Mindfulness and the Zones of Regulation in the

Classroom

By: Colleen Parry, Nicole Triffo, & Melanie Ward

Collaboration

Summary

This fall the grade K-4 teachers at our school decided to introduce mindfulness and the zones of

regulation into our classrooms. We went to a workshop on the topic and were able to learn a lot.

We thought that there were some specific students who would benefit from having tools to help

them to cope with their day to day stresses, but also, that the student population as a whole could

benefit from this.

The Plan: To empower students by giving them coping techniques that they can use on a day to

day and moment to moment basis.

Action: We decided to purchase the Zones of Regulation in the Classroom book. This book

equipped us with lessons, printable resources and many activities and tools we could use to teach

the students in our school. This was a start, we also attended the Zones of Regulation workshop

that was held in Saskatoon this fall. This was of great help because we could better see how to

implement the resources found in the book. We learned that, for example, a lesson from the book

does and should take an extended period of time to work through. In fact, we started to look at

the lessons as more of a unit than as an individual lesson.

For Mindfulness in our classrooms we have incorporated scheduled mindfulness breaks. We

used GoNoodle a lot. The Flow portion of GoNoodle has a lot of good activities. Also, we have

Yoga4Classrooms cards that we have used. The biggest thing we have done is make purposeful

time for practicing mindfulness. Mindfulness is challenging and practice is the only way to make

it part of daily life. Once students have some of the tools in place, such as the breathing or

meditation activities, they are able to stop and do them quickly and with minimal disruption.

These can be done either as a whole class, or, individual students can do them whenever they

need to.

Curriculum Outcomes

Grade 1:

USC1.1: Examine healthy behaviors and opportunities and begin to determine how these

behaviors and opportunities may affect personal well-being.

USC1.3: Analyze, with support, feelings and behaviours that are important for nurturing healthy

relationships at school.

USC1.5: Explore the association between a healthy sense of “self” and one’s positive connection

with others in the environment

Grade 2:

USC2.1: Demonstrate a basic understanding of how thoughts, feelings, and actions influence

health and well-being.

USC2.4: Examine social and personal meanings of “respect” and establish ways to show respect

for self, persons, living things, possessions, and the environment.

Grade 3:

USC3.2: Examine the spiritual dimension of the “inner self” and determine the importance of

nurturing it.

Grade 4:

USC4.3: Examine healthy interpersonal skills and determine strategies to effectively develop new

relationships and/or negotiate disagreements in relationships.

USC4.5: Examine how identity (i.e. Self-concept, self-esteem, self-determination) is influenced by

relationships that are formed with others.

USC4.6: Assess healthy stress management strategies (i.e. relaxation skills, stress control skills,

guided imagery, expressing feelings, exercising).

Assessment Tools:

As you can well imagine, this is a very difficult kind of learning to assess. We have done a lot of

anecdotal record keeping, a lot of trial and error to find out what will work and what won’t work

in our individual classrooms. Below we have included a rubric to help you assess mindfulness

and zones of regulation with your students.

The Zones

The zones are a language that students will learn to use to identify their emotions and feelings at

any given moment. They will learn to identify their feelings, thoughts, and emotions and be able

to express what zone they are in.

It is very important to note that the zones are extremely fluid and that the green zone may look

very different depending on what situation a student is in.

The Blue Zone: This is a zone where children may be feeling tired, sad, unwell, etc. this is a slow

moving or sluggish state.

The Green Zone: This is the optimal zone for children to be in to maximize their learning. This is

the zone where children should be striving to be.

An example of how different the green zone can look in different situations: running, jumping,

screaming etc. is not considered green zone behavior in a library class, however, it is completely

acceptable “green zone” behavior for an event such as a gym blast.

The Yellow Zone: This is the zone used to describe a more heightened state of awareness.

Students in this zone are on the verge of losing control.

The Red Zone: This zone is reached when a student has lost control of his/her emotions. When

students are in this zone mindfulness activities and other tools are more difficult to implement,

but, it is very important that the tools have been taught to children to the point that they’re

automatic so that they’re accessible to children in this time of high emotional stress.

It is important to note that the red zone doesn’t associate only with anger. It is any time that the

student is not in control of their body. This may also mean excitement.

We have an Elementary common area

in our school where we post, and have

activities for students to do as part of

encouraging self-regulation. Here are

some examples of what students can

do to get themselves in the

GREEN ZONE.

Also in our Elementary common area

we have reminders for the students.

As students begin to incorporate self-

regulation strategies it begins to

influence their entire mindset.

