Unit Overview: Emotional Intelligence in Action

Year level: Year 5 Unit lessons: 10 lessons total Focus: Develop students' understanding of emotional intelligence and its impact on thoughts, decisions, and actions, aligned with NSW Health curriculum outcomes PH3-IHW-01 and PH3‑CWT‑01.

---

Lesson 2: Emotional Impact on Choices

Duration: 45 minutes Class size: 25 students

---

Learning Outcomes

This lesson targets learning outcomes from the NSW Curriculum Health and Physical Education for Stage 3 (Years 5–6):

• PH3-IHW-01: Examines and explains factors that influence identity, health and wellbeing of individuals and groups — specifically emotional influence on decisions.
• PH3‑CWT‑01: Creating written texts supports understanding of health, safety and well-being — by expressing understanding of emotional impact on choices in writing.

---

WALT (We Are Learning To)

Discuss how emotions influence thoughts and decisions.

Success Criteria

• Explain at least two ways emotions affect decision-making.
• Participate in group discussions expressing ideas about emotions and choices.
• Complete a graphic organiser showing connections between emotions and decisions.

---

Differentiation

• Verbal learners: Group discussions and sharing experiences.
• Visual learners: Use graphic organisers (mind maps or flowcharts) to visually map emotions and choices.
• Support for diverse learners: Simplified language prompts and peer support; extension activity with example scenarios for advanced learners.

---

Lesson Plan Outline

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

• Objective: Engage students by recalling prior knowledge of emotions.
• Teacher opens with a brief review of Lesson 1 highlights (e.g., what are emotions?) to refresh understanding.
• Ask: “Can you think of a time when how you felt changed what you did or decided?”
• Collect quick responses to activate thinking about emotions impacting behaviour.

2. Explicit Teaching (10 minutes)

• Explain simply how emotions influence thoughts and the decisions we make. For example:
• When we feel happy, we might try new things.
• When we feel angry or scared, we might make quick decisions to protect ourselves.
• Use age-appropriate examples and scenarios (e.g., deciding what to say to a friend when upset).
• Show a prepared whiteboard/chart graphic organiser with two columns: Emotions | How they impact decisions. Fill in a couple of examples interactively with the class.

3. Guided Group Discussion (10 minutes)

• Divide class into small groups (4-5 students): each group discusses one given emotion (e.g., happiness, sadness, fear, anger).
• Task: Discuss and list two ways the chosen emotion might influence a decision.
• Groups record their ideas on a shared graphic organiser sheet (these can be large paper or printed templates).
• Teacher circulates, helps groups articulate ideas, monitors participation, and offers prompts as needed.

4. Independent Activity – Graphic Organiser (15 minutes)

• Each student individually completes their own graphic organiser:
• Draw or write one emotion in a circle.
• Draw arrows connecting this to at least two decisions or actions that emotion might influence.
• Write a short sentence explaining one example.
• Encourage students to use both words and pictures.

5. Sharing and Reflection (5 minutes)

• Select a few students to share their graphic organisers and sentences.
• Summarise key learning points: how emotions influence us and why understanding this can help with making better choices.
• Reinforce success criteria: “Today we learnt about how emotions impact decisions. Can you tell me two ways emotions affect what we do?”

---

Assessment / Evidence of Learning

• Oral: Contribution to group discussion demonstrating understanding of emotion-decision connections.
• Written: Completed graphic organiser showing at least two ways emotions influence decisions, with explanation sentence aligned with success criteria.
• Teacher observation: Monitor engagement, understanding and ability to articulate emotional impact in discussions and written task.

---

Resources

• Large graphic organiser examples on whiteboard or chart paper.
• Individual graphic organiser printouts or blank paper for drawing.
• Emotion word cards to distribute in groups.
• Pens, coloured pencils/markers.

---

Links to NSW Curriculum

• Health and Physical Education Stage 3 Outcomes:
• PH3-IHW-01 Examine and explain factors that influence identity, health and wellbeing, including emotions.
• PH3‑CWT‑01 Create texts (oral and written) that demonstrate understanding of health, safety and wellbeing topics.
• Aligns with curriculum emphasis on recognising how emotions affect behaviour and decision-making, supporting positive health and wellbeing understanding.

---

Teacher Reflection Notes (for improvement)

• Consider additional use of digital tools (e.g., tablets with interactive mind maps) for visual learners next lesson.
• Plan for further scaffolding with sentence starters or question prompts for students who need it in writing task.
• Encourage incorporation of personal or cultural perspectives about emotions and decision making in future lessons to deepen engagement.

---

Preview of Remaining Unit Lessons

1. Introduction to Emotional Intelligence
2. Emotional Impact on Choices
3. Recognising Emotions in Ourselves and Others
4. Strategies to Manage Emotions
5. Empathy: Understanding Others' Feelings
6. Emotional Triggers and Responses
7. Making Responsible Decisions
8. Conflict Resolution Skills
9. Building Emotional Resilience
10. Reflecting on Emotional Intelligence Growth

---

If you want, I can also prepare detailed lesson plans for Lessons 1 and 3-10 in this unit following the same structure. Would you like me to proceed?