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Building Emotional Resilience Through Art

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Lesson Plan

Building Emotional Resilience Through Art

Students will identify and express a range of emotions through creating self-portrait art, then reflect on their choices to build self-awareness and resilience.

Visualizing emotions helps students articulate how they feel and practice healthy coping strategies, strengthening social-emotional learning and resilience in grades 5–8.

Audience

Middle School Students (Grades 5–8)

Time

60 minutes

Approach

Use guided art creation and structured reflection to link emotions with creative expression.

Materials

Mood Meter Slide Deck, Emotions Chart Poster, Self-Portrait Reflection Worksheet, Sketch Paper, Pencils and Erasers, Colored Pencils or Markers, and Mirrors

Prep

Prepare Materials and Review Resources

15 minutes

  • Print one copy of Self-Portrait Reflection Worksheet for each student.
  • Queue up Mood Meter Slide Deck on the classroom display.
  • Hang Emotions Chart Poster on a visible wall.
  • Gather art supplies: sketch paper, pencils, erasers, colored pencils or markers, and a mirror per student.
  • Review the slide deck and worksheet to familiarize yourself with instructions and discussion prompts.

Step 1

Introduction to Emotional Resilience

10 minutes

  • Display first slides of Mood Meter Slide Deck.
  • Define emotional resilience and discuss why expressing emotions is important.
  • Show example self-portraits illustrating various emotions.
  • Invite students to share times they used art or other strategies to manage feelings.

Step 2

Exploring Emotions

10 minutes

  • Point to Emotions Chart Poster; review common emotions and their intensity.
  • Ask students to locate an emotion they’ve felt recently and describe a related situation.
  • Facilitate a brief pair-share to encourage discussion and empathy.

Step 3

Self-Portrait Art Activity

25 minutes

  • Distribute sketch paper, art supplies, and mirrors to each student.
  • Instruct students to choose an emotion and recall a moment they felt it.
  • Guide them to sketch a self-portrait, using color, line, and form to convey their chosen emotion.
  • Circulate to offer feedback and ensure positive focus on expression rather than perfection.

Step 4

Reflection and Peer Sharing

10 minutes

  • Hand out Self-Portrait Reflection Worksheet.
  • Have students answer prompts: What emotion did you choose? Why? What colors/lines did you use?
  • Pair students to share portraits and reflections; encourage supportive feedback on emotional expression.
  • Provide language support: emotion word banks as needed.

Step 5

Closing Discussion and Assessment

5 minutes

  • Lead whole-class discussion: What did you learn about your emotions and managing them through art?
  • Highlight coping strategies identified by students.
  • Assessment: Observe each student’s worksheet and portrait for understanding of emotion-expression connection.
  • Differentiation: Offer extended challenge (e.g., adding background scene) or additional support (sentence starters) based on student needs.
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Slide Deck

Building Emotional Resilience Through Art

• Using art to identify and express feelings
• Strengthening coping strategies
• Grades 5–8 focus on self-portrait work

Welcome everyone! Today we'll explore how art helps us understand and manage our emotions. We'll start by defining emotional resilience and why creative expression can strengthen it.

What Is Emotional Resilience?

• Emotional resilience = recovering from stress or setbacks
• Helps us stay calm and solve problems
• Expressing emotions is healthy and empowering

Explain emotional resilience: the ability to bounce back from difficulties and adapt to change. Highlight that naming and expressing our feelings is the first step toward resilience.

Introducing the Mood Meter

• Four quadrants:
– High energy + pleasant (e.g., excited)
– High energy + unpleasant (e.g., anxious)
– Low energy + pleasant (e.g., calm)
– Low energy + unpleasant (e.g., sad)

Introduce the mood meter: a tool that organizes emotions by energy level (pleasant/unpleasant) and intensity (high/low). Point out how recognizing where we are helps us choose coping strategies.

Where Are You Today?

[Insert Mood Meter graphic]
• Reflect silently on your current feeling
• Show which quadrant you’re in with a hand raise

Show a simple graphic of the mood meter. Ask students to think about where they are right now. Encourage a quick raise of hands in each quadrant to build community awareness.

Example Self-Portraits

• Joy: bright yellows, upward curves
• Sadness: cool blues, downward lines
• Anger: reds/oranges, sharp angles
• Calm: soft greens, smooth shapes

Display a few student example self-portraits (or teacher-created samples). Point out how color, line, and facial expression convey different emotions.

Self-Portrait Art Activity

  1. Choose an emotion and recall a moment
  2. Sketch your face in pencil
  3. Use color, line, and shape to show feeling
  4. Focus on expression, not realism

Outline the upcoming art activity. Remind students to choose a personal emotional memory, then use artistic elements to express it. Emphasize process over perfection.

Let’s Create!

• Grab sketch paper, pencils, markers
• Use the mirror to observe your features
• Begin sketching your emotion-filled self-portrait
• I’ll circulate to support you

Transition to hands-on work. Remind students of materials (mirrors, paper, pencils, colors). Encourage them to ask questions as they begin.

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Activity

Emotion Self-Portrait Activity

Overview

Students create a self-portrait that conveys a chosen emotion using color, line, and form. They then reflect on their artistic choices to deepen emotional awareness.

Duration: 25 minutes

Materials

Prep (5 minutes before class)

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Emotion Selection & Planning (5 minutes)

    • Ask students to recall the Mood Meter Slide Deck and pick one emotion they’ve experienced recently.
    • On a corner of their sketch paper, have them jot the emotion name and sketch 1–2 small thumbnail faces exploring color and line ideas.

  2. Initial Sketch (10 minutes)

    • Using the mirror, lightly sketch the outline of their face in pencil.
    • Emphasize facial cues (eyebrows, mouth, eyes) that match the chosen emotion.

  3. Color & Detail (8 minutes)

    • Select colors reflecting the emotion (e.g., reds/oranges for anger, yellows for joy, blues for sadness).
    • Fill in large shapes first; then layer lines (thick, thin, jagged, smooth) to convey intensity.

  4. Final Touches (2 minutes)

    • Add highlights or patterns to strengthen the emotional feel.
    • Sign their artwork in a corner.

Reflection Prompts

After finishing the portrait, students complete the worksheet prompts directly under each question.

  1. What emotion did I choose, and why?


  2. How did my choice of color and line convey my emotion?





  3. What did I learn about expressing feelings through art?










Differentiation

  • Extension: Invite advanced students to create a background scene or collage that adds context to their emotion (e.g., a stormy sky for anger).
  • Support: Provide an emotion word bank and color swatch cards. Offer a light outline of a face for tracing if students need help with proportions.

Teachers can circulate to offer individual feedback and ensure each student is focusing on expression over perfection.

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Building Emotional Resilience Through Art • Lenny Learning