Before designing, or using, any lesson on emotion with kindergarten students, it is wise to create a concrete set of goals. Write a list of learning objectives that include specific ideas and concepts for the children to understand and/or master. Tie these to individual emotions, behaviors or actions. For example, if you are using a book reading/discussion lesson on anger, goals might include naming the emotion (i.e., anger) in the book, identifying when a character is angry or recognizing the ways in which the character expresses or deals with the emotion.
Identifying personal emotions is vital to understanding yourself and how others perceive you. The young student might not readily be able, or have experience, recognizing what certain emotions look like. There are many ways to help kindergartners identify and begin to understand their own emotions, ranging from reading books on the subject to mirror exercises and discussions. For example, start a self-identification lesson by reading a picture book such as Molly Bang's "When Sophie Gets Angry -- Really, Really Angry." Discuss the emotions in the book and ask the children to make faces for each emotion. Give the kindergartners mirrors so that they can make emotion faces and see what they look like when they are angry, sad or happy.
Although creating a solid lesson plan is essential to the daily function of your kindergarten classroom, sensitive emotions might call for an impromptu lesson or two. Teachers should be ready with an arsenal of ideas to try when an on-the-spot emotion lesson becomes necessary. For example, child-child arguments, bickering and unkind words require a middle-of-class lesson. Instead of simply breaking up an argument and telling the students that they are not being nice, try an actual emotion activity. Bring out a mirror for an angry student to self identify, engage the entire class in a situational discussion or even have the children involved draw a picture that shows what they are feeling.
Not every kindergarten teacher will be able to come up with a school year's worth of pre-planned and/or impromptu lessons on emotions. Although it is surely possible to create your own content and activity designs, if you need some help there are many avenues to try. A variety of educational websites provide lessons plans or projects to combine that work well for the kindergarten classroom. For example, edHelper.com offers emotion-themed lesson plans along with specific activities, such as printable worksheets and word lists for vocabulary, Scholastic Teachers provides lesson resources on life experiences and relationships and the Read Write Think site provides kindergarten graded plans on emotions from the International Reading Association.