<![CDATA[Students' emotional states at the start of a lesson vary and are not always visible through behavior. This study aimed to describe the implementation of the Mood Meter as an emotion check-in strategy at the beginning of lessons and to describe how the teacher responded to students' emotional states to support learning readiness. A descriptive qualitative approach supported by descriptive quantitative data was used in a single Grade V class of SDN 44 Kota Bengkulu (26 students) in the 2026 academic year. The Mood Meter was implemented four times in Science and Social Studies (IPAS) lessons in September-October 2026, each lasting about five minutes. Students chose one of six emotion categories: happy, calm, enthusiastic, sad, angry, and anxious. Data came from records of emotion choices, observation, teacher response notes, and documentation, and were analyzed descriptively. Unpleasant emotions (sad, angry, anxious) were chosen by 32.0% of attending students in the first meeting and by 4.3% in the fourth meeting, while the calm category rose from 16.0% to 87.0%. The reported causes were peer conflict, worry about group membership, and problems at home. The teacher responded through pair grouping, conflict mediation, personal conversation, and ice breaking, and students appeared attentive, ready to follow instructions, enthusiastic, and open. The Mood Meter can serve as a brief opening routine that gives teachers early information for responding to students' needs. Because the study had no comparison group, these patterns do not demonstrate causal effects.]]>
