Imagine a world devoid of emotions, where every human experience is stripped of joy, sadness, excitement, or fear. Can humans live and thrive in such a world? What if the essence of being human—to love, be thankful, and even be angry—ceases to exist?
Emotions play a vital role in human life. They serve as a critical source of power that burns individuals with passion, lightens their world with happiness, or paints their days blue with sadness. Not only do feelings color life with depth and meaning, but they also serve as the main force that drives individuals to pursue their dreams, help one another, and improve themselves and their communities.
In this effective SEL lesson, kindergartners learn the different emotions and why understanding them is vital. The goal of this lesson is to help young learners understand their feelings and the feelings of others. With this level of self-awareness, they can articulate what they are experiencing internally and better communicate their needs to others.
"Not only do feelings color life with depth and meaning, but they also serve as the main force that drives individuals to pursue their dreams, help one another, and improve themselves and their communities."
The lesson starts with an engaging audio story, "Feeling Down." It is about the jungle animals building a boat to cross Lake Self-Honesty. At first, the jungle animals are determined, but after long weeks of hard work, they realize that building a boat is too much of a task. One day, while resting, the jungle animals talk and realize that the task makes them feel too many emotions.
The following emotions mentioned in the story, which kindergartners will learn in the subsequent lessons, are as follows.
Discouragement. The feeling of loss of confidence or enthusiasm.
Fear. An emotional response to a perceived threat or danger.
Worry. The state of unease or anxiety caused by thinking about potential problems or uncertainties.
Jealousy. A feeling experienced in response to a perceived threat to one's relationships, possessions, or qualities.
Anger. An intense feeling of displeasure, hostility, or frustration.
Love. Involves deep affection, care, and attachment towards someone or something.
Pride. A feeling associated with a sense of accomplishment, self-worth, and internal satisfaction.
Loneliness. A state of feeling disconnected, isolated, or emotionally detached from others.
Gratitude. A positive emotion that involves recognizing and appreciating the good things in one's life.
Following the storytelling is an insightful class discussion where students share their reflections. Here, the teacher encourages the students to analyze the events in the story and determine what causes the jungle animals to experience negative feelings. Hint: it is the animals’ negative thoughts. As a fun exercise, kindergartners practice positive thinking to turn the animals’ negative emotions around.
As a fun way to end the lesson, the class writes a letter for the jungle animals. The letter contains the positive thoughts that students share in class. They put it in an envelope, and the teacher pretends to mail it to the jungle.
Teaching kindergarten students about different emotions is essential for their personal and social-emotional development. By nurturing their understanding of emotions with this lesson, educators empower children to recognize and express their feelings, overcome challenges, and develop crucial emotional intelligence skills.
Pasela is a digital product presented by Positive Action.
Find out more