How to be empathetic towards another, especially if they are different from you.

Recognizing/Refusing/Reporting: Bullying and Relational Aggression

• Do my actions affect others?
• Who knows what the word empathy means?
• Can I help someone that I feel is being treated unfairly?

Today we are going to talk about social awareness. Last time we said that awareness means to learn about someone or something. But we have a new word, social. Does anyone know what social means?

Social just means being around people. So, today we are going to learn something about the people around us. Let me ask you a question. Can we tell what other people are thinking even when we don’t talk to them? How can we tell what someone is feeling?

We can look at someone’s face or body to see how they are feeling. Let me show you. How am I feeling if I do this? (sad face and body language)

I’m sad. What about this? (do this a few more times with excitement, anger and scared) Do we always know how someone is feeling by looking at them? Can we always know EXACTLY how they feel? Hmmm...good question, huh? Now we are going to try something that is going to show us a little bit more about what I am talking about.

Stargazing

1. Sit or lie down comfortably and settle into the natural rhythm of your breathing.

2. Look toward the horizon and rest your gaze there. Keep your eyes soft, not focusing on any particular object.

3. Notice any changes that you see.

4. When thoughts or feelings bubble up, you can just let them be. If we don't think about our thoughts and emotions, they tend to come, stay for awhile, and then fade away on their own.

Questions after Watching

• At lunch, you hear someone say "You can't sit with us." What should you do? What should you say?
• What is an example of bravery or courage from the story?
• If you feel left out at recess, what can you do or say?
• Why is it important to make sure everyone feels visible and included?
• What do you think is worse, being laughed at or being invisible? Why?

Materials needed: Big bowl of water, Several different food colors

Have students gather around a table. Place the bowl of water in the center, and give 4-5 students small bottles of food coloring (they should all have the same color). Explain to the students the the bowl represents the classroom or school community. Ask one students to lightly squeeze 1 drop of food coloring into the water.

Explain that one drop of color represents one kind act. Ask students to look at the food coloring and make inferences about how one kind act affects the school community. The blue drop pretty much stays in one place but it does spread a little bit to the water right around the drop. Ask another student to add a drop on the edge of the blue water from the first drop. Ask students to notice what’s happening with the water now that the second drop has been added. Continue adding one drop at a time on the edge of the blue water.

Discussion

• What happened when we had just one kind act in the class?
• What happened each time there was another kind act?
• What does this food coloring and water demonstration tell you about our class and school community?

One kind act, or drop of blue, spread to the water right around it. When one person shows kindness, it spreads to the people around him. When those people experience kindness, they spread kindness to others, just like adding another drop of blue to the water. As each person experiences kindness and then in turn shows kindness to others, there’s a ripple effect. This is just like when the drop of blue hit the water and there were ripples in the water, spreading the color to the water close by. Kindness spreads in the same way. As we experience kindness, we want to show others kindness. Then those people want to show others kindness, and the kindness spreads like a ripple through the water!

• Do my actions affect others?
• How can I show empathy to someone?
• What are some things you can do to help someone feel included?
• What are some ways that I can help someone that is being treated unfairly?