Resources:

The Zones of Regulation: A Curriculum Designed to Foster Self-Regulation and Emotional

Control.

Written and Created by: Leah M. Kuypers, MA Ed. OTR/L

http://zonesofregulation.com/free-share.html

http://zonesofregulation.com/index.html

http://www.schoolcounselingfiles.com/zones-of-regulationemotional-regulation-activities.html

The above are some good resources but there are endless resources that you can find. On

YouTube we found many video clips where we showed them to the students and the students

had the four different colored sticks and as they watched the videos they held up the stick to

show the zone that the character was in. In YouTube you can search zones of regulation videos

for kids. You can also find a lot of stuff on Pinterest. Zones of Regulation also has a good

Facebook page.

http://www.yoga4classrooms.com/

Mindfulness Assessment

Skill Being Assessed

Level 1: Beginner

Level 2: Emerging

Level 3: Basic

understanding

Level 4: Proficient

Level 5: Exceeds proficiency

What is mindfulness? Student will be able to describe what mindfulness is and how it can help them in specific settings

Student has no knowledge of mindfulness.

Student has minimal knowledge of mindfulness and is able to identify at least one facts/components/ about mindfulness.

Student has a very basic knowledge of mindfulness and is able to identify at least two facts/components about mindfulness.

Students shows a moderate knowledge of mindfulness and is able to identify at least three facts/components/strategies about mindfulness.

Students show strong knowledge of mindfulness and is able to identify at least four facts/components about mindfulness.

Breathing Student will learn to utilize breathing exercises as a strategy to self-calm and be present.

Shallow breathing. Not able to inhale or exhale for longer than 4-5 seconds during each breathing exercise.

With prompting, student is able to do some deep breathing practices. Inhales from 5-7 seconds. With verbal coaching during breathing exercises.

With minimal prompting, student is able to do some deep breathing practices. Inhales from 5-10 seconds. With verbal coaching during breathing exercises.

Student is able to independently do some deep breathing practices. Inhales and exhales from 5-10 seconds during breathing exercises.

Student is skilled at deep breathing. Allows breath to run the mind. Is able to inhale and exhale from 10 etc. seconds during breathing exercises.

Mindfulness Assessment cont’d

Concentration/Participation Students understands the premise of mindfulness and is willing to engage in exercises.

Has difficulty concentrating when learning or practicing strategies or refuses to participate or attempt.

Usually will attempt to concentrate when learning or practicing new strategies or skills. Participates actively with frequent reminders to follow instructions or remain on task.

Concentrates most of the time when they’re learning or practicing new strategies or skills. Participates with infrequent reminders to follow instructions and stay on task.

Perseveres and concentrates when learning or practicing new skills. Participates actively with no reminders to follow instructions or remain on task.

Perseveres and concentrates when learning or practicing new skills. Always participates actively and willingly. Independently applies and transfers learning. Models for peers.

The Zones of Regulation Assessment Rubric

Target Skill Level 1 Beginner

Level 2 Emerging

Level 3 Basic

Understanding

Level 4 Proficient

Level 5 Exceeds

Proficiency Labeling emotions; happy, sad, mad/angry, scared

Unable to label emotions.

Has minimal ability to label emotions.

Has a basic understanding of labeling emotions.

Has a moderate ability to label emotions.

Has a strong knowledge of how to label emotions.

Identifies own emotions

Unable to identify own emotions.

Has minimal ability to identify own emotions.

Has a basic understanding of identifying emotions.

Has a moderate ability to identify own emotions.

Has a strong ability to identify own emotions.

Matches emotions to the zones of regulation

Unable to match emotions to zones of regulation.

Has minimal ability to match emotions to the zones of regulation.

Has a basic understanding of how to match emotions to the zones of regulation.

Has a moderate ability to match emotions to the zones of regulation.

Has a strong ability to match emotions to the zones of regulation.

Identifies which zone he is in

Unable to identify which zone he is in.

Has minimal ability to identify which zone he is in.

Has a basic understanding of how to identify which zone he is in.

Has a moderate ability to identify which zone he is in.

Has a strong ability to identify which zone he is in.

Able to identify and use tools to move to the ‘green zone’

Unable to identify and use tools to move to the ‘green zone.’

Has minimal ability to identify and use tools to move to the ‘green zone’.

Has a basic ability to identify and use tools to move to the ‘green zone’.

Has a moderate ability to identify and use tools to move to the ‘green zone’.

Has a strong ability to identify and use tools to move to the ‘green zone’.