Understanding Emotions

Understanding Emotions

Learning Objectives

Participants will:
- Name a variety of emotions people experience.
- Understand that emotions are triggered by situations and people.
- Describe emotions people might experience in various situations.
- Understand how recognizing emotions contributes to positive relationships.

Definition of Terms

- Emotions: The mental and physical reactions people have to situations and people around them.

Lesson Preview

- Demonstrate a variety of emotions and practice naming them.
- Generate lists of emotions and words for feelings.
- Describe physical reactions to emotions.
- Identify multiple feelings that might result from various situations.
- Identify feelings resulting from personal experiences.

Materials Needed

- Visual means for recording ideas (paper, chart paper or white/chalk board and markers/chalk)
- For Information to Share Option #1: Paper and pencils (optional)
- For Information to Share Option #2: Chart paper and markers
- For Information to Share Option #3: Chart paper, markers and four different pictures depicting the emotions of anger, happy, sad and surprised

Tasks to Complete Before Teaching

- For Information to Share Option #2: Post four pieces of chart paper in four locations in the room. They should be far enough apart to allow small groups to sit or stand around them and write. On each piece of chart paper, write one of the following emotions: angry, happy, sad, surprised. If you have participants with low reading and writing abilities, Option #1 may work more successfully.
- For Information to Share Option #3: Post four pieces of chart paper in four locations in the room. They should be far enough apart to allow small groups to sit or stand around them and write. On each piece of chart paper, paste a different picture depicting one of the four emotions of anger, happy, sad and surprised.

Prerequisite Skill or Lesson

- None

Leader’s Note: This lesson provides background information for the lesson on “Managing Strong Emotions.” It would be best to teach “Managing Strong Emotions” as soon as possible after teaching this lesson. If possible, save the lists of emotion words the participants generate in Information to Share and post them for the “Managing Strong Emotions” lesson.

Length of Lesson: 45 minutes


Lesson Plan

Generating Interest in Topic

Demonstration (5 minutes)

1. Tell participants you are going to pantomime the topic for today’s session – emotions. Ask participants to observe your behaviors, gestures, and facial expressions and name the emotion or feeling being demonstrated.

2. Demonstrate an emotion, such as anger, through your body language and facial expressions. As participants name emotions, record them on chart paper or the white/chalk board. Several different emotions or feelings might be suggested such as angry, upset, and mad.

3. Repeat the procedure with several emotions. Include angry, happy, sad, and surprised.

4. Summarize by stating that everyone has many different emotions every day.


Information to Share

Leader Input and Discussion (15 minutes)

1. Explain what is meant by the word “emotion.”

- Emotions are the mental and physical reactions people have to situations and people around them.

Leader’s Note: Not all people have the same emotional response to the same situation. Emotional responses vary depending on many factors, such as age, experiences, attitude, hormonal influence, use of certain medications, and so on.

2. Select one of the two optional ways to have participants identify a variety of emotions. Then, continue with step #3.

OPTION #1
- Divide participants into small groups by counting off. Each small group should have four or five people in it.

- Assign group roles within each small group.

* The person with the largest shoe can be the leader. The leader will keep the group focused on the task.

* The person to the left of the leader can be the spokesperson. He or she will tell the large group what his or her small group discussed.

Leader’s Note: If writing is difficult for many of the participants, ask them to remember the emotions mentioned in their group. If participants can write easily, the person to the right of the leader can be the recorder. He or she will take notes for the small group.

- Ask the small groups to list on paper (or remember) as many emotions as they can in two minutes.

- Explain that, if they can use a word in this sentence, “I feel _____,” it is probably a word that describes an emotion.

- After two minutes, ask the spokesperson from each group to share one word suggested by his or her group that describes an emotion. Rotate from group to group until all of the words are shared. Record the words on the chart you began in the Generating Interest in Topic portion of this lesson.

Leader’s Note: Be sure to only accept words that describe an emotion. If the groups suggest words that do not describe an emotion, clarify by using the word in the sentence, “I feel ,” and suggest an alternate word that is an emotion.

OPTION #2
- Post the four prepared pieces of chart paper with the titles “angry,” “happy,” “sad,” and “surprised,” in different locations in the room.
- Divide participants into four groups by counting off and have one group stand at each piece of chart paper.

- Within each small group, ask the person with the largest shoe to be the leader. The leader will keep the group focused on the task. Ask the person to the right of the leader to be the recorder. He or she will take notes for the small group.

- Ask each group to record as many words as possible that mean close to the same thing as the emotion word on their chart. In other words, on the “Happy” chart, they might write “joyful,” “excited,” etc.

- Explain that, if they can use a word in this sentence, “I feel ____,” it is probably a word that describes an emotion.

- After one or two minutes, ask the groups to rotate to a different chart by moving to the chart on their left. Give them one or two minutes to add emotion words to their second chart. Repeat the procedure until all of the groups have visited all of the charts.

- Review the charts by highlighting several words from each chart or have the groups walk from chart to chart reviewing the words.

Leader’s Note: Be sure to only accept words that describe an emotion. If the groups suggest words that do not describe an emotion, clarify by using the word in the sentence, “I feel ,” and suggest an alternate word that is an emotion.

