Exploring Our Feelings

Year Level

Prep (Foundation Year)

Duration

30 minutes

Number of Students

17

---

Learning Objectives

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

• Identify, express, and communicate common emotions such as happiness, sadness, and frustration.
• Demonstrate empathy by recognising emotions in others through role-play and storytelling.
• Use imaginative play to explore different social and emotional situations.
• Develop foundational social and emotional wellbeing skills according to the Australian Curriculum (v9).

These objectives align with the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education, specifically:

• ACPPS001: Recognise emotions and identify personal strengths and achievements.

• ACPPS005: Recognise emotions in themselves and others and communicate feelings (adapted for Prep).

• Content description (Social and Emotional Wellbeing):

  • Recognising emotions and developing skills to express feelings and show empathy towards others (Foundation Year Health and Physical Education emphasis on social and emotional wellbeing)【15:AC9HP2P03.md†AC9HP2P03】.

---

Curriculum Links

• Health and Physical Education, Foundation Year, Australian Curriculum (v9):
  • Explore how people feel in different situations.
  • Recognise and communicate their feelings.
  • Develop empathy by understanding how others might feel.
• The Arts – Drama, Foundation Year:
  • Use play and imagination to express ideas and feelings (Drama Curriculum AC9ADRFD01_E2)【18:AC9ADRFD01.md†AC9ADRFD01】.

---

Resources Needed

• Emotion picture cards showing facial expressions for happiness, sadness, frustration
• Simple storybooks or short narrative scripts involving characters experiencing different emotions
• A few props for role-play (e.g., hats, scarves, small toys)
• Soft floor mats or carpet space for acting
• Visual emotion charts (with emotive faces and labels)

---

Lesson Outline

Time	Activity	Description	Purpose
5 mins	Warm-up discussion: Understanding feelings	Gather students in a circle. Show emotion cards depicting happiness, sadness, and frustration. Ask: "How do you feel when you are happy/sad/frustrated?" Teacher models by sharing own example.	Activate prior knowledge about emotions, establish vocabulary, build connection and trust.
10 mins	Storytelling with emotion focus	Read or tell a simple story involving a character experiencing happiness, sadness, and frustration (e.g., a story about a child losing a toy, then finding it, then sharing). Pause after each event and discuss: "How do you think the character feels? How would you feel?" Use visual emotion charts to help children point to or name emotions.	Develop emotional literacy and identification skills; build empathy through story engagement.
10 mins	Role-play scenarios: Acting out feelings	In small groups (3-4), students take turns acting out simple emotion scenarios created by the teacher such as: "You lost your favourite toy", "You got a compliment", "You can't do something you want". Other groups guess the feeling being acted. Encourage students to use facial expressions, body language, and words to express feelings. Teacher circulates and supports.	Allow children to practice recognising and communicating feelings; encourage empathy by observing peers and guessing their feelings. Develop social interaction skills.
5 mins	Reflection and sharing circle	Bring class back together to sit in a circle. Ask: "What did you learn about feelings today? How can we help friends when they feel sad or frustrated?" Children share examples or strategies (supported by teacher prompts).	Reinforce lesson learnings and apply empathy to real-life situations, developing social skills and emotional regulation.

---

Assessment

Informal, ongoing assessment will be conducted by the teacher during:

• Participation in discussion and ability to identify emotions.
• Engagement and creativity during role-play.
• Ability to communicate feelings verbally or using emotion cards.
• Observations of student empathy through responding to peer emotions.

Teacher notes will record examples of students effectively identifying and expressing emotions, with anecdotal comments to tailor future lessons.

---

Differentiation and Support

• Provide visual emotion charts and prompts for students needing extra support.
• Use modelling and role-play by teacher or aides for students with communication delays.
• Encourage peer support and buddy systems during activities.
• Allow non-verbal responses such as pointing or showing emotion cards for students less confident with verbal expression.

---

Extensions and Cross-Curricular Ideas

• Art: After the lesson, students can draw pictures of faces showing different feelings.
• Music: Use songs that express emotions and encourage students to move or dance in ways that demonstrate feelings.
• Home Connection: Send home simple emotion charts with suggested discussion questions for families to explore feelings and empathy.

---

This lesson plan carefully integrates storytelling and role-play, focusing on social and emotional wellbeing competencies foundational for Prep students, directly addressing relevant Australian Curriculum content descriptions and elaborations for Health and Physical Education and The Arts Drama in the Foundation Year【15:AC9HP2P03.md†Health and Physical Education】【18:AC9ADRFD01.md†Drama】.

It embraces active, play-based learning compatible with young learners' development and promotes emotional literacy and empathy-building – essential life skills for positive social interactions.