Lesson Plan

Feelings First Outline

Students will learn to recognize and name emotions, practice reflective listening, and show empathy by engaging in playful activities and group discussion.

Building emotional vocabulary and active-listening skills fosters self-awareness, peer connection, and helps students manage feelings in and out of school.

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

5 mins

Step 1

Warm-Up: Emoji Mirror Game

5 mins

Step 2

Exploring Emotions with Slides

5 mins

Step 3

Circle of Feelings Discussion

10 mins

Step 4

Color Your Mood Activity

7 mins

Step 5

Reflection and Closing

3 mins

Slide Deck

Let’s Explore Emotions

Welcome everyone! Today we're going to look at some pictures of faces showing different feelings. Can you say the name of each feeling with me?

😊 Happy

Point to the happy face and say: “This is happy. When do you feel happy?”

😢 Sad

Point to the sad face and say: “This is sad. What might make someone feel sad?”

😲 Surprised

Introduce surprise: stretch eyes wide, open mouth.

😡 Angry

Discuss anger: clench fists, frown.

😟 Worried

Show worried face: furrowed brow.

😌 Calm

Discuss calm: relaxed eyes and mouth.

Scenario Practice

Quick scenario practice: “If you lost your crayon, how might you feel?”

Your Turn to Share

Encourage sharing: “Who wants to share a time they felt one of these feelings today?”

Get Ready to Act

Wrap up: “Great job naming feelings! Now we’ll play a game to act them out.”

Lesson Plan

Feelings First Outline

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

Step 1

Warm-Up: Emoji Mirror Game

Step 2

Exploring Emotions with Slides

Step 3

Circle of Feelings Discussion

Step 4

Color Your Mood Activity

Step 5

Reflection and Closing

Slide Deck

Let’s Explore Emotions

😊 Happy

😢 Sad

😲 Surprised

😡 Angry

😟 Worried

😌 Calm

Scenario Practice

Your Turn to Share

Get Ready to Act

Warm Up

Discussion

Worksheet

Feelings First

Kimberly Herrick