Showing interest and concern...

Take a look at the skill steps involved in making someone else feel comforted when they're feeling strong emotions.

No matter who you are, we all like to know when others are concerned for us, and it's smart to know how to act on your concern.

The four simple steps shown here are a fantastic place to start if you want to be an empathetic friend.

Look...

Imagine if I told you that you could have a superpower that would allow you to know something very personal about other people—their feelings. With just one look at a special map, you would know if people are happy, sad, angry, or bored, without them telling you anything. Well, almost all of us have this superpower already. And the map that we use every day to read other people’s emotions is the face.

Click this link to learn more...

Listen...

If you want to know how someone is feeling, it might be better to close your eyes and use your ears: People tend to read others’ emotions more accurately when they listen and don’t look, according to research published by the American Psychological Association.

Click this link to learn more...

You can also watch the video read-a-loud sharing the book, "In My Heart," by Jo Witek. This book displays beautifully how one can use their words to describe their feelings.

Feel...

Empathy is being able to understand how someone else is feeling. Empathy is being able to know how someone else is feeling, even when you aren't in the same situation. Sometimes we call empathy being able to "put yourself in someone's shoes" and see things from their view.

Watch the "EMPATHY" video and talk about what you learned with your class.

There are several lessons to learn more about teaching empathy included here...