Adjectives of Feeling

adjectives of feeling—words like happy, nervous, excited, bored, etc. These are crucial for helping students express emotions, develop empathy in communication, and build fluency in both speaking and writing.

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🎯 Why Teach Adjectives of Feeling?

Adjectives of feeling are essential for:

  • Describing emotions and reactions

  • Expressing opinions and experiences

  • Engaging in real-life conversations and storytelling

Students often learn basic adjectives like happy or sad, but they need a broader emotional vocabulary to express themselves meaningfully in English.

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🧑‍🏫 How to Teach Adjectives of Feeling

1. Start with Common Emotions

Begin with a list of high-frequency emotions such as:

  • Happy, sad, tired, angry, bored, excited, nervous, scared

Use pictures, emojis, or facial expressions to help students match words to feelings.

✅ Activity idea: Show pictures of people showing emotions and ask:

“How do they feel?” Students guess the adjective.

2. Teach in Context

Avoid isolated lists. Instead, use short dialogues or stories where feelings are expressed naturally.

“She was excited to see her best friend.”
“He felt nervous before the test.”

✅ Use sentence frames:

  • “I feel ______ when…”

  • “She looks ______ because…”

  • “They were ______ after…”

3. Teach Opposites and Degrees

Help students learn opposites (e.g., happy/sad, nervous/confident) and intensity (e.g., tired → exhausted).

✅ Create a feelings spectrum from positive to negative.
Encourage students to rank feelings by strength.

4. Integrate All Four Skills

  • Listening: Short audio clips or video scenes—students identify feelings

  • Speaking: Emotion charades, role-play situations, daily feelings check-ins

  • Reading: Short texts or diary entries—highlight feeling words

  • Writing: Sentence completion, mood journals, emotion word maps

✅ Encourage daily use with warm-ups:

“How are you feeling today, and why?”

5. Support with Visuals and Repetition

Use emoji flashcards, mood meters, or feelings posters. Make them part of the classroom routine so students can refer to them during discussions or writing tasks.

✅ Keep reviewing and expanding: add words like frustrated, thrilled, embarrassed as students progress.

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💬 Tips for Success

  • Connect feelings to real-life experiences (e.g., “I felt embarrassed when…”)

  • Make it personal and interactive

  • Avoid overwhelming students—start small and build up

  • Use visuals and real-world contexts often

Image from http://loveenglish.org

Positive feelings make you feel good.

Negative feelings make you feel bad.

All feeling words are adjectives.

I am feeling excited, grateful and impulsive 🙂

Which three adjectives speak to you?

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Lesson Plan & Worksheet: Adjectives of Feeling

📅 LESSON PLAN

Level: Beginner to Low-Intermediate
Time: 45–60 minutes
Topic: Adjectives of Feeling
Skill Focus: Vocabulary, speaking, listening, writing

Objectives

  • Recognize and understand common adjectives that describe feelings

  • Use adjectives of feeling in sentences and conversation

  • Practice identifying feelings in context

Materials

  • Flashcards or images of emotions (or emojis)

  • Feelings Word Wall (see below)

  • Printed worksheets

Warm-Up (5–10 mins)

  • Show 4–6 images of people expressing emotions

  • Ask: “How do they feel?” Elicit answers like happy, sad, tired, angry

Presentation (10 mins)

  • Introduce 10–12 adjectives of feeling:

    • Happy, sad, angry, scared, tired, excited, bored, nervous, surprised, relaxed, proud, embarrassed

  • Use facial expressions, images, and simple example sentences

Guided Practice (10 mins)

  • Matching game: match adjectives to facial expressions

  • Sentence frames: “I feel ___ when…” / “She looks ___ because…”

Worksheet Activity (15–20 mins)

  • Use the worksheet below to practice vocabulary and sentence writing

Wrap-Up (5 mins)

  • Feelings Check-in: “How do you feel right now and why?”

  • Exit slip: Write one sentence using a feelings adjective

🗋 WORKSHEET: Adjectives of Feeling

Part A: Match the Word to the Picture

Draw lines to match each word to the correct emoji or image. (Happy, sad, angry, tired, scared, excited)

Part B: Fill in the Blank

Use one of the adjectives to complete the sentence:

  1. I feel __________ when I get a good grade.

  2. She is __________ because her dog is lost.

  3. We are __________ before a big test.

  4. They were __________ at the funny movie.

  5. He is __________ after playing soccer.

Part C: What’s the Feeling?

Read the sentence and write the feeling:

  1. “I have a test tomorrow and I don’t feel ready.” → __________

  2. “I got a new bike today!” → __________

  3. “My cat is missing.” → __________

  4. “I fell in front of the class.” → __________

Part D: Write Your Own

Complete the sentence:

  • I feel __________ when __________.

  • When I am __________, I usually __________.

🏫 FEELINGS WORD WALL

Cut out and display in class. Use images or emojis for each word.

Positive Feelings:

  • Happy

  • Excited

  • Proud

  • Relaxed

  • Surprised

Negative Feelings:

  • Sad

  • Angry

  • Nervous

  • Scared

  • Embarrassed

  • Tired

  • Bored

(Use color coding: green for positive, red for negative. Include visuals or real photos if possible.)

Teacher Tip: Reinforce adjectives with daily use: ask “How do you feel?” as a class routine and encourage students to answer with full sentences.

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