Lesson Plan

Walking in Their Shoes

Students will practice perspective-taking and map emotions in real-life scenarios to build empathy and strengthen peer relationships.

Developing empathy helps students understand classmates’ feelings, reduces conflicts, and fosters a positive school climate by promoting respectful interactions.

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

10 minutes

Step 1

Introduction with Slides

5 minutes

Step 2

Guided Discussion

10 minutes

Step 3

Emotion Mapping Activity

12 minutes

Step 4

Group Sharing

5 minutes

Step 5

Exit Reflection

3 minutes

Slide Deck

Empathy Essentials

Welcome students and introduce the slide deck. Emphasize that today we’ll explore what empathy is and why it matters in our classroom community.

What is Empathy?

Define empathy clearly. Ask students to think of a time someone understood how they felt.

Why Empathy Matters

Highlight each bullet. Invite a quick show of hands for any personal examples.

Imagine This...

Read the scenario aloud. Encourage students to visualize and discuss quietly with a partner for 30 seconds.

Role-Reversal Talk

Explain the Role-Reversal Talk prompts. Remind groups to listen respectfully to each perspective.

Emotion Mapping Activity

Distribute Emotion Mapping worksheets now. Walk through one example as a class.

Reflection & Next Steps

Collect students’ written reflections as exit tickets. Plan to revisit common themes next session.

Lesson Plan

Walking in Their Shoes

Audience

Time

Approach

Materials

Prep

Prepare Materials

Step 1

Introduction with Slides

Step 2

Guided Discussion

Step 3

Emotion Mapping Activity

Step 4

Group Sharing

Step 5

Exit Reflection

Slide Deck

Empathy Essentials

What is Empathy?

Why Empathy Matters

Imagine This...

Role-Reversal Talk

Emotion Mapping Activity

Reflection & Next Steps

Discussion

Worksheet

Answer Key

Empathy Matters

Megan MacDougall