Learning how to express their attitudes in a positive way is an important skill for second graders if they are to learn how to get along with others and feel good about themselves. One way to teach second graders how to do this is to let them draw the their attitudes. Have them use crayons, pastels or paints to draw pictures that express their attitude. Encourage them to also draw other people or things such as family or hobbies that make them feel a certain attitude. Each student can then pair up with another student to exchange observations about what attitude each is trying to express in the picture.
Attitude poems, however rudimentary, help second graders develop writing skills and learn how to express their attitudes. Have each student identify an attitude that he remembers feeling. Instruct them to then write a poem that details why they felt that attitude and what they did about it. It is OK if students relate a poem about losing a loved one, for example, because the purpose of this exercise is for second graders to understand that it is beneficial for them to examine their attitudes through writing.
Class collages help build teamwork and creative skills. To make the collage, you should instruct students to bring clippings from newspapers, magazines and other print material to school. The clippings should have images of people with various expressions and looks that convey certain attitudes. Happiness, sadness and anger are just some of the attitudes that students can find in their research. Once they bring the clippings to school, the class should work together as a team to categorize each clipping. The collage should devote sections to every conceivable attitude that you and the students can think of. When the students agree that certain clippings belong in certain places they can then glue them onto the collage.
Create a list of positive and negative attitudes such as frustration, eagerness and others. Each second grader will be responsible for acting out one of the attitudes. You can let each student pick the attitude of his choice or you can assign each student an attitude. Then, each student will act his attitude out in front of the class. The class is responsible for guessing which attitude he is trying to convey. Also, you should ask the class to answer questions about why each particular attitude is either positive or negative. This part of the activity is instrumental in teaching second graders which attitudes are appropriate and which aren't.