How to Show Sympathy to Others for Pre-School Level 4

Class: Pre-School Level 4
Term: Second Term
Week: 5
Age: 5 years
Duration: 30 minutes
Subject: Personal Development
Curriculum Theme: Personal Development
Previous Lesson: Understanding Different Feelings (e.g., happy, sad, angry)
Topic: HOW TO SHOW SYMPATHY TO OTHERS
Subject Matter: HOW TO SHOW SYMPATHY. Weekly focus: How to Show Sympathy to Others.

Specific Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:

Cognitive Domain

• Define sympathy in simple terms.
• Identify situations where someone might need sympathy.
• State at least two ways to show sympathy to a friend.

Affective Domain

• Appreciate the importance of showing kindness and care to others.
• Express a desire to help a friend who is sad or hurt.

Psychomotor Domain

• Demonstrate showing sympathy through role-play.
• Use gentle words and gestures to comfort a classmate.

Social Domain

• Comfort a sad classmate who has lost something.
• Offer simple help or kind words to a friend in need.

Reference Materials

• NAPPS National Unified Teaching Scheme for Pre-School Level 4
• Early Childhood Care and Education resources on social-emotional development
• Picture books illustrating kindness and empathy

Instructional Materials

• Charts and Posters showing children helping each other
• Picture cards depicting various emotions (sadness, worry)
• Puppets or dolls for role-playing scenarios
• A storybook about a child helping a sad friend

Rationale for the Lesson

This lesson is important for 5-year-olds as it helps them develop empathy and social skills. Learning to show sympathy teaches children to understand and respond to the feelings of others, fostering a caring classroom environment and building stronger friendships. It prepares them to be considerate members of their community.

Prerequisite/Previous Knowledge

Pupils can identify basic emotions like happy, sad, and angry. They also understand the importance of being kind to their friends and classmates.

Lesson Content/Board Summary

HOW TO SHOW SYMPATHY TO OTHERS

Sympathy means feeling sad for someone else because something bad has happened to them, and wanting to help them feel better. When a friend is sad, we can show them we care.

Why We Show Sympathy

• To make our friends feel better.
• To let them know we care about them.
• To show we are good friends.

How to Show Sympathy

• Use kind words: “I am sorry that happened,” “Are you okay?” “Don’t worry, it will be fine.”
• Offer a gentle touch: A pat on the shoulder, a comforting hug (if appropriate and accepted).
• Listen: Let your friend talk about what happened.
• Offer help: “Can I help you look for it?” “Do you want to share my snack?” “Let’s tell the teacher.”
• Be there for them: Stay with your friend.

Key Words

• Sympathy – Feeling sad for someone and wanting to help them.
• Kind words – Nice things to say to make someone feel better.
• Comfort – To make someone feel less sad or worried.

What the Teacher Should Show or Draw

The teacher should display charts and posters showing children comforting each other. The teacher can also draw simple stick figures showing a child crying and another child offering a hug or a kind word.

Kindness Song

Tune: “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”

Lyrics:

When a friend is feeling sad,
We can help them, it’s not bad.
Kind words, gentle touch we share,
Show our friends how much we care.
Sympathy makes hearts feel bright,
Helping friends with all our might.

Actions: Point to a friend, make a sad face then a happy face, hug self, pat shoulder, wave hands to show care.

How to use the rhyme: Sing the song together, demonstrating the actions. Repeat it several times to reinforce the concept of showing care and sympathy.

Watch and Learn About Empathy

The teacher will show a short video about understanding other people’s feelings and showing kindness.

Teaching Methods/Instructional Techniques

Play-based Learning, Demonstration, Guided Practice, Songs and Rhymes, Storytelling, Picture Talk, Question and Answer, Role-play, Imitation, Practical Activity.

Instructional Procedures

Step 1: Introduction

Time: 3 minutes

Teaching Skill: Engagement/Recall

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher greets the pupils and asks them about different feelings (happy, sad). “Who can show me a sad face? What makes you feel sad?”

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils respond to greetings, show sad faces, and share simple reasons for feeling sad.

Learning Point: Pupils recall different emotions and identify sadness.

Step 2: Presentation of Sympathy

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation/Definition

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher introduces the word “sympathy.” “Today, we will learn about showing sympathy. Sympathy means when we feel sad for someone else and want to help them feel better.” The teacher uses a picture of a sad child and asks, “How do you think this child feels? What can we do to help?”

