Enrichment · Wellbeing

Find the word for what you feel.

Start in the middle of the wheel with the family that is closest, then move out to the more exact word. Note how strong it is and where you feel it, turn it into one sentence, and keep a private log of your check-ins.

Open the wheelWhat you get

The wheel

Pick a family, then a word. There are no wrong answers. Nothing you choose or write leaves this browser.

Loading the wheel. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

Every feeling on the wheel is normalFeelings are information about what matters to you, and naming one does not make it bigger. Using the wheel is practice at noticing. It is not a test, it does not measure your mental health, and it cannot tell you whether something is wrong.
If things feel like too muchTalk with a parent, a teacher, your school counselor or another adult you trust. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (United States), any time, free. In an emergency, call 911.

What you get

Enrichment · WellbeingFree

What you finish with
A more exact word for a feeling, with what it means; a check-in that records how strong it is and where you notice it; a sentence you can say to someone; everyday things to try; a private log with simple patterns; and a printable wheel, word list and check-in sheet.
Who it is for
Students from about grade 3 up, on their own or with an adult; families who want a shared vocabulary for feelings; and teachers and school counselors who run check-ins or teach self-awareness. The classroom display shows the wheel without saving anything.
Format
Browser tool with a wheel, a check-in, a log and a word-match practice. Works on a phone, tablet, computer or projector. Prints the wheel with its word list, a blank check-in sheet and the log; saves a .csv and a file to move the log between devices.
Access
Free. No account and no sign-in. Check-ins stay in this browser on this device; nothing is sent to Caveat, a school or anyone else.
Where it lives
The Wellbeing space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions, a correction or a request: team@caveatacademic.com.
The exact word is the first step. The sentence is how you tell someone else.

How to use it

  1. Pick the family in the middle of the wheel that is closest to how you feel.
  2. Read the five words for that family and choose the one that fits best. The family word is fine if none does.
  3. Rate how strong the feeling is right now, and tap where you notice it in your body.
  4. Finish the sentence: I feel this because of that, and I need this. Say it to someone, or keep it for yourself.
  5. Save the check-in. After a week, open My log and look for patterns in the words you use.

Open the wheel

Why name a feeling, and how the wheel is built

The wheel is original to this page. The reasons for using one come from research on emotion.

Why it helps

  • Putting a feeling into words changes how the brain responds to it. In brain-imaging studies, naming the emotion in an upsetting picture was followed by a smaller response in the amygdala than other ways of looking at it.
  • People who tell their feelings apart in fine detail, frustrated and not only bad, tend to handle hard moments better. Researchers call this emotion differentiation, and it is a skill that grows with vocabulary.
  • Emotions show up in the body. In one study, people in different cultures drew similar maps of where they feel anger, fear, sadness and happiness.
  • In school, identifying your emotions is part of self-awareness, one of the five social and emotional learning competencies in the CASEL framework.

How this wheel is built, and its limits

  • Eight families, each with five words from milder to stronger. Emotion researchers have proposed different sets of basic emotions; these families are a teaching choice, not a scientific claim about how many emotions exist.
  • The words and definitions were written for this page. The wheel does not reproduce Plutchik’s wheel, the Feeling Wheel or any published program.
  • The strength rating is your own notice of a feeling from 1 to 5. It is not a test or a score, and the page never interprets it.
  • The things to try are everyday skills. They are not therapy, and they will not fix a problem that needs help from a person.
  • The log lives in this browser. A shared computer shares the log, so use the export file and Delete on a device that is not yours.
FamilyMilderStronger
Happycontentcheerfulproudexcitedoverjoyed
Connectedfriendlyincludedtrustinggratefulloved
Calmcomfortablerelaxedsaferelievedpeaceful
Surprisedcuriousconfusedstartledamazedshocked
Saddowndisappointedhurtlonelyheartbroken
Scareduneasynervousworriedoverwhelmedterrified
Angryannoyedfrustratedjealousdisgustedfurious
Embarrassedawkwardself-consciousguiltyashamedhumiliated

The forty words, by family. The order from milder to stronger is a guide for discussion, not a rule: people use feeling words differently, and two people can mean different things by the same word.

Sources

  1. Matthew D. Lieberman, Naomi I. Eisenberger, Molly J. Crockett, Sabrina M. Tom, Jennifer H. Pfeifer and Baldwin M. Way, "Putting Feelings Into Words: Affect Labeling Disrupts Amygdala Activity in Response to Affective Stimuli," Psychological Science 18, no. 5 (2007): 421–428.
  2. Todd B. Kashdan, Lisa Feldman Barrett and Patrick E. McKnight, "Unpacking Emotion Differentiation: Transforming Unpleasant Experience by Perceiving Distinctions in Negativity," Current Directions in Psychological Science 24, no. 1 (2015): 10–16.
  3. Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari and Jari K. Hietanen, "Bodily Maps of Emotions," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111, no. 2 (2014): 646–651.
  4. Paul Ekman, "An Argument for Basic Emotions," Cognition and Emotion 6, no. 3–4 (1992): 169–200, and Robert Plutchik, "The Nature of Emotions," American Scientist 89, no. 4 (2001): 344–350: two of the proposals for families of basic emotions.
  5. CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning), the CASEL 5: self-awareness, including identifying one’s emotions (casel.org).
  6. 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, call or text 988 in the United States (988lifeline.org).

Educational practice in naming feelings, not medical or mental health care, assessment or diagnosis. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.