This topic has a layer the others don't. A child who can say I am angry is practising two things at once: English, and the ability to recognise what they're feeling. Schools everywhere are putting more weight on that second skill every year, and plenty of class teachers end up using this topic to look after their children as much as to teach them language.
The core words and how to stage them
- First set, four basic feelings: happy, sad, angry, scared. That's plenty for Grade 1 and it covers most of what children actually feel.
- Second set: tired, hungry, excited, bored. These are the ones primary school children reach for most in real life.
- Grade 3 adds the finer shades: nervous, proud, surprised, shy.
The mood check-in routine: one minute every morning
Put a row of feeling faces beside the classroom door. On the way in, each child touches the one that matches and says it out loud: I am happy! or I am tired. You get two things out of it every single morning. The whole class speaks one real English sentence, and you can see at a glance who has arrived carrying what. A child who touches sad three days running tells you more than any test score.
There is a game to go with it. One child draws a card and pulls that face while the rest guess it in English. Close the topic with worksheets that match faces to words, plus a drawing of how you feel today with a sentence written underneath.