Students practice belly breathing and other healthy calm-down strategies — learning they can settle a big feeling before it takes over, using tools they carry with them everywhere.
Students will be able to…
When a feeling gets really big, your body speeds up. What can you do — anytime, anywhere — to help it settle back down?
Project this and breathe along as a class. Breathe in as the circle grows, hold, and breathe out as it shrinks — a calming reset anyone can use.
Breathe in as the circle grows, hold, then breathe out slowly as it shrinks. This “belly breathing” tells your body it is safe to calm down.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
What does your body do when upset?
Teach belly breathing.
Practice the strategies.
Apply to situations.
Choose a go-to tool.
Aligned to the CASEL 5 social-emotional learning competencies.
Use strategies to manage strong emotions and impulses, including calming techniques.
Recognize body signals connected to emotions.
Pause and choose a calm response before acting.
Demonstrate healthy practices and behaviors to maintain or improve personal well-being.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students design a personal “calm-down plan” card listing their favorite healthy strategies and a trusted adult to talk to. A printable plan card is in the SEL library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.