OPTION #3
- Paste four different pictures depicting the four emotions of anger, happy, sad and surprised on four separate charts. Post the charts in different locations in the room and proceed with the same process as described in Option #2

Leader’s Note: Instead of asking the small groups to list emotions similar to the emotion written at the top of their chart, the groups are to guess what is the emotion being depicted in their picture and then list as many words as possible that mean close to the same thing as the emotion being displayed.

3. Explain that emotions are normal reactions to situations and people. Everyone experiences these emotions. People experience these emotions at work, at home, with friends, and even when they are alone thinking about situations or events.

4. Ask participants how they might feel in each of the following situations. Choose three that are appropriate for the culture and group with which you are working. Try to elicit more than one emotion word for each situation.

- You have been assigned a difficult job at school or work.
- You just heard a friend is very ill.
- You have a family wedding to attend.
- Your teacher, parent, or supervisor yells at you.
- Your teacher, parent, or supervisor tells you he or she noticed what a good job you are doing.
- Someone says something that embarrasses you.
- Your cousin has just asked you to help with an important job at his or her wedding.

Leader’s Note: Emphasize that sometimes the same situation can elicit two very different feelings. For example, you may feel happy to be involved in your cousin’s wedding and nervous about doing the job well.

5. Explain the following points:

- Not everyone responds to the same situation in the same way. Each person’s life experiences, education, self-confidence, and family background, help to determine how he or she responds.
- Sometimes it is easy to identify how you feel. Other times, feelings can be confusing.
- A person may not always respond emotionally the same way each time he or she experiences similar situations.
- Recognizing how your body is responding can help a person identify what emotion he or she is experiencing. For example, a person might smile, act friendly and energetic, and walk with a bounce when feeling happy. A person might stomp around and yell when feeling angry.
- While emotions are normal, they can sometimes be hard to manage. Usually very strong emotions – either positive or negative – are more difficult to manage.
- The first step to effectively managing emotions is to recognize and name them. Indicate their lists of emotion words will help them.


Group Activity/Practice

Small Group Practice and Discussion (20 minutes)

1. Use the same small groups you formed in the previous section of this lesson.

OPTIONAL ACTIVITY IF TIME PERMITS AND YOUR PARTICIPANTS NEED ADDITIONAL PRACTICE PRIOR TO PERFORMING SKITS

If you used Option #2, assign a spokesperson in each small group.

Tell a story with several events or situations that elicit different emotions. See the story below as a sample. Pause as indicated in the sample story after each event or situation that elicits a feeling. Ask the small groups to discuss what happened and the possible emotions the person in the story might have experienced. Then, ask the spokespersons from the groups to name the emotions their group discussed. Possible emotions are listed in brackets for the following sample story. You may choose to use a different story if you wish; however, be sure the story has typical situations that will elicit emotions.

Leader’s Note: Replace (Name) with a common name from your culture.

- (Name) wakes up after a good night’s sleep. [Pause: happy, rested]
- Then, a family member or someone she lives with tells her she has to help with a difficult cleaning job after school (or work). [Pause: disappointed, unhappy]
- When (name) arrives at school (or work), she talks to someone who ignores her. [Pause: hurt, angry]
- An hour later, (name) talks with a special friend who invites her to a party. [Pause: happy, excited]
- Then, (name) learns from her teacher (or supervisor) she completed a project incorrectly and the work has to be redone. [Pause: ashamed, embarrassed, sad, upset, angry]
- She will need to stay late to redo the project. This means she will be late to help with the difficult cleaning job and will let people down when they depended on her help. [Pause: guilty]
- When (name) returns home, she is greeted at the door with a smile. [Pause: relieved, accepted, calm]

Summarize by stating that each person experiences many different emotions during one day.

2. Explain that, in order to continue to help one another identify and name emotions, each small group will perform a short skit. The skit will be about a typical situation that might trigger emotions. Each small group must verbally and nonverbally act out the situation and the emotions they think a person would feel in that situation. After each skit, the observers will guess what emotions were displayed in the skit.

3. Assign each small group one of the following situations. Choose those that are appropriate for the culture and group with which you are working.

- You learn to do a difficult task at school (or work) correctly. You will be better able to do your school work (or job) now.

- Your teacher (or supervisor) asks you to do a special job. He or she tells you he or she thinks you are competent and responsible enough to handle the job.

- You want to get a job and have asked to be considered. When someone was hired, you were not selected. Your best friend got the job.

- Your teacher (or supervisor) asks you to show others how to do a difficult task.

- A family member is sick and needs your help. You have trouble getting to school (or work) on time because of these extra family responsibilities.

- Someone keeps talking to others about you. You don’t like what he or she is saying.

4. After five minutes, call on the first small group to perform their skit. Ask the observers to identify the possible emotions the person might feel. Continue until each small group has presented their skit.

5. Ask participants:

- What are the advantages of being able to identify how you feel?
- How do you think your relationships with others are affected when you can identify your feelings?


Personal Application

Small Group Discussion and Personal Reflection (5 minutes)

1. Ask participants to think about one or two recent situations that elicited emotions. Encourage them to select situations they will be comfortable sharing with their small group. Have them share the situations and the feelings they identified in their small groups.

2. Encourage participants to notice the emotions they experience and what situations or people trigger the emotions. Explain that identifying emotions and understanding the experiences surrounding the emotions will help them manage emotions more effectively. During another lesson, they will learn more about how to manage strong emotions.

Leader’s Note: If possible, save the lists of emotion words the participants generate in Information to Share and post them for the “Managing Strong Emotions” lesson.