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen, observe the picture, and offer initial ideas about helping a sad child.

Learning Point: Pupils understand the simple meaning of sympathy.

Step 3: Teacher Demonstration of Sympathy

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Modelling/Demonstration

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher sets up a scenario (e.g., “Teacher pretends to drop a pencil case and looks sad”). The teacher then demonstrates how a friend could show sympathy by saying, “Oh no, I’m sorry you dropped your pencils, let me help you pick them up,” and gently patting their arm.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils observe the teacher’s demonstration of showing sympathy.

Learning Point: Pupils see concrete examples of how to show sympathy.

Step 4: Guided Practice with Scenarios

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Practice/Questioning

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher presents simple picture cards showing situations where sympathy is needed (e.g., a child falling, a child whose toy broke). The teacher asks, “What happened here? How can we show sympathy to this child?” and guides pupils to suggest kind words or actions.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils identify the sad situations and suggest ways to show sympathy with teacher’s guidance.

Learning Point: Pupils practice identifying situations and appropriate responses.

Step 5: Rhyme and Reinforcement

Time: 3 minutes

Teaching Skill: Repetition/Musical Reinforcement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher leads the pupils in singing the “Kindness Song” from the Lesson Content, encouraging them to perform the actions. The teacher repeats key phrases like “kind words, gentle touch.”

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils sing the song with actions, reinforcing the ways to show sympathy.

Learning Point: Pupils internalize the message of showing kindness and sympathy through song.

Step 6: Role-play: Lost Feeding Money

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Application/Role-play

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher sets up the core scenario: “Imagine our friend, Emeka, lost his feeding money on his way to school and is very sad.” The teacher asks for volunteers to role-play being Emeka and another pupil to show sympathy. The teacher guides them through using kind words, listening, and offering help (e.g., “Let’s tell the teacher together”).

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils volunteer and demonstrate showing sympathy to the “sad classmate” (Emeka) through role-play, using words and actions they have learned.

Learning Point: Pupils actively apply their understanding of sympathy in a practical scenario.

Step 7: Evaluation/Review

Time: 4 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning/Assessment

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher checks pupils’ understanding through short questions and practical tasks.

1. What does it mean to show sympathy?
2. If your friend falls and scrapes their knee, what kind words can you say?
3. What can you do to help a friend who is sad because their toy broke?
4. Who can show me a gentle pat on the shoulder to comfort someone?

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils respond orally and demonstrate the required skill where appropriate.

Learning Point: Pupils demonstrate understanding of the lesson.

Step 8: Conclusion

Time: 2 minutes

Teaching Skill: Summarization/Reinforcement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher praises the pupils for their participation and reminds them to always be kind and show sympathy to their friends and family. “Remember, being a good friend means caring when others are sad.”

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and affirm their understanding of being kind and sympathetic.

Learning Point: Pupils understand the importance of showing sympathy in their daily lives.

Lesson Keywords

• Sympathy – Feeling sad for someone and wanting to help them.
• Kindness – Being nice and caring to others.
• Comfort – To make someone feel better when they are sad or hurt.
• Friend – Someone you care about and play with.

Differentiation

• Support: For pupils who struggle, the teacher can provide more direct modelling, use hand-over-hand guidance for gestures, or simplify the role-play scenarios. They can be prompted with specific phrases like “Say ‘I’m sorry’.”
• Extension: For pupils who grasp the concept quickly, the teacher can ask them to suggest other situations where sympathy is needed (e.g., a pet is sick, someone missed their parents) or to demonstrate multiple ways to show sympathy in the role-play.

Note for teachers using this lesson plan

Before the lesson, prepare your charts, picture cards, and any props for role-play. Ensure the classroom is set up for easy movement for demonstrations and role-playing. When explaining sympathy, use simple, relatable language and connect it to feelings children already understand. Emphasize that showing sympathy is about both words and actions. During the role-play, guide pupils gently, ensuring they use appropriate words and gestures. Observe closely how pupils respond to the scenarios, as this will indicate their level of empathy. Encourage all pupils to participate, even if it’s just by suggesting a kind word. Reinforce the “Kindness Song” throughout the week to embed the message.