What is Empathy?

Teacher(s): Lisa Jenkins / Subject: ELA / Grade: 6th-8th
Lesson Title / What is empathy?
Featured Newsela Article /

Art student tries to help the homeless by redesigning their signs (1050L)

Learning Objective
Example statement(s) about what students will learn from this particular activity. / Today I am learning … to consider different points of view in current events.
So I can … explore social issues affecting our society.
I know I understand when … I can define what “empathy” is and use problem-solving skills to brainstorm solutions to social issues as a result of class discussions.
Students will be able to … identify elements of empathy and brainstorm ideas to create their own photo story on an issue that they find important.
Learning Standard Include the standard that this activity helps teach. / CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.6.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings.
Lesson Content
How will you introduce the lesson to your students? How will you teach them the skills they need to be successful? How will you allow students to practice the skills they learned with Newsela’s Write + Quiz feature? How will you assess mastery? / Introduction:
● What is empathy? Ask students to brainstorm their ideas together. Collect ideas on the board or ask students to write down their own definition. Watch the YouTube video "Empathy Can Change The World" by a teacher and group of 8th-grade students.
● After the video ask students to add to their brainstorm on empathy. Also ask students to come up with some examples of situations that involve empathy at school.
Modeling:
● Begin reading the article Art student tries to help the homeless by redesigning their signs (1050L) together.
● This lesson/article is good for stopping and modeling a reader’s conversation in their head and how to annotate ideas. Read the first section out loud. Stop, and ask students to annotate using their Highlight tools using PURPLE to predict which reaction people would have: positive reactions to the signs, or negative reactions to the signs. Ask students to Highlight their prediction in PURPLE by the sentence that led them to this conclusion.
● Next, read the second section “Each Takes Hours To Complete” out loud. Ask students to Highlight a sentence in BLUE that they believe shows empathy in this section. Explain why.
● Then, read the third section “Not The First Project Of Its Kind” out loud. Ask students to Highlight another example of empathy in BLUE, and answer this question: Why would an art student decide to take on a project that demands a lot of time and no pay?”
● Following this question, read the fourth section “Homelessness In Chicago Is Getting Worse” out loud and have students listen. Once the teacher stops, ask students to Highlight in YELLOW any connections they have to the issue of homelessness or an issue that they feel is obvious but ignored by lots of people. What might they want to create “signs” for?
● Finally, read the last section of the article. Ask students to Highlight a statement that leaves them with a question - in RED. Annotate the sentence and write their question in the annotation box.
Student Practice:
● Ask students to share some of the ideas they have written in the Annotations with the Highlight tool. The BLUE color indicates a connection to the “big idea” of empathy, YELLOW indicates slow down and look for details, and RED shows “hmm… stop!” something to think about here. Teachers can use the Instructions box when assigning an article for students to revisit if they need to look back for Highlight color coding.
● Show students the The Urban Type Experiment Website that was referenced in the article. Ask students what impact the designed signs have on them. How does it change their perspective?
Wrap Up
● Depending on student interest, have students choose an issue that they find important in school (an issue that needs empathy) and ask them to generate their own “sign” about the issue. Students can then use this captive audience of their peers, to put the signs up around the school. Check back in with your class in a week or two to see if they notice anything or hear comments about their signs of empathy.
Guided Questions
● What is empathy?
● How does one develop empathy?
● What if we didn’t have empathy in this world?
Assessment
● Ask students to complete the Newsela Quiz for nonfiction comprehension. Then, ask students to choose one of their ideas from the brainstorm OR an idea sparked from the article. Choose several key words that will form a poem.
● The assessment will look at the ways in which students chose to portray empathy in poetry. Does their topic “show” the idea of empathy? Are there key words that help the reader look at the issue with an empathetic feeling?
Accommodations
What scaffolds can be included to support learners? Can you anticipate different reading levels for students? / ● For students who need additional support, provide a small start of key words from the article to help them form a poem. Use the student’s brainstorm or provide key words that you want them to incorporate into their work. This is best in a small group or one to one conference. Students can use each key word as the focus for each stanza.
Extensions
How can you support high level learners? Can you anticipate reading levels and Writing Prompt to challenge? / ● For Students: Examine to what extend homelessness affects your community. Is it an issue that community members encounter often? If so, what can be done to support those in need? If not, what do neighboring communities do to help the problem of homelessness?