Scrapbooking can be used effectively to create a general record of emotional learning and vocabulary development or as a personal account of children’s emotional experiences.

Before this lesson took place, children had already experienced learning on core emotions (orange cog): happy, sad, angry, scared. The class had discussed possible triggers (yellow cog) and behaviours (green cog) for each emotion in turn.

The emotion, anger, was introduced and the children were asked to demonstrate angry behaviour (green cog). The children screwed up their faces, closed their eyes, clenched their teeth, had wide mouths and wrinkled noses, they clenched their fists and held up their arms. The practitioner labelled the children’s behaviours as they were demonstrated, thus beginning to introduce the vocabulary of behaviours. Symbols were also used where necessary. A photograph was taken of each child demonstrating angry behaviours and later used to revisit learning about anger.

In the follow up session, the practitioner encouraged each child to describe the behaviours she/he could see in the photographs. The practitioner recorded the children’s words in written and illustrated form around the photograph. The children added some additional vocabulary, like “hit” and “grrrrrrr”.

Later, the group discussed a list of “things that make me angry” (triggers, yellow cog) and noted those that made them “more angry” (intensity, grey cog, and influences, purple cog).

Using the Symbol Booklet, the children identified some simple regulation strategies (blue cog).

At no point was the child aware of the Emotion Works cogs or their attention drawn to the colours. The practitioner was mindful of all seven Emotion Works cogs as she planned and taught the lessons, and, in her own discussions of ANGER. The language and activities used were very much focused at his early level of introducing and developing emotional vocabulary.