The Brain

Class Lessons on “The Brain”:

For our lessons we divided the brain into three parts:

  1. The THINKING brain
  2. The FEELING brain
  3. The REACTING brain

*The THINKING brain is the part of our brain we want making the decisions. When we let our thinking brain do the work we are calm, we think about how each decision will impact ourselves and other people, we listen to what others are saying, and we are SAFE, RESPECTFUL, and RESPONSIBLE.

*The FEELING brain is the part of our brain that reacts to situations using feelings. In our class lessons we discuss all the different feelings we might have and how using only our feelings to make decisions keeps us from seeing all the possibilities and sometimes making the best decision. We discuss the difference between positive decisions and easy decisions as well as the challenge of making decisions that are SAFE, RESPECTFUL, and RESPONSIBLE.

*The REACTING brain is the part of our brain that reacts first, and feels and thinks after. Reacting brain says things and does things that are impulsive and often hurtful. Reacting brain does not take into account the feelings of others and does not consider all the possible consequences, both positive and negative, that a decision might include. Reacting brain is often NOT SAFE, NOT RESPECTFUL, and NOT RESPONSIBLE.


For our class lessons we studied the following picture to help us remember the parts and their functions.

Our follow-up lesson demonstrates the control we can have over our responses. We spend time discussing and practicing strategies to encourage our "thinking brain" and "feeling brain" and discourage our "reacting brain".

The above pictures show how our hand can symbolize the parts of the brain we discuss in our class lessons. The green happy face and our fingers like a cover over our thumb represent the "thinking brain". Our four fingers stretched out, and the sad yellow face represent the "feeling brain". The final picture with the red upset face and the fingers and thumb stretched out represent the "reacting brain". The "reacting brain" includes the thumb and the thumb is compared to a "monster" because when our "reacting brain" is doing the work we are often out of control and responding in an impulsive manner. In our classroom lessons we stress the importance of being patient, observing and thinking about what is happening, and making decisions that benefit ourselves and others.