Preschool: Identifying and Recognizing Emotions

Throughout this unit, children will be able to recognize emotions in themselves and others,
develop effective coping strategies that accompany their emotions, and understand the role
emotions play in their school and home environment. Children will view be presented with
emotional vocabulary through role play situations and picture emotion cards, coping
strategies through the building of a Quiet Cube and sensory bottles, and will participate in
whole and small group conversations about emotional strategies. Children will also have the
ability to read diverse books that allow them to know and understand the elements of social
and emotional development.

STAGE 1- STANDARDS/GOALS
What should students understand, know, and be able to do? Stage one identifies the desired
results of the unit including the related state content standards and expected performances,
enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge and skills.

Content Standard(s)

Generalizations about what students should know and be able to do.

Content Standards Primary Expected Performances

CT ELDS, SE.48.7: Recognize, label and
respond to a variety of emotions in others.
Children will have the ability to view the
emotions of peers, adults, and
individuals/animals in stories to recognize and
label the emotions of oneself and others. Tools
such as mirrors, vocabulary cards, and role play
situations will allow students to gain
knowledge of the range of emotions.

CT ELDS, SE.48.6: Express emotions Children will communicate their feelings (using
experienced in typical daily routines (e.g., learned emotional and social vocabulary)
frustration at waiting, excitement about a including the cause and reaction to these
favored activity, pride) through language
and gesturing rather than physical ways.
CT ELDS, SE.48.3: Use strategies to self-
soothe with limited adult support.
CT ELDS, SE.48.8: Make connections
between emotional reaction of others and
own emotional experiences.
Enduring Understandings
Insights learned from exploring
generalizations via the essential questions
(Students will understand THAT)
K-12 enduring understandings are those
understandings that should be developed
over time, they are not expected to be
mastered over one unit or one year.
Overarching Enduring Understandings:
1. Children will understand that
emotions are the personal ways in
which individuals react to situations.
2. Children will understand that
emotions are expressed in a variety
of ways. Emotional vocabulary is
expressed through conversations
and situations, while physical acts
are opposite reactions expressed by
individuals.
feelings. Children will state their emotions and
the source of the emotion, using language such
as, I am angry because. Teachers will
facilitate conversational exchanges through
prompting, rewording, and reminding.
Children will choose a preferred method of
self-soothing when coping with their emotions.
They will utilize the Quiet Cube, sensory
bottles, comfort from another peer or adult, or
their language in order to react to an
emotional situation or behavior.
Children will independently relate emotional
situations to their own experiences with peers
and adults through the use of language and
pictures. They will have the ability to draw
pictures about emotional situations, relate to
peers experiences, and express their own
emotions through journal writing and dictation.
Essential Questions
Inquiry used to explore generalizations
1. How does understanding the words
emotion and feelings useful in daily
classroom interactions?
2. How can expressing emotions physically
impact the environment?
3. How can the verbal expression of
emotions effect the relationships we
have with our peers and other adults?
4. Why is understanding a positive coping
method essential to creating a positive
learning environment?
 3. Children will recognize the ability to
relate emotional situations to
routine events, such as waiting for a
turn or having a peer take a material
from their hand.
4. Children will relate their own
emotional experiences to the
emotional experiences of others and
respond through the use of
emotional vocabulary or gestures.
5. Children will infer that their
behavior and emotional responses
will have an after effect in their
environment and with those around
them.
6. Children will demonstrate the ability
to cope with emotional situations by
choosing a preferred coping
strategy, such as a Quiet Cube or
sensory bottle.
Unit Specific Enduring Understanding
1. Children will use their working
knowledge of the word emotion
in terms of its relation to the word
feelings. Emotional vocabulary
will be presented through books,
picture cards, and role play
situations.
2. Children will differentiate
emotional expressions and
reactions in terms of of verbal and
non-verbal cues.
3. Children will interpret their
knowledge of emotional vocabulary
and recognition to routine events in
the classroom, such as walking in
line, waiting for a turn in a center,
and sharing materials. Children will
be presented with role play
situations, conversations will be
 prompted and facilitated through
teacher interaction, and situational
routines will be referenced through
the daily schedule and routines in
the classroom.
4. Children will use their knowledge to
recognize the emotions in others
and use their emotional expression
and vocabulary to facilitate up to
three turns of conversational
exchanges with peers and adults.
5. Children will examine the
consequences and after effects of
their emotional reactions and
behaviors. Classroom rules will be
established and reinforced. For
example, if a child throws a chair,
what might happen?
6. Children will ascertain the benefits
of one coping method over
another. Self-soothing strategies
will be presented through the
discussion of emotions and the
presentation of sensory bottles, a
Quiet Cube, and emotional
support items (i.e. offering a tissue
to an upset peer).

Knowledge and Skills

What students are expected to know and be able to do

Knowledge
The students will know
The definition of the words emotions and feelings
The difference between the verbal and physical expression of emotions
The consequences of each emotional expression
 Daily routines and the emotional vocabulary that is associated with each routine
A variety of coping strategies for responding to emotions
Skills
The students will be able to
Identify their own emotions and the emotions of others
React verbally to an emotional situation rather than physically react
Communicate their emotions and the causes for their emotions to peers, adults, and
themselves
Relate their emotional experiences to their peers emotional experiences during three
conversational turns
Debate the most effective methods for self-soothing for themselves
Use self-soothing techniques to help peers, such as offering a tissue, a hug, or words
of support