when helping children learn to manage their emotions.

I’m Mad, written for young children, works for all ages. The story is about a little girl that wakes up mad because the weather is bad and she and her dad can’t go to the park, a long-planned event. Her dad helps her think of different ways to accept her anger and deal with her mad. The book is written in a format where the child can pick the order to read the options for handling her anger.

The options include doing something physical, squishing play dough, talking about feelings, singing the un-mad song, asking others about their feelings, and planning something fun. The illustrations are black and white providing an opportunity for a child to color them in.

The book, I’m Mad, can be read to very young children, or older children can read it to themselves. It also works for older kids who may have low-level reading skills.

BOOK INFO: I’m Mad, written by Elizabeth Crary, 1992. Appropriate for ages 4-12.