This resource was created to support educators aiming to explore empathy building practices with students.

How to use the resource

Select a mentor text you want students to interogate. This may be a picture book, an image, a snippet from a media show, cartoon, etc.

Select questions from the resource across different domains as relevant:

• Noticing/Observing

• Feeling

• Needing

• Challenges and Barriers

• Perspective-shifting

• Connecting to action

Facilitate a class discussion or use a routine such as Think, Pair, Share for students to reflect and discuss together. You may need to add or adapt the questions depending on your students age and stage.

Bridging to ‘taking action’, use the ‘Connecting to action’ questions to scaffold ideas about what ‘action’ might look like in the chosen context.

Extension: Taking action further

Bridge the situation and context in the mentor text to your own classroom, school and community. Ask students for ideas about practical ways they could ‘take action’ when they encounter similar contexts.