Check out this free high school identifying feelings activity from Everyday Speech. Emotional literacy plays a crucial role in the social and emotional development of high school students. Understanding and effectively expressing emotions are essential life skills that can lead to healthier relationships and improved mental well-being. As special educators, we have the opportunity to empower our students by teaching them how to identify feelings through reading facial expressions.

In this blog post, we will explore the importance of emotional literacy, provide a comprehensive lesson plan, and offer simple, no-prep activity ideas, including the engaging “Reading Facial Expressions Practice Cards” activity.

Understanding the Importance of Emotional Literacy

In today’s fast-paced world, young people often face various emotional challenges. Emotional literacy enables students to recognize, understand, and appropriately respond to their own emotions and the emotions of others. By developing this skill, high schoolers can build empathy, enhance communication, and establish healthier relationships. Furthermore, emotional literacy contributes to self-regulation, reducing stress and improving overall mental health.

High School Identifying Feelings Lesson Plan

1. Introduction to Facial Expressions

• Begin by discussing the importance of facial expressions in conveying emotions.
• Show students various facial expressions and ask them to guess the corresponding emotions.
• Introduce a list of common emotions and their corresponding facial expressions.

2. Analyzing Facial Expressions

• Provide students with a set of images featuring different facial expressions.
• In pairs or small groups, have students analyze the expressions and identify the associated emotions.
• Encourage students to discuss why they chose a particular emotion for each expression.

3. Role Play – Reading Facial Expressions Practice Cards

• Download the free activity to use with your group or class
• Distribute the cards to students and have them work individually or in pairs.
• Instruct students to match the facial expressions on the cards with the appropriate emotions.
• Encourage students to discuss their reasoning behind each match.

Sample Video

Students learn best from watching real students their own age model skills. Try out this sample video-modeling lesson below. We offer our entire Social-Emotional Learning platform free for 30 days here!

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