GETTING STARTED

Use a breathing, mindfulness or brain break activity to empower children to increase resilience, focus, and calmness as you get started with the lesson.

Musical Statues

This game is a variation on the standard Musical Statues. Have students dance to the music, and when the music stops, they should freeze and listen to the instructions. They then form their group and sit down together as quickly as they can.

Instructions may include:

Find 1 to 2 other students who have the same hair color as you.

Make a group of 2 or 3 students who have the same eye color as you.

Find someone who is wearing the same color socks/top/pants as you.

Make a group of 3 to 4 students who are smiling.

Find 1 to 2 other students who are about the same height as you.

Make a group of 5 to 6 students who have on shoes.

DISCUSSION

Read the story, You, Me and Empathy by Jayneen Sanders. This book helps children understand the meaning of empathy.

GUIDED PRACTICE

Ask students to think about a person they know would help them out in any of the following situations.

Think about who helps you when……

You are feeling sad.

You are feeling happy.

You are scared to try something new.

You are feeling lonely.

You are feeling sick.

You are not sure how to do your homework.

You are feeling angry.

ACTIVITIES TO EXTEND THE LESSON

Give each student the coloring sheet “An Adult I Trust" and identify one adult that they can always go to for help.

WRAP IT UP

Encourage students to be aware of how others feelings and to keep in mind that the smallest acts of kindness can have a large impact on the lives of those around them. It’s important for everyone of us to have a person who can help us out.

Brain Breaks, Breathing and Mindfulness Activities

Belly Breathing

This video on teaching belly breathing, brought to you by Sesame Street, is a great brain break.

Resources for the Classroom (Click on the underlined words to access the hyperlinks.)

Classroom Kids Health

This website is a great tool to assist kids in learning about empathy, geared at pre-k to second grade. It also includes activities to extend the lesson.

Empathy Game: A Tool to Teach Kids to Be Considerate (Free printable)

Teaching Empathy: The Best Way to a Compassionate Classroom

7 ideas for teaching empathy in the classroom to help kids develop compassion and build social skills through mindful lessons, discussions, and activities.

GETTING STARTED

Use a breathing, mindfulness or brain break activity to empower children to increase resilience, focus, and calmness as you get started with the lesson.

The Stroop Effect

The Stroop Effect is perfect for an ice breaker. Use the picture (or website) to show the color words. Have the students say the word, not the color. Now have students say the color, not the word. It will get harder the more you progress through the list. See how far everyone can get without making a mistake.

To learn more about the experiment and why saying the word is easy but saying its color is not, check out the article here: https://stevensonfinancialmarketing.wordpress.com/2012/03/16/the-stroop-effect-in-marketing/

Be sure to ask students why they think it works that way.

DISCUSSION

Discuss with students why it is important to understand other people’s feelings and points of view.

We know what they’re going through.

We know how to support them.

People can feel understood.

We don’t say things to hurt feelings. we want people to understand us, too.

It’s a way to have healthy relationships and make friends.

Explain to students that in the lesson you’ll be talking about empathy. Define empathy for students. Here’s an example to be used:

“Empathy is the ability for someone to understand another person’s feelings and thoughts.”

Give an example of when you felt empathy for someone and how you responded.

Here’s an example of a story that could be used: I remember a time in college when a student was really nervous about giving a speech in front of the class. I knew how she felt—I felt empathy for her—because I had been nervous when I gave my speech the day before. I also imagined that she was worried she’d get a bad grade on her speech. So, I told her how I coped with feeling nervous and made sure to smile and nod at her while she was presenting.

Have students share a time when they felt empathy for someone and how they responded to show them that they understood.

Continue by discussing the skills involved in empathy:

-Identify how someone feels.

We can tell how someone feels by their tone of voice (quivering, yelling), facial expressions (eyes wide, furrowed brow, frowning), body expressions (folded arms, hiding face, covering mouth), and physical actions (crying, throwing something, walking away).

-Understand someone’s point of view.

We can think about how we would feel; we could think about what they might be worried about.

-Respond in an understanding way.

We could do something that would make them feel better.

Point out the relationship between identifying how someone feels and understanding their point of view to be able to respond in an understanding way.

Explain to students that you will be practicing empathy with a game called WISES – Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes. Use the WISES game to help students practice using empathy.

The WISES’ worksheet to support the lesson can be found at Grades 5 & 6, Unit 2-Lesson 2.2 at www.sanfordharmony.org and is accessible at this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQdRqnnDXVGMY9IbL8RNCNAHR9P6OuFB/view?usp=sharing

GUIDED PRACTICE

Explain to students that you will be practicing empathy with a game called WISES – Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes. Use the WISES game to help students practice using empathy.

