Feelings Unit (Littles)
Lesson 6: Sharing Feelings — Empathy

Lesson Goals

  1. Defining empathy/sharing feelings
  2. Practicing empathy: sharing feelings

Lesson Description

Students will talk about empathy — the ability to understand and share the feelings of others.

Lesson Plan: Sharing Feelings – Empathy

Play "Us Time" Song

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Open Us Time with the “Us Time” song. Sing it together or play the video. 

Review Agreements

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Agreements are rules that people decide, together, to follow such as:

  • Paying attention to each other;
  • Keeping our hands to ourselves; and
  • Giving everyone a turn to speak.

In each session, discuss agreements, add to them, modify them, and recommit. Students can raise their hands or say “I agree” to show that they agree.

Story Time: "Grumpy Monkey"

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  • Read Grumpy Monkey, written by Suzanne Lang and Illustrated by Max Lang.
  • How was Jim the monkey feeling?
  • What helped the monkey start to feel better?
  • Have you ever felt grumpy like Jim the Monkey and Norman? We can pretend to be grumpy all together. How many can share a feeling?

Movement: Share Your Feelings

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  • Listen to the Dance Your Feelings Song
  • Choose one student to dance one of the feelings.
  • Can everyone in the class match their moves?
  • Repeat until everyone has a chance to be the leader if they are comfortable leading.

Activity: Feelings Memory

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This is a fun way to remember and match the feelings.

  • Prepare feelings face pairs ahead of time. On the first four paper plates, draw four different feelings. Make the second four to match, so you have four feelings pairs.
  • During Us Time, place the plates face down on the floor and mix them up.
  • Have children take turns flipping over two plates. Do the feelings match?
  • How many matches can we find?
  • As we find matches, let’s practice making the faces and sounds of each feeling.

Closing Discussion

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Conclude with a review:

  • What did we learn about sharing feelings? (It feels nice when others feel the same way you do)

  • Let’s remember to practice sharing each other’s feelings throughout the day.

Thank You: Share the Us Time Closing Song

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Conclude with “Thank You,” the Us Time “goodbye” song. This song marks the end of Us Time. Invite children to share what they want to say “thank you” for! Find the song online at playsparkler.org/UsTimeSongs.

What You'll Need
  • Copy of the book “Grumpy Monkey” to read aloud
  • Feelings Grid
  • 8 Paper Plates for each student
  • Markers
Lesson Quick Links

Family Engagement Materials

From this lesson, you can share:
Feelings Reading List
Activities to Play At Home
Suggested Letter to Send Home
Research/Sources

Explore Other Us Time Resources

For Toddlers 2-3 Years Old
For Littles 4-6 Years Old