{"id":633,"date":"2021-05-24T17:02:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-24T17:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/tpswesternregion\/?p=633"},"modified":"2022-12-01T14:30:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T14:30:38","slug":"how-to-teach-empathy-using-primary-sources-the-circle-of-viewpoints-plus-extension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.msudenver.edu\/tpswesternregion\/how-to-teach-empathy-using-primary-sources-the-circle-of-viewpoints-plus-extension\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Teach Empathy Using Primary Sources – The Circle of Viewpoints plus Extension"},"content":{"rendered":"

In <\/span>To Kill a Mockingbird<\/span><\/i>, Harper Lee writes that in order to understand another\u2019s point of view, one has to be able to climb into their skin and walk around in it. In other words, empathy is the ability to understand a person\u2019s condition from their own perspective. By building empathy of historic peoples, students can also learn historical thinking skills, inquiry strategies, and historical context. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How can we connect students to the past and allow them to understand what it was like for someone to be a soldier in the trenches of a World War, an immigrant who travels for days to a foreign land with only a backpack full of clothes, or a slave in the heart of the Civil War? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This activity involves using a visual thinking strategy called the <\/span>circle of viewpoints<\/span><\/a> paired with a primary source in order to identify and reflect on multiple perspectives apparent in a primary source. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"For this activity, I\u2019ve selected \u201c<\/span>The Americanese wall\u2026<\/span><\/a>\u201d from the Library of Congress, but it can be done with any primary source relevant for your lesson. <\/span>Click here<\/span><\/a> for more great examples of other primary sources you could use.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The instructions are simple:<\/span><\/p>\n