Subject: ELA (English Language Arts), SEL (Social-Emotional Learning)

Lesson Length: 45 mins - 1 hour

Topic: Emotions, Understanding Feelings

Grade Level: 1, 2

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description: Students will display basic emotions they can feel.

Know Before You Start: Students should be familiar with the six basic emotions: sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust.

Hook:

  • Ask students:
    • “How do you feel today?”
    • “What are emotions?”
    • “Has there ever been a time you felt _____?”
  • Ask students to show a face that looks happy, sad, angry, frustrated, excited.

Activity:

  • As a class, have students discuss the six basic emotions and act out what someone might look like and sound like when experiencing those emotions.
  • Have students discuss example situations where those emotions might occur.
  • Have students select an event in their life that made them feel a certain emotion.
  • Have students share about the event and their emotions with a partner.
  • Using the sample comic as a model, have students create a comic displaying the event they identified and have the character show the emotion the student felt during that event.

Closure:

  • Have students share their comics with the class or in small groups.
  • Have students explain what happened during the event and what made them feel that particular emotion.
  • Emphasize the importance of understanding our emotions and what makes us feel a certain way.

Differentiation:

  • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
  • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
  • Allow students to use the voiceover to read their comics aloud.

Resources:

  • Comic to print or display: Comic.
  • Books:
    • Even Superheroes Have Bad Days by Shelly Becker
    • The Way I Feel by Janan Cain
    • The Sour Grape by Jory John
  • Movie: Inside Out by Pixar
  • Video: Emotions for Kids

Suggested Story Starters: