Introduction and Warm-Up (5 minutes)

Teacher: "Hello! Today we’re going to use art to show how we feel. First, let’s look at our goal together."
Display Slide 1 from Painting Your Emotions Slides.

Teacher: "We’ll read The Color Monster and then paint our feelings. Let’s start by noticing how we feel right now."
Display Slide 2: Warm-Up: Naming Your Feelings.

Teacher: "How are you feeling at this moment? Use one word to describe your mood. For example, I might say I’m feeling curious. What word would you choose?"
(wait for response)
Teacher: "Thank you for sharing! It’s great to name our feelings before we begin."

Read-Aloud and Emotional Discussion (8 minutes)

Teacher: "Now I’ll read The Color Monster. Each time we see a feeling, we’ll pause and talk about it."

(Read aloud, pausing at the first emotion spread)
Display the “Happy” slide from Painting Your Emotions Slides.
Teacher: "Here the Color Monster is bright yellow and feels happy. What color and feeling do you see? Have you ever felt happy like this? Tell me about that time."
Follow-up prompts:
• "What did happiness feel like in your body?"
• "What made you smile when you felt that way?"

(Read until the “Sad” spread)
Display the “Sad” slide.
Teacher: "Now the monster is deep blue and feels sad. What does sadness look like to you? Can you remember a time you felt sad?"
Follow-up prompts:
• "How did your body feel when you were sad?"
• "What helped you feel a little better?"

(Continue to the “Angry” spread)
Display the “Angry” slide.
Teacher: "The monster turns red when it’s angry. What does angry look or feel like for you? Have you ever felt that strong feeling?"
Follow-up prompts:
• "Where in your body do you feel anger?"
• "What do you do when you feel angry?"

(Continue to the “Calm” spread)
Display the “Calm” slide.
Teacher: "Here the monster is green and calm. When do you feel calm? What color would you paint to show calm?"
Follow-up prompts:
• "What helps you feel calm?"
• "Where do you notice calmness in your body?"

Emotion Planning (5 minutes)

Display Slide: Emotion Planning from Painting Your Emotions Slides.
Teacher: "Great job noticing feelings! Now, here is your Emotion Painting Worksheet. You’ll see the four feelings we talked about: happy, sad, angry, and calm."

Teacher: "Step 1: Choose one emotion you want to paint today and circle it on your worksheet."
(wait for student to circle)
Teacher: "Step 2: On the lines or in the boxes, list or draw the colors you think of when you feel that way. For example, if you chose angry, you might pick red and orange."
(Teacher models on their own worksheet: "I’m choosing calm, so I’ll circle calm and draw blue and green.")

Guided Painting Activity (8 minutes)

Display Slide: Guided Painting.
Teacher: "Now for the fun part—painting! Put on your smock and pick up a paintbrush. Use the colors you selected to paint how your feeling looks."

Teacher: "As you paint, describe what you’re doing. You might say, ‘I’m painting loud red for angry!’ or ‘I’m mixing blue and green for calm.’"
(Offer help mixing colors, encourage descriptive language.)
Praise & prompts:
• "I love how bold that red looks! What made you choose that shade?"
• "That mix turned into a beautiful green—tell me about it."

Reflection and Closure (4 minutes)

Display Slide: Reflection & Closure.
Teacher: "Let’s look at your painting together. You did an amazing job! Now I have a few questions."

Teacher: "1. How did painting that emotion feel for you?"
(wait)
Teacher: "2. What helped you choose those particular colors?"
(wait)
Teacher: "3. If you painted this emotion again, what might you try differently?"
(wait)
Teacher: "You showed so much creativity and honesty today. Remember, anytime you have big feelings, you can paint them. Let’s clean up our paints and brushes now—great work!"

Emotion Painting Activity Guide

Overview
This guide helps teachers lead an individual learner through a 30-minute session that combines a read-aloud of The Color Monster with a painting activity to identify and express emotions. Students will select one emotion, plan a color palette, create a painting, and reflect on their work.

