This planning tool has been used to brainstorm words that might come up and be consolidated during the course of a school’s Health Week, linked to a variety of activities planned.

The Vocabulary Planning Tool can be downloaded from the website using the link given. If developing and extending vocabulary is a focus, this tool helps us to think about each of the different emotion components in turn and to list any and all related vocabulary associated with a chosen activity or theme.

In this example, a group of Primary Teachers used the tool to brainstorm vocabulary linked to the general theme of HEALTH WEEK and listed words and phrases relevant to the week’s activities.

By sharing the lists of words across the school, all teachers had a reminder of the Emotion Works concepts and associated language,  and also had an easy list to refer to when planning discussions and literacy work linked to sports day, winning/losing, exercising, yoga, relaxation etc.

For learners who already have good word knowledge, even more expanded and extended vocabulary could be planned, for example, ‘pessimistic/optimistic’, ‘supportive’ or ‘exhausted’.

For younger learners, or those at an earlier stage of developing vocabulary, we know that having a visual symbol bank of words on display helps to support word learning by encouraging use by adult and child.

Our ready-made press out symbol resources, or downloadable versions, make creating resources like these much easier in relation to Emotion Works vocabulary.