Second Step Newsletter
November/December 2021
Empathy - A Core Second Step Skill
Empathy is feeling or understanding what someone else is feeling. It's walking in someone else's shoes and seeing another person's perspective. It's looking for clues on a person's face, body, and situation to understand how a person feels. Having empathy helps you be respectful and act in a thoughtful way toward others. Empathy is the first step in having positive relationships because it helps us understand and relate to others.
Your Second Step student is learning that, even if they are in the same situation, people can have different feelings, different perspectives, and multiple or complex feelings about what is happening. By using empathy to understand these differences, students will strengthen friendships, cooperate better, and get along better with others.
The Feelings Song - K & 1st Grade Second Step Song
The Feelings song- second step 1st grade
The Empathy Song - 2nd & 3rd Grade Second Step Song
The Empathy Song
Walk, Walk, Walk - 4th & 5th Grade Second Step Song
GRADE 4 SSP Lesson 9 Walk, Walk, Walk Empathy Vid
An Empathy Demonstration
Sesame Street: Mark Ruffalo: Empathy
Compassion - Empathy In Action!
When you do or say something that shows you care about how another person feels, you are showing compassion. Compassion is empathy in action! Compassion can be sending a card to a friend who is sick, donating food to a food bank, or helping a family member pick up the things they dropped. It can sound like "I'm sorry that happened to you" or "I'm thinking of you. Can I do anything to help?" Showing compassion has many positive benefits such as:
- Improved social connection among adults and children.
- Improved self-esteem, empathy, and well-being.
- Increased happiness
- Improved cooperation and better learning in the classroom
- Uplifts everyone around us
Compassion in Action- Written and Voiced By Stephanie Bierman, Program Director
A Special Empathy Lesson
Miss Yoder, 3rd and 5th grade Second Step instructor, brings us a creative, fun lesson on empathy and compassion!
Andrea Empathy Lesson
A Little Spot of Empathy by Diane Alber
The world could use a little more empathy and this little SPOT is showing how easy it is to see things from another person's perspective and show kindness!
Story time with Lynn "A. Little Spot of Empathy"
For more information or for questions about Second Step, please contact:
Shelby Liebegott at sliebegott@tiu11.org