Time: 30 minutes
Audience: Individual elementary learner (Tier 3)

Materials

• Tempera paints (red, blue, yellow, green)
• Paintbrushes
• Water cups
• Smock or paper towels
• Large drawing paper
• Student Worksheet: Emotion Painting Worksheet
• Picture Book: The Color Monster

Setup (10 minutes before session)

1. Cover table with a disposable tablecloth or butcher paper.
2. Lay out paints, brushes, water cups, and smock within easy reach.
3. Place the student’s worksheet next to a blank sheet of drawing paper.
4. Queue up The Color Monster at your reading spot.
5. Keep paper towels handy for spills.

Procedure

1. Introduction & Warm-Up (5 minutes)

• Invite the learner to sit comfortably and display Slide 1 from Painting Your Emotions Slides.
• Say: “Today we’ll read a book and paint how we feel. How are you feeling right now?”
• Model by naming your own feeling, then prompt the learner to share one word.

Teacher Tips:
• Use empathetic language (“I hear you.” “Thank you for telling me.”).
• If the learner struggles, offer two emotion choices to choose from.

2. Read-Aloud & Emotional Discussion (8 minutes)

• Read The Color Monster, pausing at each emotion spread.
• On each pause:
  • Display the matching slide (Happy, Sad, Angry, Calm).
  • Ask: “What feeling do you see? Have you felt that way before?”
  • Use follow-up prompts:
  – “Where did you feel that in your body?”
  – “What helped you feel okay again?”

Teacher Tips:
• Keep questions open-ended but scaffold with sentence stems if needed (“I feel ___ when…”).
• Validate all answers (“That makes sense.”).

3. Emotion Planning (5 minutes)

• Hand the learner the Emotion Painting Worksheet.
• Guide them to:
  1. Circle one emotion to paint.
  2. List or draw the colors they associate with that feeling.
• Model an example on your worksheet as you think aloud.

Teacher Tips:
• Offer a visual list of common color-emotion pairings.
• Encourage not overthinking—focus on first instinct.

4. Guided Painting Activity (8 minutes)

• Put on smock and hand over paintbrush.
• Encourage the learner to mix paint colors on a palette before applying to paper.
• Prompt them to narrate: “I’m mixing red and yellow to make orange because I feel excited.”
• Circulate supportively, ask:
  • “What made you choose that shade?”
  • “Would you like to try adding more water for a lighter color?”

Teacher Tips:
• Praise process over product (“I see you’re experimenting!”).
• Offer gentle guidance on brush control if needed.

5. Reflection & Closure (4 minutes)

• Invite the learner to place their painting on the table.
• Ask reflection prompts from Emotion Reflection Prompts:
  1. “How did painting that feeling feel for you?”
  2. “What helped you choose those colors?”
  3. “What might you try differently next time?”
• Acknowledge their insights and effort.
• Prompt clean-up: rinse brushes, wipe table, store painting.

Teacher Tips:
• Repeat or paraphrase learner’s responses to show understanding.
• Encourage the student to take their artwork home or display it.

Facilitation Tips

• Keep language simple and concrete.
• Offer visual and verbal supports (color charts, sentence starters).
• Monitor frustration—provide breaks or shift to drawing if overwhelmed.
• Reinforce that there’s no “right” way to paint an emotion.

Differentiation

• For learners with fine-motor challenges: use larger brushes or sponge brushes.
• For emergent language learners: pair visuals with verbal labels.
• For high-anxiety learners: allow them to draw instead of paint, using crayons or markers.

Cleanup & Storage

1. Rinse brushes and water cups.
2. Wipe the table.
3. Safely store paints and worksheets.
4. Display or send the painting home for family connection.

Emotion Painting Worksheet

Name: _______________ Date: _______________

1. Which emotion will you paint today? Circle one:

   Happy Sad Angry Calm

2. List or draw the colors you associate with that emotion:

   • Color 1: _______ Draw a swatch:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   • Color 2: _______ Draw a swatch:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

   • (Optional) Color 3: _______ Draw a swatch:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

3. Sketch your painting idea below. Plan where you will place each color:

Use this plan when you start your painting. Have fun expressing your emotion through color!

Emotion Reflection Prompts

After completing your emotion painting, use these prompts to guide reflection. You can write or draw your responses in the space provided.

1. How did painting that emotion feel for you?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

2. What helped you choose the specific colors you used?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

3. Where in your body did you notice this emotion while you painted?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

4. If you were to paint this emotion again, what might you do differently?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

5. What new emotion or color would you like to explore next time?