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Lesson plan · Grades K-2 · 30 minutes

Feelings Faces

I can name a feeling from clues on a face and in a story, and choose kind words to help a friend.

▶ Open the tool Download the tool
Standard
NHES.S4 NHES-2024
NHES.S8 NHES-2024
Shape
Explore first
Grouping
Whole class on the carpet, then partners.
You need
The tool on the big screen. A small mirror or two, if you have them.
Tool
curioclass.org/tools/feelings-faces/
  1. Hook4 min
  2. Explore10 min
  3. Make sense6 min
  4. Apply7 min
  5. Exit check3 min

Before class

  • Open Face clues.
  • Faces give clues, not answers. Be ready to ask, "What else could help you know?"

Hook 4 min

  1. Make a surprised face without saying anything. "How do I feel? How did you know?"
  2. "Our faces send clues. Today we become face detectives."

Explore 10 min

  1. In Face clues, ask: "How does this friend feel? How can you tell?" Take ideas.
  2. Press Show the clues. Labels point at the eyebrows, the eyes and the mouth.
  3. Tap the feeling the class agrees on, and everyone makes the same face. A wrong tap explains what that feeling's face would look like.
  4. Do four or five faces. Partners look at each other's faces (or in a mirror) when they copy.

Make sense 6 min

  1. Open Make a face. Move the sliders for the eyebrows and the mouth. "What changed the feeling the most?"
  2. "What else could help you know how a friend feels?" (What happened, how their body looks, asking them.)

Apply 7 min

  1. Switch to What happened? Read a short story. "How might the friend feel?" More than one answer can fit.
  2. Read the three choices for what to say or do. The class votes, then taps.
  3. Talk about an answer like "Don't be sad." It isn't mean, but why doesn't it help a friend feel heard?

Exit check 3 min

Partners practice: one makes a sad face, the other says one kind thing. Then they switch. Listen for questions like "Are you okay? Do you want to play?"

Support and stretch

  • Support: start with four feelings: happy, sad, mad and scared.
  • Support: use the clue labels every time.
  • Stretch: "Have you ever felt two feelings at once?"
  • Stretch: in Make a face, slide from one feeling to another and name the faces in between.

Short on time

  • Three faces in Face clues with Show the clues (5 min).
  • One story in What happened? (4 min).

How each button works is in the teacher notes. From Curio Class, free under CC BY 4.0: change it, print it, share it.