Teachers! Here's Your Guide to Building Student Empathy in the Elementary Classroom
Teaching student empathy is one of the best ways to create a positive classroom community.
In the classroom, even the smallest misunderstanding can lead to conflict that disrupts learning and affects the classroom dynamic.
Teachers are often called to temporarily set aside learning to manage these conflicts in order to reset and rebalance the classroom learning environment.
In recent years, teachers have seen an increased need for teaching students how to recognize emotions and manage them in a positive way.
By helping students identify emotions and giving them the tools to express themselves constructively, teachers can establish a more empathetic classroom culture and reduce conflicts.
Step 1: Help Students Identify Their Emotions
When you see a situation where you need to step in and help, start by suggesting what emotion you think the student is feeling, but keep it non-judgmental.
When Working With Younger Students (K-3rd Grade) You Can Say:
“You seem angry.”
“You look sad.”
“I see your face, you appear to be mad.”
When Working With Older Students(4th-6th Grade)
You Can Say:
“You seem upset.”
“You seem frustrated, what’s happening?”
This gives the student a chance to connect the word with what he/she is feeling. Sometimes the student will correct you and say, “No! I’m not sad! I’m really mad!”
That’s O.K., it still gives you an identified emotion, and you can start a discussion with the student.
Step 2: Teach Students to Recognize Facial Expressions
When speaking to students during an emotional time, I called attention to the students’ facial expressions, especially when I worked with younger students.
Younger Students: You Can Say:
“You really wanted a turn, but look at his face. It made him angry when you pushed him out of the way.”
“Look at her face. It made her sad when you didn’t include her in the game.”
Older Students: You Can Say:
“You were joking around, but look at his face. Does he look like he’s laughing and enjoying the joke?”
“You say the secret wasn’t about her, but look at her face. It hurt her feelings when you left her out and excluded her.”
All Students: Here are some phrases I used frequently to reinforce healthy emotions and acceptable actions.
Tell students all emotions are O.K. to feel.
“It’s O.K. to be angry. It’s NOT O.K. to hit.”
“It’s O.K. to feel frustrated, it’s NOT O.K. to throw things across the room.”
By using this strategy, you are modeling what you eventually want students to be able to do on their own, which is to look at another person’s face and body language and identify what he/she might be feeling.
Step 3: Ask Questions That Build Empathy
Create times during the week when you hold class discussions about emotions and identifying other people’s feelings. Use different books and videos to start class discussions.
ClassDojo’s “Big Ideas” Videos are one resource I used in my classroom to initiate our discussions. (Resource Details Below)
After reading a book or watching a video, discuss the character’s feelings and motivations. Prompt students to ask questions such as:
How do you think the character felt when that happened? What clues did you notice? (character’s face, words, or actions)
How do you think you would feel if that happened to you?
This is another way for students to practice observing and thinking about other people’s feelings and actions.
Step 4: Give Students Scripts for Respectful Communication
Help students navigate their emotions with others by giving them small scripts to say instead. Teaching students alternative phrases to say can stop situations from escalating.
When working with younger students, keep the phrases short and simple.
Younger Students: They Can Say:
“I don’t like it when you do that, please stop.”
“That hurts my feelings, please stop.”
“That makes me mad! Stop.”
Older Students: They Can Say:
“That’s not funny. Either stop or I’m going somewhere else.”
“I don’t like what you’re doing, I’m going to work with another group.”
Building a safe and positive classroom environment starts with recognizing and identifying emotions, drawing attention to facial expressions, asking questions and providing alternative scripts for students to use as they learn to navigate emotions.
By providing students with tools to identify and manage their own emotions, as well as identify other students’ emotions, teachers are able to build positive student interactions, a safe learning environment, and prevent situations from escalating.
Final Thoughts
Teaching empathy isn't something that happens in one lesson.
It happens through everyday conversations, modeling, guided practice, and helping students recognize how their words and actions affect others.
When students learn to identify emotions, communicate respectfully, and understand another person's perspective, they build skills that strengthen relationships both inside and outside the classroom.
ClassDojo: The Big Ideas
ClassDojo is a resource I used frequently in my classroom. Most teachers know about the behavior features and the ability to give points for positive behavior.
Did you know there is a section focused on Social and Emotional Learning? “The Big Ideas” section has videos that cover topics such as:
Growth Mindset
Respect
Perseverance
Empathy
Respect
Positive Thinking
The videos tell stories about the character Mojo and his friends. ClassDojo also provides activities that go along with each video that you can use with your students.
I used these videos throughout the year to drive discussions about empathy, emotions, and behavior towards others.
Interested? Here’s How To Begin:
Create a Classdojo account - it’s free!
Scroll down to the bottom of your teacher page.
Click on: “Big Ideas” section and start your journey today!
→ Classroom Resource: ClassDojo.com
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