Expressing Our Feelings

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Lesson Overview

Subject: English (ELA)
Year Group: Year 1
Curriculum Area: Spoken Language & Writing
Time Duration: 60 minutes
Unit: Community, Travel, Emotions (Lesson 12 of 28)
Learning Objective: Students will explore and express their emotions through writing and discussion, describing how they feel at different times of the day.

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National Curriculum Links (England)

This lesson supports the following areas of the Year 1 English Curriculum:

• Spoken Language: Participate in discussions, listen and respond appropriately, and articulate thoughts clearly.
• Composition (Writing): Saying out loud what they are going to write, composing sentences, re-reading to check meaning.
• Vocabulary Development: Expanding emotional vocabulary.

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Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

1. Identify and name different emotions they experience throughout the day.
2. Construct simple sentences to describe how they feel at different times (morning, afternoon, evening).
3. Share their sentences with a partner and respond to their ideas.

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Resources & Preparation

Materials:

• Emotion flashcards (e.g., happy, excited, tired, frustrated, worried, proud).
• A3 paper folded into three sections (morning, afternoon, evening).
• Coloured pencils for drawing.
• Interactive whiteboard for displaying vocabulary words.
• Sentence starters printed on cards:
  • “In the morning, I feel ____ because ______.”
  • “In the afternoon, I feel ____ because _____.”
  • “In the evening, I feel ____ because ______.”

Preparation:

• Display a visual emotions chart on the board.
• Prepare a short teacher-modelled writing example.
• Arrange students in pairs for discussion.

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Lesson Breakdown

Starter Activity (10 minutes) – Exploring Feelings

Objective: Activate prior knowledge and introduce key vocabulary.

1. Feeling Charades (5 minutes):

   • Teacher or a student acts out an emotion (e.g., yawning for ‘tired’, jumping for ‘excited’).
   • Class guesses the emotion.
   • Teacher asks, “When do we feel like this?”

2. Think-Pair-Share (5 minutes):

   • Teacher asks, “How do you feel in the morning?” / “How do you feel before bedtime?”
   • Students think individually, discuss with a partner, and share as a class.

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Main Activity (35 minutes) – Writing & Sharing Feelings

Step 1: Teacher Modelling (10 minutes)

• Teacher writes a short example on the board:
  • “In the morning, I feel sleepy because I wake up early.”
  • “In the afternoon, I feel happy because I play with my friends.”
• Reads aloud and discusses why these feelings occur.
• Introduces and explains sentence starters.

Step 2: Independent Writing (15 minutes)

• Students write about their own emotions for different times of the day using their A3 paper:
  • Morning: “In the morning, I feel ______ because ______.”
  • Afternoon: “In the afternoon, I feel ______ because ______.”
  • Evening: “In the evening, I feel ______ because ______.”
• Students can also illustrate their emotions next to their sentences.

Step 3: Peer Sharing (10 minutes)

• Students pair up and take turns reading their sentences.
• Encourage active listening – the partner should ask one follow-up question (e.g., "Why do you feel excited in the evening?”).

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Plenary (15 minutes) – Reflection & Class Discussion

Objective: Reinforce learning and build confidence in sharing.

1. Gallery Walk (5 minutes): Students place their work on their tables and walk around to view others’ writing and drawings.
2. Class Discussion (5 minutes):
   • "Did anyone have the same feelings at the same times?"
   • "Were there any surprises?"
3. Positive Feedback (5 minutes):
   • Teacher highlights strong examples of descriptive writing and clear explanations.
   • Celebrate progress!

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Assessment & Differentiation

Assessment for Learning:

• Observations: Monitor students’ participation in discussions.
• Writing Review: Check for clear sentence formation and attempts at expressing reasoning.
• Peer Conversations: Assess whether students engage with and respond to their partners' ideas.

Differentiation:

• For Emerging Writers: Provide sentence starter templates, allow verbal dictation before writing.
• For More Confident Writers: Encourage using adjectives to expand thoughts (e.g., tired → very sleepy).
• For Visual Learners: Offer emoji cards to support emotion identification.

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Reflection & Next Steps

• Teacher Notes for Next Lesson: Were students able to differentiate between times of day? Did they show varying emotions?
• Follow-Up Home Task: Ask students to keep a mini ‘feelings diary’ for one evening and bring it to the next lesson.
• Connection to Next Lesson: Moving towards understanding how others feel in different situations.

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Teacher’s Wow Factor! 🎉

✔️ Mix of movement (charades), discussion (think-pair-share), writing, and drawing = engaging for all!
✔️ Real-world connections – helps build emotional awareness, a key part of personal development.
✔️ Encourages creativity – students own their experiences and express feelings visually & verbally.

This lesson sets a strong foundation in emotional literacy while reinforcing English skills – an unforgettable session for Year 1! 🚀💡