Lesson 07 — What Makes a Friend Glad or Sad

Learners sort small situations into what makes a friend glad and what makes a friend sad, and discover that their own choices can change how a friend feels.

D02 P1: Emotional & Social Awareness D02.S2 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

D02.S2.K.01 Describe how a friend or story character might feel in a simple situation.

Essential question

What kinds of things make a friend glad or sad?

gladsadkindhurthelpchange

Materials

Standard materials

Two small baskets or boxes · 2 One labeled "glad," one labeled "sad"
Picture cards of small situations · 1 set Sharing a snack, a fallen tower, a hug, a pushed friend

Low-tech / no-cost

Voice and body Name situations aloud and have learners show a glad face or a sad face
Draw two circles in the soil One for glad, one for sad; step into the circle that matches each situation

Enriched / lab & device

Photographs of kind and hurtful moments · 1 set Real images for sorting into glad and sad
A tablet with a sorting app · 1 per group Drag each situation picture into "glad" or "sad"

Works in different contexts

large-group Hold up each situation card and have the whole group step or point toward glad or sad
self-directed A learner sorts situation cards into two piles and says aloud what each one would make a friend feel
outdoor-only Act out a kind action and a hurtful action, and ask the group which one makes a friend glad
multi-age Older learners add *why* each situation makes a friend glad or sad; younger ones sort and point
level-grouped Learners who are ready think of their own glad/sad situations; others sort given cards

Two panels side by side — a GLAD scene of two children sharing a snack, and a SAD scene of a child whose block tower fell — with a dashed arrow from sad to glad reading "I can change it."

Lesson 7 — What Makes a Friend Glad or Sad

Summary

Learners connect actions to feelings: kind actions make friends glad, hurtful ones make them sad. By sorting small situations, they discover that what they do has real power over how another person feels.

Objectives

Describe how a friend might feel in a simple situation. (D02.S2.K.01)

Connection

Every day, small things change how your friends feel. A shared snack makes someone glad; a knocked-over tower makes someone sad; a pushed friend feels hurt. When you notice which is which, you begin to choose the kind thing — and that choice is yours to make.

Materials

Two small baskets or boxes (glad, sad)
Picture cards of small situations

Preparation

Label the two baskets “glad” and “sad.”
Prepare situation cards: sharing, hugging, helping, a fallen tower, a pushed friend, a kind word.

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”) so it works in a classroom and for a self-directed learner. As facilitator, keep the situations simple and free of blame — the aim is noticing, not shaming. Affirm that all people sometimes make friends sad by accident, and the caring thing is to notice and try again.

Procedure

Gather (5 min). Think: what is one thing that made you glad today? One thing that made you sad? Our actions do this to others too.
Meet glad and sad (5 min). Here are two baskets: glad and sad. We will sort small happenings into them.
Sort the situations (15 min). For each card, ask: would this make a friend glad or sad? Put it in the right basket. A shared snack — glad. A pushed friend — sad. Talk about why.
I can change it (10 min). Choose one “sad” card. What could change it to “glad”? (A fallen tower — a friend helps build it again.) Move it to glad.
Close (10 min). Remember: your choices reach other people’s hearts. Kind actions make friends glad; hurtful ones make them sad. You get to choose.

Differentiation

Support: Use only two contrasting cards at first (a hug, a push) and sort together.
Extension: Invite learners to invent a new situation and decide which basket it belongs in, then explain.

Assessment

Formative (observation): Can the learner say whether a simple situation would make a friend glad or sad?
Artifact (portfolio): The sorted cards, or a drawing of “one thing that makes a friend glad.”

Resources

CASEL SEL Framework (foundational competencies): https://casel.org/fundamentals-of-sel/

Home connection

At home, notice one thing you do today that makes someone glad. Tell a grown-up what it was and how you could tell.