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Personality Islands: Create 5 personality Islands
Personality Islands: Create 5 personality Islands
Criteria (you must include):
Criteria (you must include):
Five islands, one from each of these categories:
one that represents a personality trait
one that represents important people in your life
one that represents a special hobby
Pictures and images for each island – visualize what that personality trait would look like
Titles for each island
Explanation of Islands-make a copy and share with cmiller@imiddlesd.com
Inside Out / Personal Identity Personality Island Project Brief
Inside Out / Personal Identity Personality Island Project Brief
This project asks you to synthesize the concept of Personality Islands from Disney/Pixar's Inside Out with your own core Personal Values and Life Experiences.
The goal is to visualize how your main Core Identity Island is built upon specific life skills, key memories, and personal values, and how the five primary emotions (Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, Disgust) drive your behavior and decision-making in the real world.
Project Components
Project Components
You will create a visual representation (a drawing, digital collage, model, or presentation) and a written reflection (the template below) detailing your island.
1. The Central Identity Island (The Core)
Identify Your Core Identity: What is the single most important value, goal, or characteristic that defines who you are? (e.g., Creativity Island, Loyalty Island, Ambition Island, Empathy Island). This is the name of your main island.
2. The Landscape (Life Concepts & Values)
The Island's Features: The geography, structures, and attractions on your island must represent specific skills, hobbies, subjects, or personal relationships that you value.
Example: If your island is Creativity Island, a massive Art Studio might stand on the peak. A winding Family River might run through the landscape, symbolizing the constant flow of support from home.
3. The Emotional Crew (The Five Emotions)
Assigning Roles: Explain the specific role each of the five emotions plays in your daily life (during school, with friends, at home, etc.).
Joy: What moments or activities (hobbies, friendships, school successes) bring you genuine satisfaction?
Sadness: What types of setbacks or losses make you feel low, and how do you process them?
Fear: What specific situations (public speaking, taking risks, making big decisions) cause you anxiety, and how do you overcome them?
Anger: What frustrations (injustice, unfair rules, or feeling misunderstood) ignite your temper, and how do you manage that energy?
Disgust: What behaviors, habits, or situations (procrastination, unfairness, dishonesty) do you find repulsive, and how do you use that feeling to motivate positive change?
Activity 3: My Inner Voice
Students practice using positive inner speech by imagining less-than-positive scenarios and writing out how they *should* talk to themselves about it. I only use a few scenarios but this could easily be expanded. It gives kids a change to determine their "playbook" before they encounter situations that can trip them up.
Activity 4: What do THEY Think?
Printable Worksheet I Google Slides Digital Edition
Now that students have considered their own responses to potential situations they stretch their brains to imagine how others would view situations and actions involving the student. This activity is all about empathy and some students really struggle with it, demonstrating it's value. "I don't know what my friends think when I..." is a common refrain during the activity. Exactly! Here they are forced to consider why I get angry when I see them standing with friends wearing earbuds!
Activity 5: The Value of Dialogue
Having now considered their own emotions and those of others students are given action step practice. Students create a script of a dialogue of a conversation they need to have with someone - much like Riley does at the end of the movie. It is a powerful closing activity that has led some kids to actually having those conversations.
Activity 6: Create a Character
Now for a little fun! Students create a new character for an emotion they experience.
Activity 7: Article Analysis
This is probably best as an opening activity, but I tell my students they can do them in any order. This is an article about the science behind the film with some response questions made by Diffit.
These are deep thinking, highly emotional activities but by building it around a fun "kids" movie and using Riley as a stand-in for the students helps to greatly open students up to consider and work through these ideas and issues. It is one of my favorite units to teach every year and I hope you'll find value in it as well.
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