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Express My Feelings

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Lesson Plan

Express My Feelings Lesson Plan

Students will identify and communicate four basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised) using visual emotion cards and an AAC board, then complete a simple worksheet to reinforce expression skills.

Building social-emotional awareness and communication supports self-regulation and promotes engagement. This lesson equips nonverbal autistic learners with tools to express feelings, reducing frustration and enhancing self-advocacy.

Audience

Nonverbal Autistic Students

Time

30 minutes

Approach

Use visuals and AAC tools to teach, model, and practice emotion expression.

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

Step 1

Warm-Up and Greeting

5 minutes

  • Greet the student and review the purpose of today’s activity: talking about feelings.
  • Use the AAC board to let the student choose a preferred greeting icon (e.g., wave, smile).
  • Show 1–2 Visual Emotion Cards and ask the student to point or select on AAC which feeling they see.

Step 2

Introduce Emotion Vocabulary

10 minutes

  • Present each Visual Emotion Card one at a time (happy, sad, angry, surprised).
  • Model the emotion using facial expression and gesture.
  • Prompt the student to select the corresponding icon on the AAC board.
  • Provide positive reinforcement (e.g., “Great job pointing to happy!”) for each correct match.

Step 3

Guided Practice

10 minutes

  • Lay out all four Visual Emotion Cards.
  • Show a short video clip or picture scenario (teacher-selected) depicting one emotion.
  • Ask the student to identify the feeling by choosing the card and AAC icon.
  • Repeat with 2–3 scenarios, fading prompts as the student gains confidence.

Step 4

Independent Worksheet Activity

5 minutes

  • Hand the student the Emotion Expression Worksheet.
  • Instruct them to match pictures of faces on the worksheet to the labeled emotion words (pointing or using AAC as needed).
  • Offer assistance by pointing to the AAC board or showing the Visual Emotion Cards if the student needs help.
  • Celebrate completion with praise or a preferred item/activity.
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Worksheet

Emotion Expression Worksheet

Use your AAC Board if you need help: Emotion Expression AAC Board

1. Match Each Face to the Correct Word

Write the word on the line beside each face.

🙂 Happy face → ________


☹️ Sad face → ________


😠 Angry face → ________


😮 Surprised face → ________


Word Bank: Happy   |   Sad   |   Angry   |   Surprised

2. How Are You Feeling Today?

Draw a face that shows your feeling. If you can, write the emotion word or use your AAC Board to tell your teacher.













3. Circle Your Favorite Emotion

Choose one word from the Word Bank and circle it.

Happy  –  Sad  –  Angry  –  Surprised




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