Friendship 2: Identifying and Expressing Feelings
Grade 1: Identify and name common feelings. Grade 3: Describe appropriate, constructive ways to express feelings.
Time: 2–3 sessions Subjects: Social-emotional learning, Speaking/Listening, Writing
Learning Objectives
- Identify common feelings from facial expressions, words, and situations.
- Use specific vocabulary to describe emotions.
- Practice safe and respectful ways to express strong feelings.
- Distinguish between having a feeling and choosing an appropriate action.
Procedure
- Vocabulary: Introduce a small set of feeling words such as happy, disappointed, worried, frustrated, excited, calm, and proud. Discuss examples and non-examples.
- Facial-expression activity: Students create paper-plate faces showing different feelings. Emphasize that facial expressions can provide clues but do not always tell us exactly how another person feels.
- Scenario cards: Give students fictional situations. Ask, “How might someone feel?” and “What are two appropriate ways to respond?” Accept more than one reasonable feeling when the situation allows it.
- Role-play: Students practice calm words, asking for help, taking a break, or solving a disagreement. Keep scenarios fictional; students are not required to disclose personal experiences.
- Writing or drawing: Grade 1 students complete a sentence frame such as “A person might feel ___ when ___.” Grade 3 students write a short response explaining a feeling and a constructive action.
- Communication: A pen-pal or cross-class exchange can be used, but prompts should focus on school-appropriate topics rather than private emotional information.
Assessment
Grade 1: correctly identify several feelings from words, pictures, or scenarios. Grade 3: explain a feeling and give an appropriate action for a teacher-provided situation.
Teacher Note
Do not require students to reveal personal problems or use role-play to reenact real conflicts. Provide private or written response options when appropriate.