Advisory Updates from Mr. Starner, Director of Social and Emotional Learning
Grade 7
10/24/25
Hello 7th grade parents! This week in RULER class students will take part in an activity designed to expand their vocabulary of emotion and feeling words to help them better express themselves accurately. Many times when someone is asked how they are doing they will give responses such as “ok”, “sad” and “happy”. Students will begin the lesson learning that there are over 2,000 feeling words in the English language, but we tend to only use a handful of those words when describing our emotions. Many of us may not be used to answering someone honestly because we are worried about how they may react, or we may simply not have the time to have a conversation about what we are feeling or have the practice in expressing ourselves truthfully. In this lesson, students will be engaging in a “feeling words brainstorm” in which they will think of as many words as they can for each Mood Meter quadrant. Students will share what they came up with and also discuss how to use this information to help themselves shift out of an unpleasant feeling and/or support others who may need it. If you have any questions about SEL in the 7th grade, please reach out to jstarner@lawrenceschool.org Thanks!
Grade 8
10/24/25
Hello 8th grade parents! This week in RULER class students will take part in an activity designed to expand their vocabulary of emotion and feeling words to help them better express themselves accurately. Many times when someone is asked how they are doing they will give responses such as “ok”, “sad” and “happy”. Students will begin the lesson learning that there are over 2,000 feeling words in the English language, but we tend to only use a handful of those words when describing our emotions. Many of us may not be used to answering someone honestly because we are worried about how they may react, or we may simply not have the time to have a conversation about what we are feeling or have the practice in expressing ourselves truthfully. In this lesson, students will be engaging in a “feeling words brainstorm” in which they will think of as many words as they can for each Mood Meter quadrant. Students will share what they came up with and also discuss how to use this information to help themselves shift out of an unpleasant feeling and/or support others who may need it. Thank you and if you have any questions about SEL in 8th grade, please reach out to jstarner@lawrenceschool.org Thanks!