My Feeling · Show Me Your Face

2 min Magic Box hook

The box wears the scarf today. Shake it — one soft clunk. Hold it to your ear. Whole class chants:

Lift the lid a crack, look in, and gasp. Shut it. Look in again. Gasp again.

Pass the mirror round the circle. Every child makes their happy face at it and the class says it with them. “Happy!”

4 min Teach · Happy

Your face first, big and slow. They copy you before they say a word.

Say it three times — bigger each time. Then the mirror goes round again and each child checks their own happy face in it: make it, look, laugh.

Littles say the one word “Happy!” with hands to the cheeks — that is a full win at 2 and 3. Bigs say the frame: “I feel happy today.”

Teacher fails: pull the biggest grin you own, hold it, and announce very seriously, “I am so sad today.” Nod sadly with the grin still on. Wait. Let them fix you twice — the correction shout is the loudest English of the day.

汉字 on the wall today: 开心. Point at it as you say “happy” and they will start pointing at it for you.

3 min Song · How Do You Feel Today? — chorus + Monday verse

The one song of the week — same chorus at every circle, one new verse each morning. Chords and the full sheet are on the Song tab. Sing it twice; by the second time the thumbs are already going up and down.

3 min Game · Feelings mirror

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everyone kneels up facing you.

They copy it exactly and hold it while you count to three. “Happy!” Then a silly one, then a sleepy one, then happy again.

Now swap: one child makes a face, you and the whole class are their mirror. Every child gets a turn — ten seconds each. Bigs name theirs first: “I feel happy today.”

A child who won't make a face will still watch everyone copy someone else. Give them the mirror to hold instead — holding is a turn.

1 min Close

Hands to the cheeks, whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Colour Monster (Anna Llenas) — don't read every word, just turn the pages and name the colour and the feeling together.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Shake it — nothing rattles at all. So sniff the box instead. Sniff again. Pull a face.

Hold the box out and let three children sniff it too. Then lift out the onion and hold it up like a jewel.

Everyone leans in. “Sad!”

4 min Teach · Sad

Cut the onion in half on the board, well away from the circle, and hold the cut side up. Let your eyes water honestly — they will spot it in about four seconds.

Now the real thing, slow and quiet:

Littles say “Sad!” with the tear finger. Bigs say the two-part frame — the important one this week: “He is sad. I can help.”

Teacher fails: hunt everywhere for a tissue — in the box, under the mat, up your sleeve — while a tissue sits balanced on your head. Ask them, sadly, if anyone has seen a tissue. Wait.

汉字 on the wall today: 难过. Sad is allowed in this room — that is the whole lesson. Never rush a child out of it, just sit beside it.

3 min Song · How Do You Feel Today? — chorus + Tuesday verse

Sing this verse quietly, then the chorus loudly straight after. Sad, then okay — that shape is the point of the song.

3 min Game · Sad to glad

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The puppet sits in the middle of the circle with its head right down.

The puppet goes round the circle and every child does one kind thing for it: a pat, a hug, a blanket, a song, a whisper. Then they hand it on.

Littles do the kind thing and say “Sad!” Bigs say it as they do it: “He is sad. I can help.”

When it has been all the way round, hold the puppet up — its head comes slowly up too. Whole class: “Happy!”

Watch who is gentlest. Name it out loud by name at the end — that thirty seconds does more for the class than the whole rest of the game.

1 min Close

Tear finger, then both hands out to the circle. Whisper → normal → shout:

Got 3 spare minutes? The Rabbit Listened (Cori Doerrfeld) — the whole book is “he is sad, I can help”. Turn the pages slowly and let them say who is helping.

2 min Magic Box hook

Box chant. Shake — a papery flutter. Peek, frown, and pull out one flat, floppy, uninflated balloon.

Then, slowly, one enormous breath into it.

4 min Teach · Angry, and the big breath

Blow the balloon bigger in stages. The class grows with it, arms opening each time. Then the whole thing, on your own body:

Now let the balloon's air out slowly, squealing, right down to floppy again — that squeal is the sound they will remember the breath by. Three times together.

Littles stamp once and blow once: “Angry!” Bigs say the whole frame: “I am angry — I need a big breath.”

Teacher fails: take an enormous breath IN… and then shout even louder than before. Look pleased. Wait for them to tell you what you forgot to do with it.

秋分 · Autumn Equinox is this week. Two spare minutes? Bring out the balance: the black stone is night, the white stone is day. Let a Big put one in each pan — the beam sits dead level. “Today, night and day are the same.” The balance and its cards live on Tray 3 all week.

汉字 on the wall today: 生气, and 秋分 beside the balance.

3 min Song · How Do You Feel Today? — chorus + Wednesday verse

Sing “let it go” slower than the rest of the line, every single time. That slowing-down is a breathing lesson hidden inside a song.

3 min Game · Volcano breath, then the balloon race

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” Everyone squats down tiny with their arms wrapped round their knees.

Three rounds — slower each time, not faster. Round three, hold the top for two whole seconds before the blow.

Then the balloon race: blow two balloons up, let them go, and everyone watches them squeal across the room and drop. Twice each side of the tape line.

