SAMPLE LESSON

Lesson One: Feelings (4–5 year olds)

Outcome

Children will learn to identify and label the following feelings:

  • Sad
  • Happy
  • Mad
  • Scared
  • Surprised

Required Material

  • Teatree’s Feelings poster
  • Children’s Feelings poster
  • Teatree’s Feelings Worksheet
  • Modelling clay
  • Sheets of paper and finger paints
  • Music that expresses or conveys happy, sad, mad, and scared feelings (optional)
  • Storybook The Way I Feel by Janan Cain (optional)

Background

Teaching lessons about feelings is an important component in promoting a child’s self-awareness. Becoming aware of emotions includes understanding how we feel in situations, how to label and express our feelings, and how to recognize feelings in others (Mark Greenberg, 2004).

If a child is feeling uncomfortable, unsure or scared in a situation, being aware of how s/he feels will help her/him in reaching out for the support of an adult who s/he has identified s/he can go to for help. Additionally, teaching about feelings promotes talking about emotions as a means to solve problems.

People naturally try to avoid negative feelings. Although adults typically try to protect children from negative feelings, they can help children learn about empowerment and avoiding helplessness. Anxiety, sadness, and anger carry messages of pain that motivate people to act to remove any threats that they might encounter. These types of feelings are often the first line of defense against danger (Seligman, 1995).

Presentation

Activate Prior Knowledge

Explain to the children that we have many different feelings. Sometimes we feel happy, sad, mad, scared or surprised. Our bodies show others how we feel. Share an experience that made you feel happy. Explain to children that you felt happy on the inside and your body showed it on the outside. Ask children how their face looks when they are happy.

Direct Instruction

Show the Teatree’s Feelings poster and the Children’s Feelings poster to children and point out each of the expressions. Examine each expression with the children:

Happy

  • Teatree is having her birthday party this afternoon and she is feeling happy. Let’s look at Teatree’s face when she feels happy. How does Teatree’s face look when she is happy?

    Answer: She has a smile on her face. She smiles when she feels happy.

  • Let’s look at the child’s face when he is happy. How does the child look when he is happy?

    Answer: He has a smile on his face. He smiles when he feels happy.

  • Let’s look at our faces when we are happy. How do we look when we are happy?

    Answer: We have smiles on our faces. We smile when we feel happy.

Mad

  • Teatree’s brother ate her birthday cake before her party started and she is feeling angry. Let’s look at Teatree’s face when she feels mad. How does Teatree’s face look when she is mad?

    Answer: She has a scowl on her face. She scowls when she feels mad.

  • Let’s look at the child’s face when he is mad. How does the child look when he is mad?

    Answer: He has a scowl on his face. He scowls when he feels mad.

  • Let’s look at our faces when we are mad. How do we look when we are mad?

    Answer: We have scowls on our faces. We scowl when we feel mad.

Sad

  • Teatree’s cousin could not come to her birthday party and she is feeling sad. Let’s look at Teatree’s face when she feels sad. How does Teatree’s face look when she is sad?

    Answer: She is crying or has the corners of her mouth are drawn down. She cries when she feels sad.

  • Let’s look at the child’s face when she is sad. How does the child look when she is sad?

    Answer: The corners of her mouth are drawn down. The corners of her mouth are drawn down when she feels sad.

  • Let’s look at our faces when we are sad. How do we look when we are sad?

    Answer: The corners of our mouths are drawn down. The corners of our mouths are drawn down, and sometimes we cry, when we feel sad.

Scared

  • Teatree’s mom put sparklers on the birthday cake. Teatree thought she would get burned. Teatree was scared. Let’s look at Teatree’s face when she feels scared. How does Teatree’s face look when she is scared?

    Answer: Her eyes are open wide. She opens her eyes wide when she is scared.

  • Let’s look at the child’s face when he is scared. How does the child look when he is scared?

    Answer: His eyes are open wide. He opens his eyes wide when he is scared.

  • Let’s look at our faces when we are scared. How do we look when we are scared?

    Answer: We open our eyes wide. Our eyes get wide when we are scared. Sometimes our bodies shake when we are scared.

Surprised

  • Teatree got a new bike for her birthday and she was surprised. Let’s look at Teatree’s face when she feels surprised. How does Teatree’s face look when she is surprised?

    Answer: Her eyes and mouth are really wide open. She opens her eyes and mouth really wide when she is surprised.

  • Let’s look at the child’s face when she is surprised. How does the child look when she is surprised?

    Answer: Her eyes and mouth are really wide open. She opens her eyes and mouth really wide when she is surprised.

  • Let’s look at our faces when we are surprised. How do we look when we are surprised?

    Answer: We open our eyes and mouth really wide. We open our eyes and mouth really wide when we are surprised.

Optional: Read to the children the storybook The Way I Feel by Janan Cain.

Guided Practice

Imitate an Emotion

Show an emotion on your face and ask children to copy it. Then ask the children to name the emotion. Repeat the same exercise for each of the following emotions:

  • Happy
  • Mad
  • Sad
  • Scared
  • Surprised

Create a Face

Give each child some modelling clay. Ask the children to use their modelling clay to make a face that is sad. Repeat for all emotions (i.e. happy, mad, scared, sad and surprised).

Body Feelings Game

Ask the children to walk in a circle. As they walk in a circle, ask the children to demonstrate each feeling (i.e. happy, mad, sad, scared and surprised) using their bodies (i.e. using facial expressions, body movements and the pace of their movements). Have the children sit in a circle. Ask for volunteers. Whisper a feeling in the volunteer’s ear and have her/him walk around the circle of children showing the feeling with her/his body (i.e. facial expression, body movements and pace of her/his walk). Have the other children guess the feeling. Ask them how they know how the child was feeling (i.e. “What did her/his face look like?”).

Optional: Play music that represents or expresses the mood for each feeling. As the music plays, have the children walk around in a circle interpreting the feeling with their bodies, as outlined above.

Closure

Teatree’s Feelings

Photocopy and hand out the Teatree’s Feelings Worksheet and ask children to:

  • Put a circle around the face that is sad.
  • Put a square around the face that is happy.
  • Put a heart around the face that is mad.
  • Put an “X’” through the face that is scared.
  • Colour the face that is mixed-up.

Finger Painting

Give the children sheets of paper and finger paints and ask them to design a picture that represents the emotions happy, mad, sad, scared and/or surprised.

Exit Slip

Using the Children’s Feelings poster, point to the faces and ask children to label the feelings. Put up the Children’s Feelings poster and the Teatree’s Feelings poster in the classroom and check in with the children about how they feel each day so they begin to monitor their own emotions.

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