Building Emotional Wellness

Overview

Students will explore emotional wellness by identifying feelings, recognizing signs of emotional distress in themselves and others, and practicing healthy coping strategies. They will organize their ideas through opinion-based writing and clearly use evidence from scenarios to support choices.

Learning intentions

• Students will be able to name and describe common emotions and what they can look like in the body and behavior.
• Students will be able to recognize signs that someone may be experiencing emotional distress.
• Students will be able to choose and explain healthy coping strategies for different situations.
• Students will be able to write an organized response that introduces a topic, states an opinion, and groups related information clearly.
• Students will be able to use journaling and reflection to improve their writing over a short time frame.

Success criteria

• I can list several emotions and explain one way they may show up.
• I can identify at least three signs of emotional distress and describe why they matter.
• I can match a scenario to a healthy coping strategy and explain why it helps.
• I can write a short, organized piece with an introduction, clear opinion, and grouped supporting details.

Curriculum links

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.1a — Students introduce a topic, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure for their purpose.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.2a — Students introduce a topic clearly and use logical grouping, headings, and formatting when helpful to comprehension.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.5.10 — Students write for both short time frames and routine practice through drafting and reflection.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.1 — Students quote accurately from provided scenario text when explaining what it says explicitly or making inferences.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.2 — Students determine themes (e.g., how characters respond to challenges) from scenario details and summarize.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Warm welcome & norms. Teacher sets a supportive tone and reviews discussion norms (listen, respect privacy, use “I” statements); students do a quick silent check-in by circling a “feeling meter” option.

2. 5–15 min · Direct teach: emotions and signals. Teacher displays an emotion chart (happy, excited, worried, mad, frustrated, embarrassed, sad, calm) and models “What I feel / Where I notice it / What I might do.” Students complete a quick “feelings to clues” matching on scrap paper (emotion → likely body/behavior clues).

3. 15–30 min · Group discussion with evidence. Teacher provides short, age-appropriate scenario cards (e.g., “A student snaps at friends and stops eating lunch,” “A student gets quiet and avoids group work,” “A student laughs but looks hurt”). In groups of 4, students:

• Identify the main emotion(s) and possible distress signs using scenario details.
• Choose one healthy coping strategy that fits. Teacher circulates, prompting students to point to a specific line from the scenario they used.

4. 30–42 min · Role-play coping strategies. Teacher assigns each group a role-play prompt and provides a coping strategy bank (deep breathing, take a break, talk to a trusted adult, journaling, physical movement, asking for help, positive self-talk). Students act out a brief scenario and then pause:

• One student says, “I notice…” (signals of distress),
• Another student says, “A healthy coping strategy is…” (with reasoning),
• The group explains why their choice is helpful. Teacher reminds students that seeking help is a strength.

5. 42–55 min · Self-reflection writing (structured paragraph). Teacher models a writing frame on the board:

• Introduction: “Emotional wellness means…”
• Opinion: “One healthy coping strategy that helps is…”
• Grouped details with mini-headings: “Signs I Might See,” “What I Can Do,” “How It Helps” Students write a short journal response to this prompt: “Choose one coping strategy you will use when you feel overwhelmed. Explain signs of emotional distress you might notice and how your strategy helps you feel better.” Students include at least one detail taken from a scenario they discussed (they may paraphrase, but teacher encourages accurate wording when possible).

6. 55–60 min · Exit reflection + group feedback capture. Teacher collects quick exit tickets with one sentence each: “Today I learned that emotional distress can look like…” and “My coping strategy is…” Teacher also gathers 3 quick “group feedback” highlights orally (e.g., “What worked best in your role-play?”) to reinforce effective ideas.

Resources

• Emotion chart and “feeling meter” cards
• Short scenario cards (printed)
• Coping strategy bank cards
• Journaling paper or notebooks
• Timer
• Student self-reflection writing template with mini-headings
• Calm-down/brain break permission card (teacher-made)
• Sticky notes for quick responses

Assessment

• Formative: observation during group work (students naming emotions, identifying distress signs, using scenario details)
• Formative: role-play check for accurate linking of “signals” to “coping strategy,” with student reasoning
• Writing assessment: teacher reviews journaling for organization (introduction, opinion, grouped details) and clarity of strategy explanation
• Exit ticket: evidence that students can state distress signs and one coping strategy

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters (e.g., “I notice…,” “I think this is emotional distress because…,” “My strategy helps because…”); allow students to reference the scenario card during writing
• Support: offer an additional word bank for feelings and distress signs; allow drawing a quick “feelings picture” before writing
• Extension: ask students to add an “If-then” plan (e.g., “If I feel…, then I will…”) and explain why that plan is realistic for their day
• EAL/SEN considerations: reduce writing length expectations while keeping the same structure; allow students to rehearse their opinion sentence with a partner before writing; ensure respectful participation in role-play (opt-in roles or “script reader” role if needed)