The purpose of this lesson is to help students name their emotions.
Identifying emotions begins with recognizing what we are feeling and labeling those emotions accurately. Communicating our emotions allows others to understand our needs and provide meaningful support. By identifying the events or situations that trigger certain emotions, we can better navigate challenges. Emotional regulation involves responding to our emotions in appropriate and constructive ways. While we cannot control every situation, we can control how we choose to respond.
Activity 1: (15 minutes) PYRAMID OF HAPPINESS
Review the Pyramid of Happiness anchor chart from the slides and practice the actions associated with each level of the pyramid:
Highlight the 3rd level of the pyramid (Connection) and its action (hug yourself and give a friendly wave). Read aloud the correlating poem stanza together from the slides. Explain that when we know how we are feeling and can talk about our emotions, we can get the support we need and grow closer to others. Share the definitions of the terms “emotions” and “feelings” from the slides.
Activity 2: (20 minutes) IDENTIFYING EMOTIONS
Everyone can experience different emotions. We can even feel many different emotions in one day. We know our emotions when we notice how we feel and can name them. When we can name the emotion we are feeling, we can talk about how we are feeling and ask for help.
Review some information about the 8 basic emotions (happiness, sadness, anger, anticipation, fear, loneliness, jealousy, and disgust) on the slides. Have a discussion:
Play the game Roll an Emotion by following these steps:
Activity 3: (20 minutes) HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Prior to this activity, watch the video and see if it is the best fit for your students.
Read the book The Color Monster by Anna Llenas or watch the read-aloud video from 0:06 to 3:52. Invite students to pay attention to the different emotions they hear in the story. Have a discussion:
Pass out art supplies. Using lined paper or student journals, invite students to draw a picture showing how they feel today. At the bottom, students will finish the sentence, “Today I feel ___________.”
Activity 4: (25 minutes) REGULATION STRATEGIES
Prior to this activity, watch the video and see if it is the best fit for your students.
Watch the video “Inside Out: Guessing the feelings” by Laia Garcia until 3:12. As students watch, ask them to pay attention to how the girl in the video is feeling. Pause the video after each segment to discuss how she is feeling and what emotional response her body is having based on her feelings.
Explain that when we feel big emotions like sadness, anger, or jealousy, we can calm our bodies and control how we act. This is called regulating our emotions. It is healthy to name (identify) our emotions, talk about them, and regulate them to help us feel calm and happy. It is not healthy to hide our feelings or ignore them.
Explain that students can use calm-down (regulation) strategies anywhere they are. Go through the slides to introduce some simple regulation strategies that students can use anywhere. As a class, choose 1–3 of the strategies to try together. Have a discussion:
Challenge students to try a calming strategy at home and come to school the next day prepared to share what they did.
Teacher Tip: Point out when you see students regulating their emotions. Think aloud as a teacher and model for students how you identify and regulate your own emotions.
Prior to this activity, watch the video and see if it is the best fit for your students.
Ask students to think about what helps them feel calm when they are feeling a big emotion. Invite a few students to share.
Read the book I Am Stronger Than Anger by Elizabeth Cole or watch the read-aloud video from 0:16 to 6:50. Invite students to pay attention to how Nick is feeling and what strategies he uses to feel calm. Have a discussion:
Prior to the activity, gather a variety of tools and bring them to your classroom in a toolbox.
Show students your toolbox or display the image of a toolbox on the slides and ask them to think about how tools help us.
Explain to students that tools help us do many things that we could not do without them. Go through a few specific examples, using the tools you gathered (e.g., a hammer helps us pound in nails, a wrench helps us loosen or tighten things, a measuring tape helps us take exact measurements.)
Our calming strategies are like tools that can help us control (regulate) our emotions. On the whiteboard or a piece of chart paper, write “Emotions Toolbox” on the top. Invite students to think about what calming strategies or “tools” they like to use or would like to try the next time they are feeling big emotions. Record students’ answers.
Pass out the My Emotions Toolbox handout to each student. Instruct students to write or draw 4 calming tools they can try the next time they feel big emotions. Invite students to share their calming strategies with their families.
Teacher Tip: Consider embedding regulation strategies into your daily classroom setup or routines. For example, you could establish a calm down corner, try breathing exercises for brain breaks, incorporate music and movement into transitions, or have an emotional check-in time with students so they can practice identifying and expressing how they are feeling.
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