Emotions Exploration

Year Level

Year 2 - 3 (Ages approximately 7–9 years)

Duration

45 minutes

Class Size

19 students

Unit Information

Unit Title: Positive Interactions and Safety
Lesson 1 of 6
Lesson Title: Understanding Emotions
Lesson Description:
Students will explore different emotions and their expressions through group discussions and role-playing activities. They will learn to identify their own emotional responses and those of others.

Curriculum Alignment

Queensland Curriculum & Assessment Authority (QCAA)
Health and Physical Education – Years 1 and 2 Curriculum — Content Descriptor:

AC9HP2P03: Identify how different situations influence emotional responses
- Elaborations include recognising own emotions, exploring self-regulation strategies, identifying triggers, predicting feelings based on facial/body language, and recognising emotions in self and others .

For Year 3 extension, elements from Year 2 descriptors apply with scaffolded challenge in emotional vocabulary and perspective-taking.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

Identify and name a variety of basic emotions (e.g., happy, sad, angry, scared, excited).
Recognise their own emotional responses in different situations.
Describe ways emotions can be expressed through facial expressions, body language, and words.
Demonstrate empathy by recognising emotions in their peers.
Practise simple self-regulation strategies to manage emotional responses.

Resources Needed

Emotion flashcards with faces (happy, sad, angry, scared, excited, surprised, calm)
Whiteboard and markers
Scenario cards for role-play (simple everyday situations)
Emotion thermometer poster (visual self-regulation aid)
Space cleared for role-playing activities

Lesson Breakdown

1. Welcome and Introduction (5 minutes)

Greet students warmly.
Briefly introduce the lesson focus: "Today, we will learn about feelings or emotions and how we can tell what we or others might be feeling."
Explain that understanding emotions helps us be good friends and keep ourselves safe and happy.

2. Emotions Vocabulary Building (10 minutes)

Show emotion flashcards one at a time.
Ask: "What emotion do you think this is?" Support naming with visuals and prompts.
Ask students to make the face and show how their body might feel with that emotion (e.g., shoulders up for scared).
Discuss how sometimes we feel more than one emotion at once (e.g., scared and excited).

3. Group Discussion: Situations and Feelings (10 minutes)

Prompt discussion with simple scenarios related to their daily lives (e.g., "How do you feel if someone takes your toy?"). Use scenario cards.
Ask students to share times they felt happy, sad, or angry.
Write key feelings on the board.
Discuss how different people might feel differently in the same situation.

4. Role-Play Activity: Expressing and Recognising Emotions (15 minutes)

Split students into small groups (3-4 per group).
Assign each group one or two scenarios where they act out an emotion (e.g., "You lost your favourite book," "You got a surprise gift").
Groups practice and then perform briefly.
After each role-play, ask the class: "What emotion was shown? How could you tell?" (facial expression, tone of voice, body language).
Discuss how recognising emotions helps us understand how others are feeling.

5. Self-Regulation Introduction and Wrap-Up (5 minutes)

Introduce the emotion thermometer: "When we feel very upset or angry, we can take deep breaths or count to calm down."
Practice a deep breathing exercise together.
Recap main points: "Recognising our feelings and others’ feelings helps us be kind and safe."
Encourage students to use what they learned this week.

Assessment and Reflection

Informal observations during discussions and role-plays: Can students correctly identify emotions? Are they showing empathy and understanding?
Teacher notes to track understanding and areas needing further support.
Exit question: "Can you tell me one feeling you learned today and how you might know if a friend feels that way?"

Differentiation and Extension

Support: Provide emotion word lists or picture clues for students needing extra help.
Extension: For advanced students, introduce the idea of mixed feelings or discuss how emotions can change quickly.

Cross-Curriculum Connections

English: Using descriptive language related to feelings and body language.
Social Skills: Building empathy, respect, and positive interactions.

Thank you for enabling a lesson that nurtures emotional literacy early — a cornerstone for students' positive relationships and personal safety in line with the Queensland curriculum framework .

Teaching Instructions