Feelings Stories

We all have feelings - even characters in stories! As we read this story, we are going to identify how characters in the story are feeling. When we notice how others are feeling, we can respond to them with empathy. We also learn about ourselves because we can think about times we have felt this emotion too.

1. Tell a story or read a book.
2. Ask feelings questions about the characters throughout the story. For example:

• How does ____ feel?
• How do you know? (e.g., facial and body cues)
• Why do you think ____ feels this way?

• Have you ever felt the same way as ____? When? What happened?
• Is it easy or hard to know how someone else is feeling? What can help you know how someone is feeling?
• What would you do if you were feeling the same way as ______? What strategies would you use to respond to this feeling?

For primary school students:

• Invite students to add feelings words to the Feelings Tree. Authors may use new and interesting feelings vocabulary in their books. As a class, keep track of new words that appear in the books you read.
• Create opportunities for students to create and share their own Feelings Stories. As they write or share stories, students can ask their classmates to answer questions about feelings.
• Motivate students to discuss their feelings by asking them to share stories from their own life when they have experienced a particular emotion.
• Before playing the game, identify emotional vocabulary words in the reading exercise. As students read or listen, ask them to use the Feelings Bingo Card to identify all the emotions within the reading. The students who find all the emotion vocabulary words in the reading win!

For students in grades 5-6:

• Ask students how a book character might feel about an event in your students’ lives.
• Ask students what tools or devices the author uses to show a character’s feelings beyond explicit feelings words.