Mood Check-In with Nonverbal Communication Spinners

As teachers (who always have a lot going on!), we sometimes forget that our little learners have a lot going on in their own lives, too. This can affect their mood, as well as their readiness to learn. It is not always possible to leave these emotions behind when they walk through the classroom door!

If you are looking for a discreet way for students to share how they are feeling, this set of desk-sized student mood meters could be your answer! Using this hands-on resource students can identify how they are feeling (an important part of emotional awareness) and then apply strategies to help manage these emotions (if required). Teachers can subtly check each student’s spinner in order to get a feel of how the class is feeling from one day (or one lesson!) to the next.

How to Use These Emotional Check-In Mood Meters

The beauty of this resource is that it can be individualized to capture the emotions typically experienced by each student in your class. This can be done by following the simple instructions below.

1. Download and print the resource. Page 1 contains four different mood meters showing the range of emotions that can be experienced in Teach Starter’s four groups of emotional self-regulation: The Tuckered Out Team, The Cool Crew, The Silly Squad and The Grumpy Gang. Page 2 contains a blank mood meter template (this is the template you will use for customization purposes).
2. Select the six best emotional matches for each of your students. It is highly recommended that if you choose this option, you choose the six emotions in consultation with the student, as this will help them relate to and name the emotions they experience on a regular basis. If you are looking for a faster alternative, simply choose six of the most mainstream emotions to add to a mood meter for all students to use.
3. Cut out the emotions wedges that are needed either for each student or for the class (depending on the option you have chosen) and glue them onto the blank template.
4. Cut out and laminate the mood meter spinner and the spinning arrow.
5. Use a brass fastener to connect the arrow to the center of each mood meter.
6. Provide a mood meter to your students to be placed on their desks. You can now easily take the emotional temperature of your room without even speaking!

Download to Get Started!

This resource downloads as a full-color PDF. Please access the file using the Download button above.

Looking for more emotional self-regulation resources? We have more options at your fingertips!

[resource:4803431] [resource:2679850] [resource:2679854]