Overview

This is lesson 2 of 10 in the unit "Building Resilience and Communication" designed for Year 5 students following the NSW Health syllabus. WALT: We Are Learning To explain the impact of emotions on decisions. Success Criteria: Students will share examples of how emotions can affect decisions through group activities and role-play. Differentiation: Role-play is used to engage kinesthetic learners. Additional scaffolding and visual aids support diverse learning needs.

Curriculum Context

Outcomes addressed:

PH3-IHW-01: Examines and explains factors that influence identity, health and wellbeing of individuals and groups
PH3-CWT-01: Creating written texts supports understanding of health, safety and well-being

These outcomes support students to explore emotions' role in influencing identity and decision-making related to health and wellbeing, and to communicate these understandings effectively in written and spoken form.

Lesson Details

Duration: 45 minutes

Class size: 30 students

Materials:

Scenario cards with emotional decision-making situations
Whiteboard and markers
Role-play props (optional)
Paper and pencils for writing reflections

Lesson Plan

1. Introduction (5 minutes)

Briefly revisit Lesson 1 concepts about emotions and resilience.
Introduce today’s focus: how emotions can influence decisions we make.
WALT and success criteria displayed and read aloud.

2. Class Discussion: Emotions & Decisions (10 minutes)

Elicit student ideas: "Can you think of a time when your feelings affected a choice you made?"
Teacher writes examples on the board, highlighting different emotions (happy, angry, sad, excited) and the decisions linked to those emotions.
Discuss how emotions can sometimes help us make good choices, and sometimes they may lead to poor decisions.

3. Group Activity – Role-Play Scenarios (15 minutes)

Divide class into small groups of 5 students.
Each group receives a scenario card illustrating a situation where emotions influence decision-making (e.g. peer pressure, frustration, excitement about a new game).
Groups discuss the scenario and create a short role-play to demonstrate:
What emotions are involved?
How those emotions might affect the decisions characters make.
Groups perform their role-plays for the class.
After each, facilitate a brief discussion: "What emotions did you see? How did they influence the decisions?"

Alternative approaches:

For diverse learning preferences, consider group discussions without role-play, reflective journaling on the scenarios, case study analysis, or role-play debates.
These options allow flexibility to engage students who may prefer different methods of participation.

Differentiation:

Kinesthetic learners actively engaged via role-play.
Provide reading support and simplify scenario language as needed.
Encourage expressive language development through discussion questions.

4. Individual Reflection and Written Response (10 minutes)

Students write a short paragraph responding to the prompt: "Describe a time when your emotions influenced a decision you made. What was the emotion? What happened because of your decision?"
Encourage students to use emotional language and relate back to the lesson.
Teachers can provide sentence starters for students needing extra support (e.g., "I felt ___, so I decided to ____.")

5. Wrap-up and Link to Future Lessons (5 minutes)

Recap what was learned about emotions impacting decisions.
Highlight that understanding our emotions helps us make better choices in the future.
Preview next lesson's focus on communication skills that support resilience and decision-making.

Assessment Opportunities

Observation of group discussions and role-plays assessing students’ understanding of emotion-decision connections.
Reviewing individual written reflections for comprehension of emotional influences on decision making aligned with PH3-CWT-01.

Additional Notes for Teachers

Maintain a supportive environment where students feel safe expressing emotions during discussions.
Use guiding questions during role-play debriefs to deepen insight:
“What could have happened if the character made a different decision?”
“How might you feel if you were in that situation?”
For students who are shy, offer an option to narrate rather than perform role-plays.
Consider offering alternative methods such as group discussions, reflective journaling, case study analysis, or role-play debates to accommodate diverse learning preferences and ensure all students can engage meaningfully.

Outline for Full Unit: "Building Resilience and Communication" (Year 5 Health)

Lesson 1: Understanding Emotions and Resilience WALT: Identify emotions and how resilience helps us cope.
Lesson 2: Emotional Responses and Decision-Making (This lesson)
Lesson 3: Communication Skills for Resilience WALT: Demonstrate respectful communication to support wellbeing.
Lesson 4: Recognising and Managing Stress WALT: Identify stress signals and coping strategies.
Lesson 5: Seeking Help and Support WALT: Explain help-seeking strategies for mental health.
Lesson 6: Building Positive Relationships WALT: Describe qualities that foster respectful friendships.
Lesson 7: Managing Conflict Constructively WALT: Practice strategies for resolving disagreements.
Lesson 8: Digital Communication and Safety WALT: Explain safe and respectful online behaviour.
Lesson 9: Self-Identity and Personal Strengths WALT: Explore factors that influence identity and resilience.
Lesson 10: Reflecting on Resilience and Communication WALT: Reflect on skills learnt to build resilience and communicate effectively.

If you would like, I can provide detailed lesson plans for each of these lessons to comprehensively cover the unit aligning to NSW Health standards.

This plan is highly aligned with NSW curriculum outcomes PH3-IHW-01 and PH3-CWT-01, scaffolds learning for diverse learners, uses a multimodal approach (discussion, role-play, writing), and provides assessment opportunities to gauge understanding and capability in explaining emotions' impact on decision-making.

Emotional Impact Decisions

Teaching Instructions