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How Do Emotions Drive Success?

Lesson Plan

Emotions in Action Lesson Plan

Students will explore CASEL’s five competencies and connect their emotions to future success by mapping feelings, discussing their impact, setting personal goals, and reflecting daily.

Understanding and managing emotions cultivates self-awareness and self-management, essential skills for college and career readiness and long-term success.

Audience

12th Grade

Time

50 minutes

Approach

Interactive mapping, discussion, goal-setting, and reflection.

Materials

Prep

Review Materials and Arrange Classroom

10 minutes

Step 1

Emotion Mapping Warm-Up

5 minutes

  • Distribute the Emotion Mapping Warm-Up handout.
  • Ask students to identify a recent emotion, its trigger, and intensity level.
  • In pairs, have students share one mapped emotion and discuss how it influenced their actions.

Step 2

Driving Success Slides Presentation

10 minutes

  • Project the Driving Success Slides.
  • Briefly review CASEL’s five competencies: Self-Awareness, Self-Management, Social Awareness, Relationship Skills, Responsible Decision-Making.
  • Highlight real-world examples of each competency driving college and career success.

Step 3

Competency Connection Chat

15 minutes

  • Divide students into small groups for the Competency Connection Chat.
  • Assign each group one competency to discuss:
    • How does emotion support or hinder this competency?
    • Share a personal or famous example.
  • Groups report key insights to the class.

Step 4

Future Self Goal-Setting

15 minutes

  • Hand out the Future Self Goal-Setting worksheet.
  • Instruct students to select one competency to strengthen and draft a SMART goal.
  • Encourage linking emotional triggers and regulation strategies to their goal.

Step 5

Daily Reflection Exit Ticket

5 minutes

  • Distribute the Daily Reflection Exit Ticket.
  • Students write one insight about how they’ll manage an emotion to meet their goal tomorrow.
  • Collect exit tickets as students leave.
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Slide Deck

How Do Emotions Drive Success?

An interactive look at CASEL’s five social and emotional learning competencies and how understanding our emotions can prepare us for college, careers, and beyond.

Welcome students. Today we’ll explore how emotions drive success by examining CASEL’s five competencies, discussing real-world examples, and setting personal goals. Introduce yourself and the lesson objective.

Learning Objectives

• Define CASEL’s five competencies
• Identify how emotions support or hinder each competency
• Create a SMART goal linking emotion management to personal success

Explain the three key objectives. Encourage students to refer back to these throughout the lesson.

CASEL’s Five Competencies

  1. Self-Awareness
  2. Self-Management
  3. Social Awareness
  4. Relationship Skills
  5. Responsible Decision-Making

Quickly review what SEL is, then introduce the five competencies as the framework for today.

Spotlight: Self-Awareness & Self-Management

Self-Awareness: Recognizing and understanding your emotions
Self-Management: Using strategies to regulate emotion and behavior

Emotion’s Role: Self-Awareness helps you spot triggers; Self-Management enables you to respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively.

Dive into the first two competencies. Ask for a quick student example of self-awareness.

Spotlight: Social Awareness & Relationship Skills

Social Awareness: Empathizing and understanding others’ emotions
Relationship Skills: Building healthy, supportive connections

Emotion’s Role: Recognizing others’ feelings guides positive interactions; strong relationships rely on effective communication and empathy.

Transition to interpersonal skills. Prompt students: think of a time you showed empathy or resolved a conflict.

Spotlight: Responsible Decision-Making

Responsible Decision-Making: Evaluating situations and choosing ethical actions

Emotion’s Role: Awareness of how mood clouds judgment helps you deliberate, weigh consequences, and make constructive choices.

Cover the final competency. Ask: how might emotions influence our decision-making?

Real-World Examples

• Athlete managing nerves (Self-Management)
• Student noticing peer stress (Social Awareness)
• Team member resolving conflict (Relationship Skills)
• Intern weighing project risks (Responsible Decision-Making)
• Writer reflecting on feedback (Self-Awareness)

Share these real-world scenarios. Invite students to suggest other examples.