Pop-shy child? Nothing pops today at all — the whole point this morning is that the air comes out slowly. Keep it that way.

1 min Close

Stamp, then the breath. Whisper → normal → shout, and the breath is the loudest thing:

Got 3 spare minutes? When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry (Molly Bang) — don't read it, show it: point at Sophie's face on every page and ask “Angry? Or calm?”

2 min Magic Box hook

The box comes out fat, rattling and glinting. Box chant, whispered.

Lift each prop out in silence and hold it up — they will supply the word before you can.

Mirror → “Happy!”  Onion → “Sad!”  Balloon → “Angry!”

Then, last and slowest, the calm jar. Shake it hard and hold it up. Everybody watches the storm without a word.

4 min Teach · Scared, then calm

Scared first, on your own face — eyes wide, shoulders up by your ears.

Then set the shaken calm jar down in the middle and watch it — no talking — until every speck of glitter has settled. It takes about ninety seconds and it is the quietest the room will be all week.

Littles say “Scared!” with their hands up, and “Calm.” with their hands in their lap. Bigs say both: “I was scared. Now I am calm.”

Teacher fails: shake the jar hard and immediately announce, “There! All calm!” while the glitter is still a blizzard. Insist. Let them make you wait.

汉字 today: 害怕 and 平静. The calm jar goes into the 情绪角 (calm corner) this afternoon and stays there for the rest of the year.

3 min Song · Thursday's verse, then the WHOLE song

The finale: chorus → Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday → chorus, top to bottom, with the lanterns in their hands. They learned it one verse a morning without noticing, and this run-through is the review of the whole week.

3 min Game · Feelings quick-fire, then the lantern walk

“One, two, three — eyes on me!” The five feeling cards face-down in your hand.

The whole class makes that face instantly and holds it. “Angry!” Faster and faster, then let a Big be the card-holder. Bigs owe you the sentence, Littles the word and the face.

Then 中秋节: lanterns up, walk slowly all the way round the room singing the chorus, and come back to the circle to share the mooncake sitting down.

Last of all, the little red flag: 国庆节. Not yet — we still have school next week; the holiday is 1–7 October, and we come back on Thursday 8 October.

Mooncake is rich and the pieces should be tiny. Check your allergy list before circle, not during it.

1 min Close · the whole week in one line

Everyone sitting, one action each. Whisper → normal → SHOUT — and then the very last word drops to nothing:

The loudest word is the breath, and then the room goes quiet on “calm”. That is the joke, and it works every single time. Send the wrap-up home today with the awards and the drawing sheets.

Got 3 spare minutes? Thanking the Moon (Grace Lin) — a whole Mid-Autumn family under one moon. Read it with the lanterns still lit.

Why The short week

中秋节 falls on the Friday, so the whole of this week's finale moved forward one day:

• Thursday carried Friday's job — the whole song top to bottom, the week's review, the lantern walk, the mooncake and the parent wrap-up all happened on Day 4.
• Four words on four days, five words owned: happy · sad · angry, then scared → calm together on Thursday.
• The song has four verses, not five. Nothing is missing — that is the whole song.

Before you go What stays out over the long weekend

• The calm corner (情绪角) stays exactly where it is — the calm jar, the breathing-star card and the soft cloth. It is not a theme tray; it stays for the rest of the year.
• The feeling cards stay on the shelf. Children coming back after the break will reach for the face they recognise before they will reach for a word.
• Leave the lanterns hanging. They are the first thing the class will see when they walk back in on Monday, and they will tell you about their moon — and they can stay up right through the 国庆 holiday.
• Take the onion home. Trust us.

If your Friday does run (a make-up day, or a class that is in): sing the whole song once more, let every child choose the tray they liked best, and finish with the week's line — “Happy… sad… angry… scared… BIG BREATH — calm.” Nothing new; the week is already complete.

Next Coming back

We return on Monday 28 September with Autumn (1). First circle back, before anything new: the mirror comes out of the Magic Box again and every child shows the class the face they wore over the long weekend.

The four chords

Am is new this week and it is the easiest shape on the instrument: one finger on the top string, second fret, everything else open. It is the sad-and-soft chord — it lands on “Happy or sad” and it opens Tuesday's verse, which is exactly why the song needs it.

Tempo: gentle and rocking, not fast. Slow right down on “slow, slow breath” and let the room breathe with you.

Chorus — sing it every single day

Sing the chorus twice each time. The thumbs on “happy or sad” are what the two-year-olds join in on first — they will be doing them from Monday.

One verse a day — four days, four verses

The build: each day sing chorus → today's verse → chorus. This is a four-day week, so Thursday is the finale — the whole thing top to bottom with the lanterns lit, and it doubles as the review of the entire week.

If you're brand new to ukulele

Practice this loop for five minutes tonight: C (4 strums) → F (4) → Am (4) → G7 (4) → back to C. That is the entire song. C is one finger and Am is one finger, so two of the four shapes cost you nothing. If your fingers get stuck, put the uke down and sing it unaccompanied with the actions — the class will not notice, and the actions are doing most of the teaching anyway.