Understanding Emotions

Lesson Overview

Year Group: Year 1
Subject: English (ELA)
Unit: Community, Travel, Emotions
Lesson Number: 11 of 28
Lesson Duration: 60 minutes
National Curriculum Area: English – Spoken Language, Reading Comprehension
Curriculum Level: KS1 (Key Stage 1)

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will:

• Recognise words related to emotions (happy, sad, angry).
• Identify how characters in a story express emotions.
• Use descriptive words to explain how emotions feel.
• Begin to relate story emotions to their own experiences.

Lesson Structure

1. Starter Activity – Emotion Faces (10 minutes)

Objective: Introduce key emotions (happy, sad, angry) and relate them to expressions.

• Show three illustrated emotion cards (happy, sad, angry).
• Ask students to mimic the facial expressions shown on the cards.
• Discuss how their faces feel when showing each emotion (e.g. "What happens to your eyebrows when you're angry?").
• Invite students to share a time they felt one of these emotions (if they feel comfortable).

2. Main Story – Reading and Role-play (20 minutes)

Objective: Identify emotions in a short story and act them out.

• Read Ravi's Roar by Tom Percival (or another short KS1-appropriate text focused on emotions).
• Pause at key moments and ask:
  • "How do you think Ravi feels here?"
  • "What clues tell us this?"
• Ask a few students to act out a moment in the story:
  • One student reads a line from the story in an emotional voice.
  • Another student acts out the feeling using body language and facial expressions.

3. Guided Discussion – Recognising Emotions in Others (10 minutes)

Objective: Develop empathy by connecting characters’ emotions to real-life situations.

• Write three headings on the board: Happy, Sad, Angry.
• Ask students to suggest events in the story that fit under each heading.
• Discuss how we can help someone who feels sad or angry, linking to positive communication and kindness in the community.

4. Paired Activity – Emotion Word Bank (10 minutes)

Objective: Expand vocabulary related to feelings.

• Give each pair a picture card showing a character expressing an emotion.
• Ask pairs to describe how the character might feel using new words (e.g. ‘joyful’ instead of ‘happy’, ‘upset’ instead of ‘sad’).
• Encourage students to role-play helping the character in the picture feel better.

5. Plenary – Feelings Reflection (10 minutes)

Objective: Allow students to reflect on learning and personal experiences.

• Use a "Feelings Cloud" display: Students write or draw a time they felt happy, sad, or angry on a piece of paper, which they add to a cloud shape on the board.
• Discuss how writing or talking about feelings can help us understand them.

Differentiation

• Higher ability: Encourage students to explain why a character might feel a certain way, using evidence from the story.
• Lower ability: Provide simple word banks or facial expression charts to support understanding.
• SEN support: Use visual aids, simplified questioning, and allow responses through drawings instead of words if needed.

Assessment Opportunities

• Observe contributions during discussion and role-play.
• Listen for accurate vocabulary and comprehension of emotions.
• Review participation in the Emotion Word Bank activity.

Resources Needed

• Emotion expression cards
• Ravi’s Roar or another age-appropriate story
• Picture cards of characters with different emotions
• "Feelings Cloud" cut-out paper

Teacher Reflection

• Were students engaged with the reading and role-play?
• Did they demonstrate understanding of emotions beyond just happy/sad/angry?
• Which students may need further vocabulary support?

This lesson builds social-emotional awareness while enhancing language skills, creating a meaningful and memorable learning experience.