The WISES’ worksheet to support the lesson can be found at Grades 5 & 6, Unit 2-Lesson 2.2 at www.sanfordharmony.org and is accessible at this link:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hQdRqnnDXVGMY9IbL8RNCNAHR9P6OuFB/view?usp=sharing

Preparation to Play the WISES Game

”We’re going to play a game in which we learn more about each other based on how you would face different situations. This is called the WISES Game. W-I-S-E-S stands for Walk in Someone Else's Shoes.”

• Place students in diverse groups of three to four and distribute one set of WISES Conversation Cards and one dice to each group.

• Have groups sort their cards into three different piles based on card type.

• Give instructions to play the game. Show the students the cards as you are explaining the instructions.

Card Descriptions

One set of cards include 10 Act It Out cards, 10 Do You Get Me cards, and 10 Be Cool cards.

ACT IT OUT cards describe a feeling for you to act out. Don’t say the feeling out loud. If the other players guess correctly in five or fewer guesses, keep the card; if not, place the card at the bottom of the deck. NOTE: If you’re uncomfortable acting it out, you could instead describe a situation that would make you feel the emotion.

DO YOU GET ME cards describe a situation and three options. Read the card out loud. Write down your answer without showing anyone. The other players guess which option best fits your perspective. If someone guessed correctly, keep the card; if not, place the card at the bottom of the deck.

BE COOL cards describe a situation. Read it out loud. Each person, including you, writes down a word to describe how they would respond. Share your answers with one another. If someone’s answer is the same as yours, keep the card; if not, place the card at the bottom of the deck.

How to Play

• Each player starts a turn by rolling the dice.

• If you roll a 1 or a 2, pick an Act It Out card.

Try to get your team to say the word on the card by making faces or describing a situation that would cause the emotion. Don’t say the feeling out loud. If your team guesses correctly in five or fewer guesses, keep the card; if not, place the card at the bottom of the deck.

• If you roll a 3 or 4, pick a Do You Get Me? card.

Read the card out loud. Write down your answer without showing anyone. The other players guess which option best fits your perspective. If someone guesses correctly, keep the card; if not, place the card at the bottom of the deck.

• If you roll a 5 or 6, pick a Be Cool card.

Read the card out loud. Each person, including you, writes down a word to describe how they would respond. Share your answers with one another. If someone’s answer is the same as yours, keep the card; if not, place the card at the bottom of the deck.

• Play until all the cards are gone, or set a certain time to end the game.

• Discuss whether you feel like your group “gets you.”

Why is it important to understand others?

ACTIVITIES TO EXTEND THE LESSONS

What Different Emotions Look Like

Understanding different emotions is a key component to being empathetic towards others.

Use the chart to explain and give examples of the 5 universal emotions. There are facial expressions as well as written out cues for you to use as examples. For the full lesson go to www.sanfordharmony.org, select Grades 5 & 6, Unit T-Appendix 2.2. Click the link to access the worksheet. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WQxStnVZPcKqfQwhd7uz3bhAUMG4-kDR/view?usp=sharing

WRAP IT UP

Review key components of empathy by making these important points.

• When faced with the same situations, people can feel differently.

• People often express their feelings through their actions and on their faces and bodies.

• Identifying other people’s feelings and perspectives allows us to understand them and provide support.

GETTING STARTED

Use a breathing, mindfulness or brain break activity to empower children to increase resilience, focus, and calmness as you get started with the lesson.

Bumble Bee Breathing Activity

This breathing activity is a simple but effective strategy for helping students slow down, both mentally and physically.

• Ask students to sit comfortably in their chairs.

• Next, they will gently place the tips of their pointer fingers in their ears (emphasize gently). Ask them to close their eyes or look down toward the floor.

• When you say breathe, students will breathe in through their nose to a count of 4.

• Then hum quietly as they slowly breathe out to a count of 4.

• Repeat 3 or 4 times. Expect laughter with the humming noises that will sound just like a hive of bumble bees.

DISCUSSION

Begin this lesson by talking about why it is important to understand other people’s feelings and points of view.

We know what they’re going through. We know how to support them. People can feel understood. We don’t say something to hurt their feelings. We want people to understand us, too. We know how to make friends with one another.

Ask students to define empathy. Empathy is when someone understands another person’s feelings and thoughts.

• Ask students to share a time when they felt empathy for someone.

