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Social Awareness: Empathy

Ninth graders build social awareness by practicing empathy and perspective-taking, learning to read social norms across settings, and appreciating the diverse backgrounds and viewpoints that make a community stronger.

Grade 9CASEL: Social Awareness45 minutes1 class periodCASEL SELExplicit teaching4 StandardsCASEL
Start the Lesson
Lesson at a Glance

Everything you need before the bell rings

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to…

  • ✓Define social awareness.
  • ✓Practice empathy.
  • ✓Take others’ perspectives.
  • ✓Appreciate diversity.
Essential Question

Being socially aware means reading a room, understanding what others are feeling, and valuing perspectives different from your own. Why is that skill so powerful?

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Lesson Phases
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Vocabulary Terms
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Standards Aligned
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Interactive Task
Explore · Interactive

Social Awareness Check

Project each item and have students answer about social awareness. The tool explains empathy, perspective, and diversity.

🤝 Understand social awarenessTry it
Answer each question about social awareness.
The Lesson · SEL Flow (Check-In · Learn · Practice · Apply · Reflect)

45 minutes, five moves

Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.

1

Check-In — Read the Room

5 min

Social awareness means reading a room and understanding others — why does it matter?

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Do a check-in.
  • Pose a social situation.
  • Set the tone.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Reflect.
  • Consider.
  • Get ready.
2

Learn — Empathy & Diversity

12 min

Students learn.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Send students to Social Awareness Check.
  • Explain empathy.
  • Explain diversity.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Answer.
  • Note empathy.
  • Note diversity.
3

Practice — Practice

13 min

Students practice.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Take another’s perspective.
  • Identify a social norm.
  • Discuss respectfully.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Take it.
  • Identify it.
  • Discuss.
4

Apply — Apply

10 min

Students apply.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Apply empathy to a real scenario.
  • Explain both perspectives.
  • Respond with care.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Apply it.
  • Explain both.
  • Respond.
5

Reflect — Reflect

5 min

Students close.

👩‍🏫 Teacher Moves

  • Define social awareness.
  • Give an example of empathy.
  • Complete the exit ticket.

🎒 Student Actions

  • Define it.
  • Give one.
  • Complete the exit ticket.
Standards Alignment

Built to the standards you report on

Aligned to the CASEL 5 Social & Emotional Learning Competencies.

CASEL
Social Awareness

Take the perspectives of others.

CASEL
Social Awareness

Demonstrate empathy and compassion.

CASEL
Social Awareness

Recognize social norms across settings.

CASEL
Social Awareness

Appreciate diversity and different viewpoints.

Differentiation

One lesson, every learner

Multilingual Learners

ELL / EMERGING READERS
  • Scenario + response cards.
  • Sentence frame: “From their view, ___.”
  • Use two-sided stories.

Support & Access

IEP / 504
  • Start with a clear scenario.
  • Focus on “how do they feel?”
  • Use pictures.

Stretch & Extend

GIFTED / EARLY FINISHERS
  • Analyze a current event’s perspectives.
  • Role-play empathy.
  • Explain implicit bias.
Materials

What to gather

  • 📽️Projector / board
  • 🖼️Scenario cards
  • 💻Social Awareness Check
  • 📚A two-sided story
  • ✏️Pens
  • 🎫Exit-ticket slips
Vocabulary

Key terms — hover for a quick definition

social awarenessunderstanding others and social settingsempathycaring about how others feelperspectivesomeone’s point of viewperspective-takingseeing a situation as another doesdiversitya variety of people and viewssocial normthe expected behavior in a settingcompassioncaring and wanting to helpbiasan unfair leaning toward or against
Evaluate

Exit Ticket

Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.

QUESTION 1
What is empathy?
Trying to understand and care about what another person is feeling.
QUESTION 2
What does it mean to appreciate diversity?
Valuing the different backgrounds, cultures, and viewpoints people bring.
QUESTION 3
Why is reading social norms useful?
It helps you behave respectfully and appropriately in different settings.

Reflect: perspective practice.

Have students describe a recent disagreement from the other person’s perspective and note one thing that view helped them understand. A printable social-awareness sheet is in the SEL library.

Study · Flashcards

Study the key terms

Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.

🃏 Social Awareness: Empathy & Understanding OthersFlip
Card 1
Term
Tap to flip →
Meaning
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Practice · Quiz

Check your understanding

A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.

📝 Social Awareness: Empathy & Understanding OthersQuiz
Score: 0
1 / 6
Question 1
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Practice · Worksheet

Printable worksheet

A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.

🖨️ Social Awareness: Empathy & Understanding OthersPrint
Name: ________________________
Date: ____________

Part A · Write the word that matches each meaning

Word bank: bias, compassion, diversity, empathy, perspective, perspective-taking, social awareness, social norm
  1. the expected behavior in a setting
  2. caring about how others feel
  3. an unfair leaning toward or against
  4. caring and wanting to help
  5. seeing a situation as another does
  6. understanding others and social settings
  7. someone’s point of view
  8. a variety of people and views

Part B · Show what you learned

  1. What is empathy?
  2. What does it mean to appreciate diversity?
  3. Why is reading social norms useful?
Answer key — Part A: 1) social norm · 2) empathy · 3) bias · 4) compassion · 5) perspective-taking · 6) social awareness · 7) perspective · 8) diversity
Part B: 1) Trying to understand and care about what another person is feeling. 2) Valuing the different backgrounds, cultures, and viewpoints people bring. 3) It helps you behave respectfully and appropriately in different settings.