Social Awareness

Elementary

What is Social Awareness?

The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The ability to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Perspective-taking
Empathy
Appreciating diversity
Respect for others

Daily Empathy Check-In

How are the others around me doing?
Who have I reached out to check-in with through a call or a message?
How are others in my community doing?
How are others around the world doing?
What good things are going on in my community and around the world?
How can I show encouragement and support today?

Empathetic Responses

Acknowledge their pain
Share how you feel
Show gratitude that the person opened up
Show interest
Be encouraging
Be supportive

What is Empathy?

Empathy is the ability to understand or share the feelings and emotions of another person. It's asking ourselves, "How would I feel in this situation?" Empathy is a skill we learn to help us relate and build positive relationships with those around us. It helps us be a more loving and kind person.

The Empathy Game

Empathy with Sesame Street

Understanding & Empathy

How can we use empathy to build better social awareness?

Think of how it would feel to be in someone else's shoes
Pay attention to how others look and talk
Keep an open mind and open heart towards others
Make it your goal to learn about others and try to understand them
Use kind, respectful words when you see others who may be struggling

Social Awareness is the ability for us to know what is going with the people around us. It is showing empathy and considering the perspective of others. Below are some activities you can try to help build your social awareness.

PODCASTS

KidNuz: Created by four Emmy winning journalists, KidNuz is a daily 5-minute news podcast made with kids in mind. The podcast provides briefings on the day’s top stories that are appropriate for kids ages 8-14. This podcast is an amazing way to teach your kids the importance of caring about what goes on in the world around them, while still trusting they aren’t taking in any information that is inappropriate for them. Click here to listen!
Activity to Try: Pick an issue and do a “deep dive”. Specifically look for the upside of the situation - people helping people, people bonding together, etc.

Short and Curly: A fun-filled podcast for kids all about ethical questions that get kids and adults thinking. “Do you have to love your sibling?” “Are some lies actually okay?” “Is it ever okay to fight back against a bully?” Click here to listen!
Activity to Try: Have your students write down questions to which they don’t know the answers, and talk about a few (after vetting them, of course).

Circle Round: Created and produced by parents of young children, WBUR's Circle Round adapts carefully selected folktales from around the world into sound and music-rich radio plays for kids ages 4 to 10. Each 10 to 20 minute episode explores important issues like kindness, persistence and generosity. Each episode ends with an activity that inspires a deeper conversation between children and grown-ups. Click here to listen!

ACTIVITIES

Raspberries! An American Tale of Cooperation: With only one wing, the little bird cannot fly to the raspberry patch with her brothers. As luck would have it, she meets a little dog, a chipmunk, and a frog who work together to get them all across the street to the raspberry patch. Grades K-2, Literature Activity

Yaki's Mural: In this story sorner from Teaching Tolerance Magazine, Yaki is nervous about making friends at her new school but finds a way to share her culture and art with her new class by creating a class mural. Grades 3-5, Literature Activity

Social Awareness Picture Books: Choose a book from the list and either read aloud to students or find on YouTube. Then have discussion using these prompts to help your students develop stronger social awareness.

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