Building Empathy: The Role of Perspective

Victoria Claas

Tier 1

Lesson Plan

Building Empathy: The Role of Perspective

Enhance empathy through perspective-taking

In this lesson, young students will participate in a series of interactive activities, including role-playing and drawing, to explore simple scenarios from various perspectives. These activities are designed to help students build empathy and understand others' feelings. By fostering empathy, students can improve their social interactions and learn to appreciate diverse perspectives.

Audience

Grades 2-3

Time

45 minutes

Approach

Enhance empathy through perspective-taking

Materials

Printable Character Cards, Scenario Descriptions, Discussion Questions, and Crayons and Paper

Step 1

Introduction

5 minutes

Start by explaining what empathy means in simple terms: understanding how someone else feels.
Talk about how seeing things from another person's point of view can help us be kind and make friends.
Introduce the activities: fun games to practice seeing things from different perspectives.

Step 2

Role-Playing Activity

10 minutes

Divide students into small groups.
Hand out the printable character cards and scenario descriptions to each group.
Explain the rules: each student will act out a character and demonstrate how that character might feel in the scenario.
Encourage creativity and expression in their role-playing.

Step 3

Drawing Activity

10 minutes

Provide crayons and paper to each student.
Ask students to draw a picture of their character in the scenario, showing how the character feels.
Allow students to share their drawings with the class and explain their thoughts.

Step 4

Interactive Game

10 minutes

Let students take turns pretending to be different characters.
Encourage them to talk about how their character might feel and what they might do.
Help as needed, making sure everyone gets a turn.

Step 5

Discussion and Reflection

5 minutes

Bring everyone back together for a group chat.
Use the discussion questions to guide the conversation.
Encourage students to share what they learned about understanding others.

Step 6

Closure

5 minutes

Summarize the main ideas of the lesson.
Ask students to share one thing they learned about being kind and understanding.
Encourage them to try seeing things from others' perspectives in their daily lives.

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Worksheet

Printable Character Cards

These cards contain simple characters for students to role-play during the interactive game. Each card provides a brief description of the character's background and personality traits.

Character: Alex - A shy student who loves drawing.

Character: Jamie - A friendly student who likes playing games.

Character: Sam - A curious student who asks lots of questions.

Character: Taylor - A new student who wants to make friends.

Reading

Scenario Descriptions

This handout provides simple scenarios for students to explore during the interactive game. Each scenario is designed to challenge students to think from different perspectives.

Scenario 1: Alex is invited to play but feels shy.
Scenario 2: Jamie wants to join a game but is unsure how.
Scenario 3: Sam's question is ignored by a classmate.
Scenario 4: Taylor is sitting alone and wants to join a group.

Discussion

Discussion Questions

These questions are designed to facilitate a reflective discussion after the interactive game, helping young students to articulate their thoughts and feelings about empathy and perspective-taking.

How did it feel to pretend to be someone else?

Encourage students to share their experiences and any fun they had.

Did you learn anything new about your friends?

Discuss how pretending to be someone else can help us understand them better.

Why is it important to be kind and understanding?

Highlight the role of empathy in making friends and being a good classmate.