Using feel wheels during interactive read-alouds is one way that teachers can simultaneously support children’s social emotional and vocabulary development in ways that are authentic, humanizing, and culturally responsive. Utilizing mindfulness tools, like the feel wheel, during literacy instruction, works to extend the possibilities for connections between transformative social-emotional learning (SEL) and vocabulary development when exploring students’ own emotions and the emotions of the characters. The purpose of this article is to share justice-oriented suggestions based on the authors’ experiences using the feel wheel during interactive read-alouds in a fifth-grade classroom: (1) identifying emotion vocabulary and (2) inferring characters’ emotions with evidence that highlights characters’ cultural experiences. After introducing each suggestion, we provide classroom examples aligned with evidence-based practices, insights from teachers and students, and ideas for how elementary teachers can apply each suggestion during their own interactive read-alouds with children’s literature tailored to their own students.
Author Bio
Allison Phillippe, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of elementary education at Grand Valley State University. Her work as a teacher educator is informed by her experiences as an elementary teacher. Her research interests include collaborating with teachers to explore justice-oriented approaches to integrate transformative SEL and literacy with interactive read-alouds of children’s literature. She can be reached at phillal1@gvsu.edu
Katie Johnson is a fifth-grade teacher at Jenison Public Schools. She is passionate about fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment where her students can thrive academically and socially. In this role, she also collaborates with colleagues to provide professional learning opportunities for teachers in her district and across the state. She can be reached at johnskat96@gmail.com.
elementary education at Grand Valley State University.
Her work as a teacher educator is informed by her
experiences as an elementary teacher. Her research
interests include collaborating with teachers to explore
justice-oriented approaches to integrate transformative
SEL and literacy with interactive read-alouds of children’s
literature. She can be reached at phillal1@gvsu.
edu.
Recommended Citation
Phillippe, Allison and Johnson, Katie
(2025)
"Wheels, Words, and Wonder: Cultivating Vocabulary and Social Emotional Development with Feel Wheels,"
Michigan Reading Journal: Vol. 58:
Iss.
1, Article 8.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/mrj/vol58/iss1/8
