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Positive Thinking Lesson Plan

Challenging Negative Thoughts and Learning to Think Positively

Sep 19, 2007

Help kids recognize how their feelings are largely determined by their thoughts about an event, and how changing their thoughts can change their feelings.

This activity will help kids see how their thoughts affect the type and intensity of their feelings. By responding to situations with more positive thoughts, student can learn to manage their emotions more effectively.

1. Copy the following example onto the board. Be sure to include blank spaces below for additional exercises.

Example:

What happened? You went out for a sport at school and got cut from the team

My thoughts: negative:“I really stink. I’m never trying out for anything again.” Resulting feelings: Hopeless, angry, frustrated, sad.
My thoughts: positive or neutral:“I guess I could use more practice. Maybe I’ll be better at something else.” Resulting feelings: Disappointed, but determined, hopeful, confident.

2. For the example above, explain to students how having the listed negative thoughts in response to the situation might lead to the feelings above. Likewise, demonstrate how substituting more positive language can result in different types of feelings, as listed above.

3. See if students can verbalize why there is a difference between the two groups of feelings. What caused it? Which group of feelings would you prefer? Why?

4. Ask students to generate a list of situations that typically lead to negative feelings. (i.e. doing poorly on a test, not being invited to a party, someone I like doesn’t like me.) List these under “What Happened.”

5. Taking one situation at a time, complete the process as a group. Ask students what the accompanying “thoughts” may be if one is looking at the situation negatively (i.e. I’m stupid, no one liked me, etc.). Write all of these suggestions in the second column. Ask students why typical “feelings” might result if they had the thoughts described. Write these answers in the third column.

6. Review the commonality among the “thoughts” (usually all negative). Ask students what needs to happen to change the resulting feelings. If they seem unsure, make the point that situations don’t cause feelings, thoughts cause feelings. What positive or neutral thoughts could be replace the negative ones?

7. Working in groups of three or four, have students list situations from their own lives, working to change the thoughts from negative to neutral or positive. The more practice kids have with this skill, the more likely they will be able to transfer it to their own lives.

8. When groups are done, ask volunteers to share their examples with the class.

Discussion Questions:

How do thoughts trigger feelings?
Who is in control of your thoughts?
Who is in control of your feelings?
Why can two people feel two different ways in response to the same situation?
Why are negative thoughts often more automatic than neutral or positive ones? How can we make the latter more automatic?
How do we benefit from being able to change our thoughts about situations?

You may also be interested in Identifying Feelings Lesson Plan or Problem Solving Lesson Plan.

The copyright of the article Positive Thinking Lesson Plan in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Susan Carney. Permission to republish Positive Thinking Lesson Plan in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.