“Homeless Man”
 

This song is about empathy. Empathy means, knowing how another person feels, or “walking a mile in his shoes.” The second graders who helped me write this song were very concerned about a homeless man who lived near our school, and they wondered about how he must feel from day to day. Then, the children started to think about how they might help this man.

In the two following scenes, see if you can feel empathy for the person who is in trouble. Then think: what would you do to help?

Scene 1. You are at the bus stop, waiting for the school bus on a Monday morning. You notice a new girl at the bus stop. She stands apart from the other kids and looks at the ground. How do you think she feels?
 

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What might you do to help her?

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Scene 2. A classmate of yours is always being teased because he is very shy. This makes him feel even worse. One day at recess, you see other kids gathering around him, calling him names like “chicken” and”- “idiot.” How do you think he feels?

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What might you do to help him? (Now this takes courage!)

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(c) 2005 by Marla Lewis

New York State Learning Standards