First Grade Explores Empathy

Black Lives Matter week is coming to Abington Friends School. In the library first graders will unpack the ideas of empathy and restorative justice. Today our young students are talking about empathy.  But what does that look like in first grade? What does it mean and why is it important?  We started by watching this video together:

We then checked in to see if everyone had a working definition of empathy. For us, we took it directly from the video, being able to imagine how someone feels. Students then shared why they thought empathy was important. Some of the responses included, "because then you can help them, " "then you will know when they are sad." and "because you want people to be happy."

First grade will continue to unpack this idea during out next class with the book "The Other Side" by Jacqueline Woodson. In this story two girls in a small segregated town go against the norm to become friends. We will talk about how the girls might be feeling and how we can tell. This will give us a chance to practice using picture clues and looking for clue words in the text.

Empathy will be our building block for restorative justice. Returning from winter break provides the opportunity for students to reflect on our community in the library and how we intentionally create a happy learning environment that works for everyone. What are the structures that we need in place to help everyone? What happens when we make a mistake? If we hurt someone's feelings what is the difference between restorative justice and punishment? These are big topics that our first graders will be working on together. Look for more updates as we progress through the unit.