1. Grab Attention with a Question

Educator says: "Have you ever felt super sunny and smiley inside? What about like a grumpy, stompy dinosaur? Today, we are going to be feeling detectives! We are going to learn all about the big feelings we have inside us and what our faces look like when we feel them. Are you ready to investigate?"

2. State the Objectives Simply

Educator says: "Our mission today is to learn the names for four big feelings: happy, sad, angry, and scared. We will learn to show them on our faces and even draw a picture about one of them!"

1. I Do: I Show You My Feelings (5 minutes)

Educator says: "Watch me. I'm going to show you a feeling with my face and my body, and I'll tell you about it."

• (Hold up the HAPPY card) "This is happy! When I feel happy, my mouth goes up in a big smile, and my eyes get bright. I feel warm and bubbly inside, like when I get a big hug. Look, this is my happy face!" (Make an exaggerated happy face).
• (Hold up the SAD card) "This is sad. When I feel sad, my mouth turns down, and sometimes a little tear might come out of my eye. I feel droopy, like a flower that needs water. This is my sad face." (Make a sad face).
• (Hold up the ANGRY card) "This is angry. When I feel angry, my eyebrows scrunch together, and my mouth gets tight. I feel hot and prickly inside, like a volcano. ROAR! This is my angry face." (Make an angry face).
• (Hold up the SCARED card) "This is scared. When I feel scared, my eyes get really big, and I might open my mouth like this. My heart might beat fast, like a drum. This is my scared face." (Make a scared face).

Formative Assessment Check: "Can you point to the happy face for me? Now point to the angry face."

2. We Do: Let's Make Feeling Faces Together (5-7 minutes)

Educator says: "Now it's our turn to do it together! Let's use our magic mirror."

• Activity 1 - Mirror Me: "I have a mirror. Let's look at our amazing faces. First, let's make a super happy face! Can you see your smile?" (Give a moment for observation). "Great job! Now, can we make a sad face? Let's turn our smiles upside down. What does your sad face look like?" (Continue for angry and scared).
• Activity 2 - Feeling Stories: "Now, I'll tell you a little story, and you show me the feeling face that matches. Ready?
  • 'You just got a brand new puppy!' (Learner makes a happy face).
  • 'Oh no! Your favorite toy just broke.' (Learner makes a sad face).
  • 'Someone knocked over your block tower!' (Learner makes an angry face).
  • 'You hear a loud, scary noise in the dark.' (Learner makes a scared face).

Formative Assessment Check: Observe the learner’s ability to correctly match the emotion to the scenario and their facial expression in the mirror. Give gentle corrections if needed: "That's a good try! For angry, let's try scrunching our eyebrows together like this."

3. You Do: Draw Your Feeling (5-8 minutes)

Educator says: "You are such an amazing feeling detective! Now it's your turn to be the artist. I want you to pick one feeling—happy, sad, angry, or scared. Think about a time you felt that way. Now, draw a picture about it."

(Provide paper and crayons. Play soft music if desired. Give the learner space and time to create).

Success Criteria

• You chose one feeling to draw.
• You drew a picture about that feeling.
• You can tell me which feeling you drew and a little bit about your picture.

1. Show and Tell

Educator says: "Wow, what a wonderful drawing! Can you tell me about it? Which feeling did you draw? What is happening in your picture?"

(Listen actively and validate their feelings: "It makes sense that you felt sad when your balloon flew away. Thank you for sharing your sad feeling with me.") This is the summative assessment.

2. Recap the Learning

Educator says: "Today we were amazing feeling detectives! We learned about four big feelings. Can you help me remember them?" (Point to cards or prompt as needed: happy, sad, angry, scared).

3. End with a Song

Educator says: "Let's sing a little song to help us remember. (To the tune of 'If You're Happy and You Know It')."

"If you're happy and you know it, smile real big! (Smile!)
If you're sad and you know it, make a frown. (Frown!)
If you're angry and you know it, stomp your feet! (Stomp! Stomp!)
If you're scared and you know it, hide your eyes! (Peek!)
All our feelings are okay, hooray, hooray!"

Educator says: "Great job today! It's good to know our feelings so we can talk about them."