Teaching Empathy to Young Learners

Teaching young children to be aware of the emotions of others can be tricky but important to creating a caring classroom environment.  

When, I read The Potato Chip Champ, I knew that I wanted to use it to teach my students about empathy.  

First of all, I felt that it was important for my students to understand what empathy meant.  This video did a good job of portraying what empathy looks and feels like.  

(For a longer video with more examples, download it as a  podcast via iTunes.)

Next, I read the book to my class.  We paused along the way to see which pictures showed empathy; an understanding of how others feel.   Then, we discussed how we could show empathy.  We used this sentence frame to help our discussion.

Click to download.

Students said that they could show empathy by asking, "Are you okay?" or saying "I'm sorry."  I think this book did an excellent job of showing how our actions and reactions have a lasting effect on the relationships we have with others.  I will use this in the coming weeks as I teach about the life and times of Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders.  

I am delighted that Maria Dismondy has generously offered an autographed book for one of you. 

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To learn more about the book, watch the book trailer video.

Be sure to visit Maria's blog and/or Facebook page where she provides an upbeat view on many topics that you'll not want to miss.  

Happy Teaching and Learning!