Lesson Plan
Emotion Role-Play Blueprint
Students will identify and express four basic emotions through guided role-play and comic-strip creation, building self-awareness and emotional vocabulary in a fun, collaborative setting.
Kindergarteners learn to recognize, name, and communicate feelings, strengthening self-awareness and social–emotional skills needed for healthy relationships and classroom success.
Audience
Kindergarten Small Group
Time
2 sessions × 30 minutes
Approach
Role-play paired with creative comics
Materials
- Feelings in Action Slides, - Emotion Comic Strip Guide, - Emotion flashcards or emoji cards, - Blank comic-strip templates, and - Crayons, markers, pencils
Prep
Review and Gather Materials
10 minutes
- Review Emotion Role-Play Blueprint and Feelings in Action Slides
- Preview Emotion Comic Strip Guide
- Collect emotion flashcards/emoji cards and blank comic-strip templates
- Ensure drawing supplies (crayons, markers, pencils) are ready
Step 1
Session 1: Emotion Role-Play Exploration
30 minutes
- Display Feelings in Action Slides
- Introduce 4 basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised): name, facial expression, scenario
- Model each emotion with a puppet or teacher demonstration
- Distribute emotion flashcards/emoji cards to students
- Students take turns acting out their card’s emotion; peers guess which emotion
- Ask reflective questions: “How did you feel when you acted happy?” “What made you think it was sad?”
Step 2
Session 2: Create Your Emotion Comic
30 minutes
- Hand out blank comic-strip templates and drawing supplies
- Review comic elements: panels, characters, speech bubbles
- Show Emotion Comic Strip Guide
- Students choose one emotion to illustrate in a 3-panel comic (beginning, middle, end)
- Encourage use of facial expressions and simple dialogue
- When complete, students share their comics and name the emotion depicted
Slide Deck
Feelings in Action!
Let’s explore and act out four feelings:
• Happy
• Sad
• Angry
• Surprised
Are you ready to move and show how you feel?
Welcome everyone! Today we're going to learn about four basic feelings and practice showing them with our faces and bodies. Get ready to have fun acting out emotions!
Feeling: Happy
😊 HAPPY
How can we show happy?
• Big smile
• Bright eyes
• Cheerful voice
Role-play Cue: Pretend it’s your birthday and you just got a gift!
Point to the happy face on the slide. Model a big smile, cheerful voice, and bright eyes. Invite students to copy your expression.
Feeling: Sad
☹️ SAD
What does sad look like?
• Downturned mouth
• Drooping shoulders
• Soft or quiet voice
Role-play Cue: Pretend you lost your favorite toy.
Show the sad face. Demonstrate a downturned mouth and a quiet, slow voice. Encourage students to mirror the feeling.
Feeling: Angry
😠 ANGRY
How do we act angry?
• Furrowed eyebrows
• Tense or clenched fists
• Strong voice
Role-play Cue: Pretend someone took your crayon without asking.
Display the angry face. Model furrowed brows, clenched fists, and a firm voice. Ask students to show you they understand angry.
Feeling: Surprised
😲 SURPRISED
What makes us look surprised?
• Wide open eyes
• Open mouth
• Hands near face
Role-play Cue: Pretend you see a magic bunny appear!
Show the surprised face. Demonstrate wide eyes, open mouth, and hands up near your face. Have students copy the surprised expression.
Let’s Act It Out!
- Pick a feeling flashcard.
- Act out the feeling using face, body, and voice.
- Classmates guess which feeling it is.
Get ready to have fun and learn together!
Explain the next activity: each student will pick a feeling card, act it out, and classmates will guess which feeling it is. Encourage everyone to watch carefully and use the cues we practiced.
Project Guide
Emotion Comic Strip Guide
Objective: Students will plan and illustrate a three-panel comic strip showing a chosen emotion, using facial expressions, body language, and simple dialogue to tell a short story.
Why: Creating comics helps children sequence events, express feelings in context, and build storytelling skills while reinforcing emotional vocabulary.
Materials:
- Blank 3-panel comic-strip template
- Pencils and erasers
- Crayons or markers
- Emotion Role-Play Blueprint flashcards (optional for inspiration)
Prep (5 minutes):
- Print enough comic-strip templates for each student.
- Lay out drawing supplies.
- Review the four basic emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised) using Feelings in Action Slides.
Instructions
1. Choose Your Emotion (3 minutes)
- Look at the emotion flashcards or recall from role-play.
- Pick one feeling you want to illustrate.
2. Plan Your Story (5 minutes)
- Think of a simple story with a beginning, middle, and end showing your emotion.
- Example for “Surprised”:
- You find a hidden treasure map (surprised face).
- You follow the map through the classroom (growing excitement).
- You discover a box of stickers (big smile, happy surprise!).
3. Sketch Each Panel (5 minutes)
- In the first panel, draw the scene that starts your story.
- In the second panel, show what happens next.
- In the third panel, show how the story ends.
- Use simple shapes for people and objects; focus on the face and body posture to show the emotion.
4. Add Dialogue and Details (5 minutes)
- Use speech or thought bubbles: short words or exclamations (e.g., “Wow!”, “Oh no…”).
- Add background details to set the scene (e.g., table, toy, magic hat).
5. Color and Share (7 minutes)
- Color your characters and background to make your comic bright and fun.
- Share with a partner: explain which emotion you chose and how you showed it in each panel.
- Volunteers can present to the group and name the emotion in their comic.
Example Comic: Happy Birthday Surprise
Panel 1: A child sees a wrapped gift on the table and says “What’s this?” (curious face).
Panel 2: The child opens the gift, eyes wide and mouth open in surprise.
Panel 3: The child grins and hugs a friend, saying “Thank you!” (happy face).
Use this structure to tell your own emotion story!