Lesson Plan

Feeling Detective Lesson Outline

Enable students to recognize and articulate emotions by observing physical, mental, and behavioral clues like detectives, fostering self-awareness and empathy.

Building emotional literacy and self-awareness helps students manage feelings, communicate effectively, and supports a positive classroom community.

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Teacher Preparation

10 minutes

Step 1

Warm-Up: Mood Meter Check-In

5 minutes

Step 2

Instruction: Exploring Emotional Clues

15 minutes

Step 3

Activity: Emotion Detective Case Files

20 minutes

Step 4

Reflection & Wrap-Up

5 minutes

Slide Deck

Feeling Detective: Discover Your Emotional Clues

Welcome the students and introduce the Feeling Detective theme. Explain that today they will learn to spot emotional clues in themselves and others.

Today’s Mission

Review the goals for the session. Encourage curiosity.

What Is an Emotional Clue?

Define what an emotional clue is in everyday situations.

Physical Clues

Discuss physical signs of emotion. Show images or mime examples.

Mental Clues

Explain mental or thought-related clues.

Behavioral Clues

Highlight behavioral cues that show emotion to others.

Role-Play: Physical Clue

Invite one student to come up and silently act a physical clue. Class guesses the emotion.

Role-Play: Mental Clue

Have a volunteer act a mental or thought-based clue. Class discusses what the person might be thinking.

Role-Play: Behavioral Clue

Invite a student to demonstrate a behavioral clue. Class identifies the emotion.

Clue Check-In

Quick formative check. Ask several students to share clues they noticed during role-play.

Time for Case Files

Transition to the group activity using the Emotion Detective Case Files.

Detective Summary

Summarize the lesson and encourage ongoing detective work.