Exploring Emotions through Storytelling
Life skill related:
Empathy
Communication
Collaboration
Methodology:
Collaborative Storytelling
Subject:
Second language
Age/Grade:
11-13 years old
Timing:
240 minutes
Materials/suggestions
Understanding empathy involves a multifaceted approach that combines self-reflection, active listening, perspective-taking, and experiential learning. Here's a suggested plan.
Encourage participants to reflect on their own experiences of empathy. Ask questions like: What does empathy mean to you? Can you recall a time when you felt deeply connected to someone else's emotions?
Provide a clear definition of empathy and facilitate discussions on its importance in storytelling and interpersonal relationships. Explore the role of empathy in fostering understanding and communication.
Engage participants in activities designed to cultivate empathy, such as role-playing scenarios from different perspectives.
Teach active listening skills, emphasizing the importance of fully attending to and validating others' emotions.
Guide participants to step into the shoes of others and see the world from different perspectives. This could involve writing from the viewpoint of a character with contrasting emotions or backgrounds.
Foster an open and supportive environment where participants can share their emotions, ask questions, and provide feedback to one another encouraging dialogue.
Description of the activity:
Week 1: Introduction to emotions and empathy
Brief description of the main emotions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise, love.
Explanation and discussion of the concept of empathy
To make this activity more engaging, we recommend using parts of the film “ In side out”.
Week 2: Narrative techniques for emotion communication: perspective-taking stories
Perspective-taking stories: Ask participants to write or share stories that offer different perspectives on a situation or issue. Afterwards, discuss how each perspective influenced the characters' emotions and actions, encouraging empathy and understanding.
Week 3: Narrative techniques for emotion communication: interactive storytelling
Interactive Storytelling: Develop interactive stories where participants contribute to the narrative by making choices that influence the plot. This promotes communication and collaboration as participants work together to build the story.
Write short stories in groups based on a chosen emotion using the learned techniques
Each story circle provides an opportunity for participants to connect with one another, empathize with different experiences, and gain insights into the range of emotions we all encounter in life.
Example: Anger
Participants take turns sharing stories about times when they felt angry. They might discuss what triggered their anger, how they reacted, and any lessons learned from the experience. For example, someone might share a story about a frustrating encounter with a difficult coworker or a heated argument with a friend.
Week 4: Impact of emotions in storytelling: feelings mapping and sharing
Presentation of created stories and discussion on conveyed emotions.
Feelings mapping to explore and visualize emotions, and how they relate to specific situations and visualizing their intensity or frequency. Mapping occurs through word clouds, drawings, diagrams.
Reflection on the storytelling experience.
Assessment:
Active participation in discussions and activities.
Quality and originality of created stories.
Ability to convey emotions through storytelling.
Materials and Resources:
Worksheets for writing and mapping activities.
Online resources on narrative techniques and storytelling.