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Navigating Big Feelings Through Storytelling

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Lesson Plan

Navigating Big Feelings Lesson Plan

Students will explore and name their big feelings through guided discussion and a personalized storytelling planner, then draft a short narrative expressing an emotional experience.

Building emotional literacy helps students understand and communicate complex feelings, supports mental well-being, and fosters empathy and creative expression.

Audience

3rd–8th Grade Students

Time

60 minutes

Approach

Guided discussion, planner-based brainstorming, and creative writing.

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

15 minutes

Step 1

Introduction & Warm-Up

5 minutes

  • Greet students and introduce today’s goal: understanding and storytelling big feelings
  • Conduct a quick emotional check-in (thumbs up/down/sideways)
  • Explain how stories help us share and process emotions

Step 2

Emotion Exploration

15 minutes

Step 3

Story Brainstorming

10 minutes

  • Guide students to outline their story arc on the planner: setting, emotional peak, resolution
  • Encourage use of descriptive words (refer to slide 5 emotion word bank)
  • Circulate and prompt deeper details (sensory descriptions, thoughts, reactions)

Step 4

Drafting Personal Narrative

20 minutes

  • Students draft their narratives on blank paper
  • Differentiation:
    • Grades 3–5: Provide sentence starters on planner ("I felt… when…")
    • Grades 6–8: Encourage paragraph structure and dialogue
  • Teacher observes and provides feedback focusing on emotional clarity, descriptive detail, and story structure

Step 5

Sharing & Reflection

10 minutes

  • In pairs or small groups, students volunteer to read excerpts
  • Peers give two positive comments focused on emotion and storytelling
  • Whole-class reflection: How did telling your story help you understand your feelings?
  • Collect drafts for teacher review and feedback
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Slide Deck

Navigating Big Feelings Through Storytelling

A 60-minute session for grades 3–8

• Identify and name big feelings
• Build a personal narrative planner
• Draft and share a short emotional story

Welcome students and introduce the focus: using storytelling to explore big feelings. Point out the lesson flow: define emotions, gather words, plan a story, and draft.

Today’s Learning Goals

  1. Define “big feelings” and see examples
  2. Discover why storytelling helps us process emotions
  3. Learn key emotion words to describe how we feel
  4. Get familiar with our Personal Narrative Planner

Explain that today’s goals are to understand what big feelings are and how we can use stories to express them.

What Are Big Feelings?

• Strong emotions that can feel overwhelming
• Examples:
– Excitement
– Anxiety
– Frustration
– Sadness
– Pride

Ask students: What feelings come to mind when you think of “big”? Write answers on the board.

Why Storytelling Matters

• Stories help us name and share emotions
• Organizes our experience: setting → peak emotion → resolution
• Builds empathy when we listen to others’ stories

Highlight how stories give us structure (beginning, middle, end) to organize feelings and make sense of experiences.

Emotion Word Bank

Happy: joyful, thrilled, proud
Sad: lonely, disappointed, heartbroken
Angry: frustrated, irritated, furious
Scared: anxious, nervous, terrified
Surprised: amazed, startled, astonished

Encourage students to pick words from the bank when planning and drafting.

Personal Narrative Planner Overview

  1. Situation: What happened?
  2. Feelings: Which big feeling did you experience?
  3. Setting: Where and when?
  4. Emotional Peak: What was the most intense moment?
  5. Resolution: How did you cope or what did you learn?

Walk through each section: situation, feelings, setting, peak, resolution. Show a quick mock example: “I felt nervous when…”

Brainstorming Tips

• Use sensory details (sight, sound, smell)
• Pick strong emotion words from our bank
• Show, don’t just tell: use dialogue and action
• Think about how you changed by the end

Offer tips: use vivid adjectives, sensory details, and dialogue for older students.

Next Steps

• Complete your Personal Narrative Planner
• Draft your story on blank paper
• Grades 3–5: Use sentence starters ("I felt… when…")
• Grades 6–8: Write in paragraphs and add dialogue
• We’ll share excerpts and reflect together

Transition to activity: hand out the planner and blank paper. Remind students to refer back to these slides as they work.

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Activity

Personal Narrative Story Planner

Use this planner to organize your story about a big feeling. Fill in each section before you start drafting.

1. Situation: What happened?

Sentence Starter (Grades 3–5): "One day, I..."







2. Feelings: Which big feeling did you experience?

• Pick from the Emotion Word Bank: joyful, anxious, frustrated, heartbroken, proud, terrified, amazed, etc.

Sentence Starter (Grades 3–5): "I felt... when..."







3. Setting: Where and when did this take place?

• Describe the place, time, and any important details (weather, people around, sounds).







4. Emotional Peak: Describe the most intense moment.

• What made this feeling strongest?
• Use sensory details (What did you see, hear, smell, touch?)
• Grades 6–8: Try adding dialogue or inner thoughts in quotation marks.












5. Resolution: How did you cope or what did you learn?

• Explain how you reacted, who helped you (if anyone), or what you realized.







When you’ve completed your planner, use it to draft your narrative. Remember:

  • Grades 3–5: Start with simple sentences using your sentence starters.
  • Grades 6–8: Write in paragraphs, add dialogue, and show, don’t just tell.
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