Lesson suggestion: Listening with Understanding and Empathy

1. Introduce the term: “Listening with Understanding and Empathy.” Remind students that this behavior will be a focus for the month of May.

2. Ask pairs of students to take three minutes to compose one sentence expressing what they think this behavior heading suggests.

3. Ask for volunteers to share their sentence aloud. Help students to define the behavior.

4. Read “Peach & Blue.”

5. Ask students to share how they think the story demonstartes the thinking behavior.

6. Advise students that they will now be shown a picture taken during this country’s Great Depression.

7. Ask students to write:

1 - What would they imagine one of the boys to say if spoken to?

2 - How would they respond to the boy(s)?

8. Ask for volunteers to share their responses.

9. Help students to identify that they have used Empathy in their process.

10. Further discuss how Empathy is an important element in social functioning.