• Be sure to mention that if we have empathy for someone, we respond to that person in an understanding way.

• People can have different perspectives when faced with the same situation. This leads people to feel and behave in ways that are unique. So empathy is a skill of understanding someone’s point of view or what they think.

GUIDED PRACTICE

This activity was adapted from Sanford Harmony – Grade 4, Unit 2, Lesson 2.2 – Illusion Pictures available at the link that follows.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uPO6r3pADc2bX5zsQ8eBYz1xTo_IF3UF/view?usp=sharing

Tell students that they will be practicing understanding another person’s perspective.

• Show students each of the three Illusion Pictures, one at a time. Ask students to share what they saw in each of the pictures, discussing one picture at a time.

• Pay attention to different opinions and how students react when they are able to see only one perspective.

• Notice the reactions when students can see both of the pictures easily.

• Note students’ reactions when it takes them longer or they are only able to see one of the pictures?

Illusion Picture Answers:

Picture (1) - Young woman or old woman

Picture (2) - Duck or rabbit

Picture (3) - Two faces or a vase

Be sure to highlight how people have different perspectives even when viewing the same object or experiencing the same situation.

Continue the discussion with the following questions:

How is it possible to see different things when viewing the same picture?

What are some situations at school when you have a different point of view than someone else?

WRAP IT UP

Finish this lesson by review key components and make these important points.

• Remind students that their feelings and perspectives may be different from their peers.

• Encourage students to pay attention to how their actions elicit feelings in others.

• Challenge them to use the empathy skills they have learned to help them respond in understanding ways in the classroom and at home.

• Point out that when we see another person’s perspective, we take the time to listen and talk in respectful ways.

Brain Breaks, Breathing, Mindfulness Activity

21 Days of Compassion and Gratitude: Rainbow Meditation for Kids and Adults (Charka Meditation)

This breathing exercise can help adults and kids alike calm down, relax and concentrate better.

First, you will lay down on the floor, a mat, or your bed. Then move your body a little to get out the restless wiggles. After the wiggles are gone, get into a comfortable position and try to lay still.

Take a few deep breaths by counting to 3 for each inhale and exhale. Imagine what the air is doing as it enters and exits your body. Feel it enter your nose or mouth and go all the way to your belly making it bigger. Feel it in your belly and then exhale deeply and push the air out. Repeat a few more times.

As you feel your body relaxing, you can close your eyes or keep them open. Now imagine a bright red light in the middle of your tummy. As you practice your deep breathing, think about it getting brighter and warmer, spreading throughout your body. Think about how this warm relaxing sensation feels all over your body. You should feel safe and secure.

Now do the same thing with a bright orange light just under your belly button. It spreads throughout your body as you are breathing as well. Smile and feel the happiness.

Let’s try yellow now, and it is glowing right above your belly button. As it spreads during your breathing, you feel the feelings of warmth and confidence. Keep going! Let’s do green now. Imagine the green light glowing in the middle of your chest, near your heart. As it spreads while you are breathing, you feel love and feel more love growing in your heart.

Do the same thing with a blue light right at your throat. Keep breathing! Imagine it is your absolute favorite shade of blue. This light is making you feel creative and proud of who you are.

Next up is indigo, a bright dark pinkish color and it is right between your eyebrows. As you breathe it spreads all over. This is a guiding light to help you see things more clearly.

Now let’s try violet, which is a deep purple color. The violet light is at the tip top of your head. Don’t forget to keep doing your deep breathing. You can feel the warmth of the light as it spreads with each breath. This is the energy of your environment – everything around you also has violet light. You should feel connected to the whole universe; from the floor/mat you are laying on to the stars in the sky and everything in between.

Lastly, imagine all the colors coming together to form a rainbow above your head. As you breathe, it becomes brighter and starts to circle your body. You breathe in the rainbow and its energy; becoming one with the rainbow and becoming a giant ball of bright light and energy! You feel all the emotions from the individual colors and are completely relaxed and at ease. You should feel happy, relaxed, and refreshed.

Try practicing this exercise before bed to improve your sleep!

Children’s Books about Empathy

Click the title above to access 10 children’s books about empathy that not only highlight the importance of empathy but are also enjoyable stories kids will love.

Teacher Resources

Empathy in Your Classroom - Activities to Build Empathy and Community

Check out these activities from the Teachers Guild to build empathy and community in your classroom.

Teaching With Empathy: Why It’s Important

Empathy is a powerful tool that can help you better understand what’s driving your students’ behavior. This article identifies 4 main attributes of what it means to be empathetic. Integrate these into your teaching.