Feelings at Work

Overview

Students explore the range of feelings people may experience when working, including happiness, pride, worry, nervousness and frustration. They connect these feelings to school-based situations and recognise that difficult feelings are normal and can be managed by talking to someone or asking for help.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• identify at least two feelings they might experience when working;
• explain why a particular work situation could cause each feeling;
• identify two situations at school where work makes them feel happy;
• recognise that feeling worried or down sometimes is normal and that support is available.

Success criteria

• I can name at least two feelings linked to working.
• I can explain why a work situation might cause a particular feeling.
• I can describe two types of school work that make me happy.
• I can suggest a safe way to respond when work feels difficult.

Curriculum links

• Mental wellbeing: recognising the range of emotions people may experience in different situations.
• Mental wellbeing: understanding what makes people feel happy or unhappy.
• Mental wellbeing: understanding that happiness is linked to being connected to others.
• Caring friendships: recognising when experiences feel uncomfortable and knowing how to seek support.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome and retrieval. Teacher revisits findings from the previous two sessions and reminds students that jobs can provide purpose, teamwork, achievement and opportunities to help others; display the learning intention using the Learning Intention Poster and open the opening and retrieval slides. Students share one positive aspect of having a job and complete the sentence, “Work can be positive because…”

2. 5–12 min · Feelings vocabulary. Teacher explains that people can have different feelings about the same task and models examples such as proud after completing difficult work, excited on a first day, nervous when meeting new people, or frustrated when something goes wrong; show the feelings vocabulary and example scenarios and provide the Feelings Vocabulary Word Mat for reference. Students suggest suitable feeling words and give a reason for one choice. Emphasise that worrying or feeling down sometimes is normal, but children should speak to a trusted adult if feelings persist or become difficult to manage.

3. 12–20 min · Whole-class scenario sort. Teacher presents four school or workplace situations on the scenario discussion slides: being congratulated by a manager, travelling to a first day at work, finishing a difficult piece of work, and helping to solve a problem. Students work in five groups of four, discuss how the person might feel, and record one feeling and one reason for each situation on the feelings-at-work investigation sheet. Groups may choose more than one reasonable feeling, provided they explain it.

4. 20–33 min · Role-play and discussion. Teacher gives each group one situation to act out, reminding students not to pretend to be in danger or use personal experiences; display the role-play instructions and safety reminders. Students create a short scene showing the situation, the feeling it may cause and a helpful response, such as asking a colleague for advice, taking a calm breath or celebrating with a team. After each performance, the audience identifies the feeling and explains what evidence they noticed.

5. 33–40 min · Happiness at school survey. Teacher models respectful survey questions: “Which school activity makes you feel happy?” and “Why does it make you feel happy?” Students survey three classmates, recording two different school situations that make them happy and the reasons given on the feelings-at-work investigation sheet. Discuss links between happiness and connection, achievement, creativity, helping others and receiving encouragement. Students may pass on answering a personal question.

6. 40–45 min · Review and exit reflection. Teacher returns to the plenary and exit-question slides and asks students to explain how feelings can change during a task. Students complete the Retrieval Practice Exit Ticket Slips by naming two feelings linked to work, explaining one reason, and identifying two school situations that make them happy. Invite two or three volunteers to share a helpful response to a difficult feeling.

Resources

• the complete feelings-at-work slide deck
• the feelings-at-work investigation sheet
• the Learning Intention Poster
• the Feelings Vocabulary Word Mat
• the Retrieval Practice Exit Ticket Slips
• Interactive whiteboard or projector
• Flipchart paper and post-it notes
• Pencils and colouring pencils
• Optional simple role-play props

Assessment

• Listen for accurate feeling vocabulary and reasons during scenario discussions and role-play.
• Check worksheets for at least two feelings, a clear explanation for one feeling, and two happy school situations.
• Use the exit ticket to identify students needing further support with emotion vocabulary, explanations or help-seeking.

Differentiation

• Provide sentence starters: “I might feel ___ because ___” and “Work makes me happy when ___ because ___.”
• Allow students to draw feelings or dictate responses to an adult or partner; use the word mat and model actions as well as vocabulary.
• Pair confident readers with students who need language support, and rehearse role-play lines before performing.
• Challenge students to explain how two people could feel differently in the same situation and identify more than one helpful response.
• For EAL learners, pre-teach feeling words using facial expressions, gestures and examples; accept verbal, drawn or written evidence.