Unit Plan 21 (Grade K Counselor): When I Feel Worried or Scared

Focus: Help students understand worry and fear in a gentle, age-appropriate way. The counselor uses a story about a character who feels nervous and then asks for help or uses a calming strategy. Students learn that worries can be talked about and that trusted adults can help them feel safer.

Grade Level: K

Subject Area: School Counseling (Worry • Fear • Trusted Adults)

Total Unit Duration: 1–2 weeks, 30 minutes per session

I. Introduction

This Kindergarten counseling lesson helps students understand that feeling worried or scared is normal. Students learn that worry and fear can happen when something feels new, loud, confusing, unsafe, or hard to understand. The lesson is gentle and reassuring, helping students notice the feeling without making the feeling bigger.

The counselor uses a story, puppet, picture cards, body clue examples, calming strategies, and trusted adult practice to show students what they can do when worry or fear feels too big. Students practice naming the feeling, using a calming tool, and asking a safe adult for help. The goal is for students to know that worries can be talked about, feelings can be supported, and trusted adults can help them feel safer.

Essential Questions

• What does worried mean?
• What does scared mean?
• What can students do when they feel worried or scared?
• Who are trusted adults students can ask for help?
• How can talking about a worry help students feel safer?

II. Objectives and Standards

Learning Objectives — Students will be able to:

1. Name common emotions, including worried, scared, calm, happy, sad, mad, and excited.
2. Recognize simple body clues that may happen when a student feels worried or scared.
3. Practice calming strategies that can help when worry or fear feels big.
4. Identify when a worried or scared feeling may be too big to handle alone.
5. Name trusted adults at school who can help students feel safer.
6. Practice help-seeking phrases such as “I feel worried,” “I feel scared,” “Can you help me?” and “I need help.”
7. (Optional Session) Apply worry and fear coping skills through a story, puppet practice, picture sorting, trusted adult matching, calming tool practice, or reflection page.

Standards Alignment — Grade K (ASCA-based Custom)

• C:S2.Ka — Name Common Emotions
  • Identify common emotions such as happy, sad, mad, scared, worried, excited, and calm.
  • Example: A student looks at a picture card and identifies the character as “mad.”
• C:S2.Kc — Ask for Help with Big Feelings
  • Recognize when a feeling is too big to handle alone and identify a safe adult who can help.
  • Example: A student says, “I can ask my teacher or counselor when I feel really upset.”
• C:S6.Ka — Identify Trusted Adults
  • Name trusted adults at school and understand when to go to them for help.
  • Example: A student identifies the teacher, counselor, nurse, or principal as someone who can help.

Success Criteria — Student Language

• I can name worried and scared.
• I can notice when a feeling feels big.
• I can say, “I feel worried.”
• I can say, “I feel scared.”
• I can use a calming tool.
• I can ask a trusted adult for help.
• I can remember that adults can help me feel safer.