Feelings and Me

Curriculum Alignment

Curriculum Area: Health and Physical Education
Level: Foundation (Year F)
Content Descriptor: AC9HPFP03
"Express and describe emotions they experience"

Lesson Overview

This 60-minute interactive lesson is designed to help Foundation-level students in Australian classrooms understand, express, and describe the emotions they experience. Through story-telling, movement activities, visual supports, and collaborative exploration, students will build emotional vocabulary, practise recognising feelings in themselves and others, and use simple strategies to communicate these emotions.

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Lesson Details

Year Level: Foundation
Duration: 60 minutes
Class Size: 25 students
Learning Setting: Classroom (large group on floor, small group activities)
Required Resources:

• Large emotion picture cards (happy, sad, angry, scared, surprised, excited)
• Individual mini mirrors
• Large storybook about emotions (e.g. The Colour Monster or How Do You Feel?)
• Pre-cut large emoji faces with Velcro backing
• Emotion wheel chart
• Music player with several short tracks (happy, slow, tense music)
• Simple drawing tools (paper, coloured pencils/crayons)
• “Emotion Mirror” photo booth corner (optional)

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Learning Intentions

• I am learning to recognise and name different feelings.
• I am learning to describe how different emotions feel in my body.
• I am learning ways to express my feelings using words and facial expressions.

Success Criteria

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

• Identify at least three basic emotions (e.g. happy, sad, angry).
• Use facial expressions and body language to show different feelings.
• Use simple sentences to describe how they are feeling.

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Lesson Sequence

1. Welcome and Warm-Up (5 mins)

Activity: “Feelings Freeze Dance”

• Play a variety of music snippets (playful, slow, bouncy, dramatic).
• Students dance freely and freeze when the music stops.
• Ask: “How does that music make you feel?” Use emojis to help prompt responses.
• Encourage simple replies: “It made me feel… happy/sleepy/scared.”

Purpose: Activates energy, connects mood with music, introduces topic in a fun way.

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2. Story Time – Exploring Emotions (10 mins)

Read Aloud: Choose an emotion-focused picture book (such as The Colour Monster or How Do You Feel?)

• Pause after each page and discuss the emotion shown.
• Check for understanding using the emotion cards: “Which face matches this feeling?”
• Ask guiding questions:
  • “Have you ever felt this way?”
  • “What made you feel that way?”
  • “What did your face or body feel like?”

Purpose: Builds understanding of how emotions look and feel, connects with prior experiences.

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3. Mirror Time – Show Me That Face! (10 mins)

Activity: Using Personal Mirrors

• Give each student a small mirror.
• Call out a feeling word (e.g., happy, scared) and model the face.
• Students try to mimic facial expressions in their mirrors.
• Pair up and have a partner guess their emotion.

Challenge: “Can you make a face and let your partner try to guess what you’re feeling?”

Purpose: Develops self-awareness and expression through physical cues.

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4. Emotions in Motion – Tableau (10 mins)

Activity: Emotion Freeze Frames

• Divide class into groups of 4–5.
• Call out a scenario (e.g., “You lost your teddy,” “It’s your birthday,” “It’s your turn on the swing.”)
• Groups act out the scene and freeze showing a facial/body expression.
• Class guesses the feeling: “What do they feel? What clues do you see?”

Purpose: Encourages empathy and interpretation of non-verbal emotional cues.

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5. Creative Representation – Draw Your Feeling (15 mins)

Activity: My Emotion Moment

• Students choose one recent feeling (e.g., feeling excited during playtime).
• Draw a picture showing what happened and how they felt.
• Add a simple sentence using sentence starter:
  • “I felt _______ when ______________.”
• Offer support with word banks and feeling flashcards.

Purpose: Provides students with tools to name and describe internal experiences.

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6. Closing Circle: “Today I Felt…” (10 mins)

Whole-Class Circle Share:

• Sit in a circle. Pass a plush toy (the “Sharing Koala”).
• Each student completes the sentence:
  • “Today I felt ______ when _______.”
• Validate all emotions as natural and important.

Optional Extension: Create an “Emotion Wall” where pictures or words describing feelings can be added daily.

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Differentiation

For Diverse Learners:

• Use visual supports (emotion cards, emoji faces).
• Encourage non-verbal responses for students with limited speech (pointing to emoji or acting it out).
• Allow drawing or movement rather than verbal explanations.
• Use AUSLAN signs to reinforce feeling words where appropriate.

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Assessment Opportunities

Formative Assessment:

• Observation during discussion for correct identification of emotions.
• Use of sentence structure during drawing activity.
• Peer interaction: are students recognising their peers’ facial expressions and body language?

Anecdotal Notes:
Record specific students’ engagement with describing feelings and any breakthroughs in emotional expression.

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Reflection & Next Steps

Follow-Up Ideas:

• Introduce an “Emotion Check-In” point daily—using name pegs and emotion faces.
• Continue exploring complex feelings (like frustration, nervousness) as students’ vocabulary expands.
• Use dramas or role plays to model strategies for managing emotions.

Teacher Reflection Prompts:

• Which students found it hard to express emotion verbally?
• Did any students show new understanding of peers' feelings?
• Were any supports particularly helpful (mirrors, emoji cards)?

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Conclusion

This deeply interactive lesson not only introduces the language of emotions but also creates a safe and inclusive classroom environment for Foundation students to practise recognising and sharing their inner world. The integration of cultural, movement, and visual elements supports all learning styles and aligns meaningfully with the Australian Curriculum.