This document provides guidance for a lesson to teach 4-year-olds about emotions through singing songs. The lesson recommends singing the song "If You're Happy and You Know It" and discussing other emotions like sad. It suggests changing the lyrics to "If You're Sad and You Know It" and having children suggest motions to depict different feelings. The goal is for children to learn to identify, recognize, and understand their own emotions and others' emotions.
2. According to Developmental Profiles, four year old children
should recite and sing simple songs and rhymes. (p. 142)
This activity will give the children an opportunity to identify
emotions through song.
WHY TEACH THIS LESSON?
3. The children will be able to identify characteristics of emotions.
They will recognize and identify own emotions and the emotions
of others.
WHAT WILL THEY LEARN?
4. WHAT TO DO!
After we’ve done the fingerplay, I’ll tell the children, “That
fingerplay talks about feelings. Today we are going to sing songs
about feelings.”
First, we’ll sing a song you all know, “If You’re Happy and You
Know It”
We will sing the song.
I will ask the children, “We don’t always feel happy though, do
we? What are some other feelings we have?”
I will choose sad or nervous and say, “What if we change our
song to ‘If You’re Sad and You Know it?’”
I will ask the children what we might do when we’re sad.
We will sing the new song with our new actions supplied by the
children