These 17 laminated cue cards (9.5 x 11″) can be used by teachers to teach children emotional literacy. The cards are illustrated with brightly colored cartoon faces (multi-ethnic Wally) showing a variety of different emotions: sad, happy, frustrated, scared, excited, proud, loved, angry, lonely, calm. These cards can be used during circle time to provide a simple visual cue of what a feeling might look like as the concept of the feeling is introduced to the class. As children learn to identify the feeling faces, the cards can be used in varying manners: children can identify their own feelings by pointing to a particular feeling, children can identify how characters in stories are feeling using the cards, and the cards can be used in a variety of games designed to teach and reinforce feelings literacy. These feeling cards are integral to the Feelings Units in the Dinosaur small group and classroom curricula, but can also be used on their own by teachers who are not delivering the social skills program.

Tips for Using the Feelings Cards

These Feelings Cards are intended to be used with the Dinosaur lessons. In each lesson, teachers introduce 1-2 feelings during circle time. The cue cards are presented as a visual cue for the feeling that is being taught. First the teacher may ask the class to guess the feeling from looking at the picture, then the children may try to make their own faces look like the picture. Teachers can explore each feeling by asking students to share a time they experienced the feeling. Teachers may also share examples of their own feelings as well as use puppets to share feeling stories.

After a feeling word is taught, the teacher can look for moments when a child appears to be feeling that way and help the child name the feeling. These cards can also be used to check in on how a student is feeling at a particular moment during the day. Teachers might hang the feeling cards in a pocket chart and students can point to the way they are feeling during a time of conflict or when something is going well. A music freeze game can also be played with the feeling cards by asking children to dance to music and freeze their action when the music stops. The teacher can then hold up a feeling card that the children name or imitate with their own faces. The teacher can then restart the music and pull up a different card the next time the music stops.