Developing Empathy and Respect

First graders build empathy by doing, not just listening. When students act out feelings, compare perspectives, and reflect on their own responses, abstract concepts become concrete and memorable. Active learning turns abstract social skills into lived experiences students can repeat and refine.

• 1st Grade
• Families & Neighborhoods
• 4 activities
• 20 min–30 min

Learning Objectives

1. Identify specific emotions in self and others based on verbal and non-verbal cues.
2. Explain how showing empathy can positively influence interactions with peers.
3. Demonstrate respectful behavior towards classmates with differing opinions or backgrounds.
4. Compare and contrast the feelings of characters in a story before and after an empathetic interaction.
5. Create a short role-play scenario illustrating a respectful resolution to a disagreement.

Role Play

⏱ 30 min·Pairs

Role Play: Switch Places

Students act out a simple conflict scenario (two friends want to use the same book). After the first round, they switch roles and replay the scene. The debrief asks: 'Did anything feel different from the other person's side?'

Prepare & details

How does showing empathy help you make and keep friends?

Facilitation Tip: During Role Play: Switch Places, stand back after giving directions so students’ dialogue feels authentic rather than teacher-directed.

Setup: Open space or rearranged desks for scenario staging

Materials: Character cards with backstory and goals, Scenario briefing sheet

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Social Awareness
• Self-Awareness

Think-Pair-Share

⏱ 20 min·Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: How Would You Feel?

The teacher reads a short scenario aloud (e.g., a student who sits alone at lunch every day). Students think about how that person might feel, share with a partner, and then brainstorm one concrete thing they could do to help.

Prepare & details

Can you think of a time when it is important to respect someone who is different from you?

Facilitation Tip: For Think-Pair-Share: How Would You Feel?, provide sentence stems on cards so English learners and hesitant speakers have an entry point.

Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor

Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Gallery Walk

⏱ 25 min·Whole Class

Gallery Walk: Respect in Action

Post images of students showing respectful behavior (listening while someone speaks, helping someone carry something heavy, including a new student in a game). Students add a sticky note to each photo describing what respectful choice is being made and why it matters.

Prepare & details

What might happen if someone is disrespectful to others in a group?

Facilitation Tip: During Gallery Walk: Respect in Action, assign small groups one photograph to discuss for one minute, then rotate so every student contributes.

Setup: Wall space or tables arranged around room perimeter

Materials: Large paper/poster boards, Markers, Sticky notes for feedback

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Inquiry Circle

⏱ 25 min·Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: The Problem Solvers

In small groups, students receive a scenario card with a disagreement between two characters. They must find a solution that both characters would feel okay about, which requires accounting for two different perspectives at once.

Prepare & details

How does showing empathy help you make and keep friends?

Setup: Groups at tables with access to source materials

Materials: Source material collection, Inquiry cycle worksheet, Question generation protocol, Findings presentation template

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Teaching This Topic

Start with concrete, low-stakes scenarios that mirror the students’ daily interactions. Avoid moralizing; instead, model curiosity by asking, ‘What might be going on in their mind?’ Research shows that when teachers narrate their own empathetic thinking out loud—‘I notice Maya’s shoulders are slumped; I think she might feel left out’—students begin to internalize the habit. Keep language simple and consistent: use the same phrases like ‘I wonder how they feel’ across activities so they become part of the classroom culture.

What to Expect

By the end of these activities, students will recognize emotions in themselves and others, explain why respect matters in disagreements, and apply simple empathetic responses in familiar settings. You will see students using specific language like ‘I see you feel sad’ and inviting peers to share ideas without interruption.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

Common Misconception

During Role Play: Switch Places, watch for students who believe empathy requires agreeing with the other person.

What to Teach Instead

Pause the role play and have partners switch roles again, this time asking them to say, ‘I understand you’re upset, but I still think we should …’ to model understanding without approval.

Common Misconception

During Think-Pair-Share: How Would You Feel?, listen for statements that imply respect is only for adults.

What to Teach Instead

Prompt pairs to brainstorm examples of respect between peers, then share out and create a visual anchor chart titled ‘Respect Between Friends’ with their ideas.

Common Misconception

During Collaborative Investigation: The Problem Solvers, assume that empathy is too difficult when someone is very different.

What to Teach Instead

Give each group a simple Venn diagram to find one feeling that everyone in the group shares, then have them present how that shared feeling helps them understand someone new.

Assessment Ideas

Quick Check

After the Gallery Walk: Respect in Action, hand each student three scenario cards and ask them to draw the likely feeling and write one empathetic action they could take. Collect these to see if students connect emotions to specific responses.

Discussion Prompt

After reading a story with conflict, lead a discussion using the sentence stems from Think-Pair-Share: ‘How did [character] feel when [event] happened? What could [another character] have done to show empathy? What happened when they did that?’ Listen for students naming both feelings and respectful actions.

Exit Ticket

During Role Play: Switch Places, give students a half-sheet exit ticket with two columns labeled ‘Empathy’ and ‘Respect.’ Ask them to draw or write one example of each that they practiced today and plan to use again this week.

Extensions & Scaffolding

• Challenge: Ask students to create their own scenario cards for peers to act out, including a ‘feeling word’ and an ‘empathy response.’
• Scaffolding: Provide emotion word banks and sentence frames on sentence strips for students to hold while speaking.
• Deeper exploration: Over several days, record student empathetic responses on a class chart and revisit it to spot patterns and set new goals.

Key Vocabulary

Empathy	The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person. It's like imagining yourself in someone else's shoes.
Respect	A feeling of deep admiration for someone or something, or a regard for the rights, wishes, or traditions of others. It means treating people kindly, even if they are different from you.
Perspective	A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view. Everyone has their own perspective based on their experiences.
Feelings	An emotional state or reaction. Recognizing and naming feelings in ourselves and others is key to empathy.