Lesson Plan
Session 1: Feelings Detective
Students will act as ‘Feeling Detectives’ to identify and label basic emotions in themselves and others through story reading, role-play, and reflective activities.
Developing emotional literacy helps children recognize feelings, build empathy, and learn self-regulation strategies critical for social and academic success.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Gather Materials
10 minutes
Step 1
Introduction to Feelings
5 minutes
Step 2
Story Time
10 minutes
Step 3
Detective Badge Distribution
5 minutes
Step 4
Scenario Detective
10 minutes
Step 5
Worksheet Completion
5 minutes
Step 6
Share & Reflect
5 minutes
Slide Deck
Emotion Explorer: Session 1 – Feelings Detective
Today's Objective
What Are Feelings?
Story Time: The Curious Cat
Make Your Detective Badge
Scenario Detective
Emotion Detective Worksheet
Share & Reflect
Worksheet
Reading
Activity
Activity
Lesson Plan
Session 2: Mood Meter
Students will learn to use the Mood Meter to recognize and rate their current feelings on a color‐coded chart, practice sharing their emotions aloud, and reflect on strategies to manage them.
Building emotional self‐awareness helps children regulate feelings, communicate needs, and choose appropriate coping strategies for social and learning success.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Prepare Mood Meter Materials
10 minutes
Step 1
Introduction to the Mood Meter
5 minutes
Step 2
Modeling Feelings
10 minutes
Step 3
Student Check-In Activity
10 minutes
Step 4
Worksheet Reflection
10 minutes
Step 5
Strategy Brainstorm
5 minutes
Activity
Activity
Worksheet
Activity
Activity
Lesson Plan
Session 3: Calming Corner
Students will explore and practice three calming strategies—deep breathing, rainbow visualization, and grounding—and create personal Calm Cards to use when they feel upset.
Teaching concrete calming techniques builds children’s self-regulation skills and helps them return to learning more quickly.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Set Up Calm Corner
10 minutes
Step 1
Introduction & Modeling
5 minutes
Step 2
Guided Practice
10 minutes
Step 3
Calm Card Creation
15 minutes
Step 4
Role-Play
5 minutes
Step 5
Share & Reflect
5 minutes
Lesson Plan
Session 4: Feeling Faces Game
Students will reinforce emotion vocabulary and nonverbal cue recognition through a cooperative charades game, practicing to act out and identify various feelings.
Active, movement-based games boost engagement and help children solidify emotion-recognition skills by reading facial expressions and body language.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Prepare Game Materials
10 minutes
Step 1
Emotion Review
5 minutes
Step 2
Team Charades
25 minutes
Step 3
Group Debrief
5 minutes
Step 4
Wrap-Up Reflection
5 minutes
Activity
Lesson Plan
Session 5: Story of Me
Students will identify personal emotional triggers and chart their “Story of Me” using a simple story-arc to pinpoint the event, peak emotion, and calming strategy.
Recognizing what sparks big feelings empowers children to anticipate and prepare coping strategies, boosting self-regulation.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Prepare Materials
10 minutes
Step 1
Model an Emotion Story
5 minutes
Step 2
Worksheet Mapping
15 minutes
Step 3
Partner Share
10 minutes
Step 4
Group Insights
5 minutes
Step 5
Reinforce Toolbox
5 minutes
Activity
Lesson Plan
Session 6: Coping Toolbox
Students will build a personalized “Coping Toolbox” by selecting five coping strategies from a class brainstorm and illustrating them in a creative toolbox template.
Having a ready set of coping tools empowers students to self-select strategies when they feel upset, boosting independence and self-regulation.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Prepare Materials
10 minutes
Step 1
Review Strategies
5 minutes
Step 2
Class Brainstorm
10 minutes
Step 3
Tool Selection
10 minutes
Step 4
Partner Explanation
10 minutes
Step 5
Share & Post
5 minutes
Activity
Activity
Lesson Plan
Session 7: Role-Play Resilience
Students will apply coping strategies by role-playing common classroom and playground challenges, strengthening their resilience and adaptability.
Role-playing real-life situations helps children practice and generalize self-regulation skills, building confidence and resilience.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Prepare Role-Play Stations
10 minutes
Step 1
Introduction & Explanation
5 minutes
Step 2
Station Rotation
25 minutes
Step 3
Group Debrief
5 minutes
Step 4
Personal Reflection
5 minutes
Activity
Activity
Lesson Plan
Session 8: Celebration & Next Steps
Students will review the skills they’ve learned, celebrate their growth, and set personal emotion‐regulation goals to continue using their new coping tools.
Celebrating progress boosts confidence and self‐efficacy, while goal setting helps students commit to applying skills in daily life.
Audience
Time
Approach
Materials
Prep
Prepare Celebration Materials
10 minutes
Step 1
Emotion Regulator Bingo
15 minutes
Step 2
Certificate Presentation
10 minutes
Step 3
Goal Setting
10 minutes
Step 4
Closing Circle
5 minutes
Game
Activity
Worksheet
