Emotional Triggers

Overview

This 45-minute lesson is designed for Year 4 students to explore the idea of emotional triggers — what causes emotions to arise. Through discussion, role-play, and reflection, students will identify common situations that evoke feelings such as happiness, anger, sadness, or fear. They will learn to recognise their emotional responses and the importance of context in understanding emotions.

The lesson aligns with the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh, particularly the Social Sciences and English learning areas, focusing on developing the students' personal and social capability and communication skills.

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Curriculum Links

New Zealand Curriculum Refresh (English Years 1–6 / Years 4 focus)

• Oral language: Communicating ideas and information

  • Use oral language to describe experiences and express feelings with specific details to engage listeners.
  • Participate in group discussions, making relevant contributions and demonstrating active listening.
  • Use sentence stems to agree, disagree, and add ideas respectfully.
  • Prepare and deliver presentations that include introduction and conclusion tailored to the audience (Year 4 objectives).

• Personal and Social Capability

  • Recognise, describe, and express emotions appropriately.
  • Develop self-awareness of emotional responses, triggers, and strategies to manage emotions.
  • Show empathy by using language to articulate emotions of self and others.
  • Work collaboratively in roles, listening and responding respectfully to different viewpoints.

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Learning Objectives

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

1. Identify common emotional triggers in familiar contexts.
2. Explain how different situations can cause specific feelings.
3. Practise recognising emotional responses through role-play.
4. Use appropriate vocabulary to express feelings and triggers.
5. Reflect on how understanding triggers helps manage emotions and respond empathetically.

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Success Criteria

Students can:

• Describe situations that make them feel happy, sad, angry, or scared.
• Participate actively in group discussions and role plays.
• Use descriptive words to explain emotions and their causes.
• Show empathy towards others' emotional experiences.

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Resources

• Emotion trigger scenario cards (simple, relatable situations for Year 4)
• Emotion word list/chart (e.g., happy, frustrated, worried, excited)
• Role-play props (optional: hats, simple costumes, or emotion masks)
• Chart paper and markers for group brainstorming
• Reflection worksheet with prompts (e.g., What made you feel that way? How did you respond?)

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Lesson Flow

Time	Activity	Description
5 mins	Warm-up Discussion: What are emotions?	Teacher prompts students with questions: "What is an emotion?", "Can you name some emotions?", "When do you feel happy or sad?" Use emotion word chart to visually support.
10 mins	Group Brainstorm: Emotional Triggers	In groups of 4 or 5, students brainstorm and share examples of “things that make me feel happy/sad/angry/scared”. Record ideas on chart paper under emotion categories. Teacher promotes use of specific vocabulary.
15 mins	Role-play Activity: Emotional Scenarios	Use prepared scenario cards describing common situations (e.g., losing a toy, getting a surprise gift, waiting for a turn). Each group chooses a card and role-plays the scenario, showing the emotion it triggers. Teacher guides reflection on the trigger and feeling.
10 mins	Class Discussion: Recognising and Responding to Triggers	Discuss as a class: “How can we know what makes us feel a certain way?”, “Why is it important to understand our feelings and triggers?”, “How can we respond in a good way?” Use sentence stems to facilitate respectful dialogue (e.g., "I feel… because…").
5 mins	Reflection and Sharing	Students complete a simple reflection worksheet/to draw a picture about one emotional trigger they recognise in themselves and how they might manage that feeling. Volunteers share their reflections.

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Teaching Considerations

• Use clear, age-appropriate language and provide vocabulary support.
• Encourage empathy and respectful listening; model sentence stems for expressing agreement/disagreement.
• Be mindful of cultural and individual differences in expressing and experiencing emotions.
• Support students who need help identifying emotions through visual aids and personal examples.
• Allow for safe emotional expression and recognise all feelings as valid.

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Assessment for Learning

• Observe students during group discussions and role plays to assess understanding of emotional triggers.
• Listen for use of emotional vocabulary and respectful communication skills.
• Review reflection worksheets for individual awareness of triggers and emotional responses.
• Provide verbal feedback reinforcing empathy and self-awareness.

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Extension Opportunities

• Integrate with writing: Students create a short story or recount about a time they felt a strong emotion and what caused it.
• Connect with art: Draw or paint an emotion trigger and corresponding feeling.
• Digital literacy: Use simple digital tools to create emotion diaries or presentations.

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By weaving together personal and social skills with rich oral language learning opportunities, this lesson supports the holistic development of Year 4 students in New Zealand, according to the refreshed curriculum framework.