Lesson Idea | Exploring Emotions

This K-2 lesson on recognizing emotions helps students understand and accept their feelings as the first step to responding in healthy ways. Using Janan Cain’s The Way I Feel as the anchor text, students engage in Activate, Acquire, and Apply activities where they identify emotions on faces, reflect on times they’ve experienced those emotions, and represent feelings through drawing. With 10 minutes of prep and a 30-minute lesson plus optional 30-minute extensions, the activities encourage discussion about whether emotions are good or bad, why it’s important to identify them, and how people may feel differently at the same time. Hands-on materials like foil pie plates, sand or shaving cream, and collage-making with magazine cutouts make this lesson interactive and engaging.