Group Discussion: Competency Connection Chat

• In small groups, each group takes one competency
• Discuss: How does emotion support or hinder it?
• Share a personal or famous example
• Record two key insights to report back

(Refer to Competency Connection Chat)

Explain the Competency Connection Chat: students will break into groups and dive deeper. Show group assignments.

Activity: Future Self Goal-Setting

• Choose one competency to strengthen
• Draft a SMART goal to develop it
• Identify emotional triggers and regulation strategies

(Complete on Future Self Goal-Setting worksheet)

Introduce the goal-setting activity. Stress SMART criteria and linking with emotion strategies.

Exit Ticket: Daily Reflection

Before you leave, write one insight about how you’ll manage an emotion tomorrow to support your SMART goal.

(Use Daily Reflection Exit Ticket)

Explain the exit ticket. Emphasize brief reflection and its importance for daily growth.

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Warm Up

Emotion Mapping Warm-Up

Instructions: Think of a recent moment when you experienced a strong emotion. Complete the mapping below to understand what you felt, what caused it, how intense it was, and how it influenced your actions.

Name: _____________________ Date: ___________

1. Emotion Experienced:



2. Trigger (What happened to cause this emotion?):



3. Intensity (Rate from 1 = very low to 10 = very high):

4. Impact on Actions (How did this emotion influence your thinking or behavior?):






Once complete, pair up with a classmate and share one mapped emotion. Discuss how recognizing this pattern could help you respond differently next time.

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Activity

Future Self Goal-Setting

Instructions: Use this worksheet to set a SMART goal linked to one CASEL competency and plan how you will manage emotions to achieve it.

1. Chosen Competency (circle one):

  • Self-Awareness - Self-Management - Social Awareness - Relationship Skills - Responsible Decision-Making

2. SMART Goal Statement:
Write one clear sentence that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.












3. Breakdown of SMART:

  • Specific: What exactly will you do?




  • Measurable: How will you track progress?




  • Achievable: What resources or skills do you need?




  • Relevant: Why is this goal important for your future success?




  • Time-bound: What is your deadline?





4. Emotional Triggers:
Identify two emotion triggers you might face when working on this goal.






5. Regulation Strategies:
List three strategies you will use to manage these emotions.






6. Action Steps:
Outline three steps you will take this week to move toward your goal.
1.




2.




3.



7. Progress Reflection:
How will you know if your strategies are working? What will you adjust if you encounter setbacks?








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Discussion

Competency Connection Chat

Instructions: In small groups, explore one of CASEL’s competencies and how emotions influence it. Use the prompts below to guide your discussion. Record your insights and prepare to share two key points with the class.

Group Assigned Competency: ___________________

Discussion Prompts

  1. Define the Competency
    • In your own words, what does [Assigned Competency] mean?


  2. Emotion as a Support
    • How can positive or well-managed emotions enhance this competency?
    • Share a personal, historical, or famous example.





  3. Emotion as a Barrier
    • How might intense or unregulated emotions hinder this competency?
    • Describe a situation where this occurred.





  4. Regulation Strategy
    • Identify one strategy to manage emotions and strengthen this competency.
    • Explain how you would apply it.





Reporting Back

• Choose two insights your group found most compelling.
• Be ready to share with the class in 2–3 minutes.

Teacher Follow-Up Questions

• Which example resonated most with you and why?
• How can you apply these strategies in your own college or career goals?
• What signs will tell you you’re improving in this competency?

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Cool Down

Daily Reflection Exit Ticket

Name: _____________________ Date: ___________

Prompt: Reflect on your SMART goal from today’s lesson. Write one insight about how you will manage an emotion tomorrow to stay on track.

1. Emotion I will manage tomorrow:



2. Strategy I will use to regulate this emotion:



3. How managing this emotion supports my SMART goal:






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