Empathy Through Music

Overview

This is lesson 5 of 8 in “The Sound of Choices”. Students explore empathy in music by noticing how sound choices can communicate feelings, then connecting this to real-life moments of understanding and support.

Learning intentions

• WALT notice how music can show feelings and intentions.
• WALT interpret emotional and non-verbal cues in music and in classmates’ responses.
• WALT practise empathy by listening actively and responding with supportive, respectful ideas.
• WALT reflect on a personal example of when we showed empathy or benefited from it.

Success criteria

• I can describe what a part of a song might make someone feel and why.
• I can listen carefully and share ideas without interrupting or judging.
• I can use an “empathy response” to show understanding (e.g., acknowledge feelings, make a supportive suggestion).
• I can link music choices to feelings and make a personal reflection connected to empathy.

Curriculum links

• Health and PE — Relationships (Self and others): using strategies like observing emotion and body language cues, listening actively, and responding with empathy to build understanding and meaningful connection with others.
• Health and PE — Relationships (Self and others): empathy involves interpreting emotional and non-verbal cues in context and choosing responses that reflect understanding and support.
• Music learning focus (unit context): making and responding to sounds for expression and communication through musical choices.
• Key competencies: thinking (interpreting feelings), relating to others (empathetic communication), using language/symbols (explaining musical meaning), and participating and contributing (collaborative discussion).

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Welcome & hook. Teacher plays a short excerpt (30–60 seconds) from the unit’s song (or a teacher-chosen linked excerpt) and asks, “What might the character/people be feeling, and what makes you think that?” Students do a quick think-write: one feeling word and one musical clue (e.g., loud/soft, fast/slow, high/low, steady/changing).

2. 5–12 min · Mini-lesson: empathy in sound. Teacher models a simple empathy frame: “I notice…, I think you might feel…, because…, I support you by…” using a student-safe example. Students repeat the frame with a partner using their own feeling word from the hook.

3. 12–22 min · Listening challenge: “Feelings detectives”. Teacher replays the excerpt and marks “stops” at two different moments (e.g., beginning vs change section). Students work in pairs to complete a 2-part response sheet:

• Moment A: feeling + evidence from sound
• Moment B: feeling + evidence from sound Teacher circulates and prompts with questions like “What changed in the music?” and “How could that help someone feel understood?”

4. 22–33 min · Group sharing: empathy responses. Teacher sets norms: kind talk, active listening, and no “correcting” someone’s feeling; we discuss evidence from sound. Students do a round-robin share in groups of 4: each student contributes one “empathy response” to another person’s idea using the frame: “I notice… I think you might feel… I support you by…” Teacher listens for respectful language and evidence-based reasoning.

5. 33–40 min · Personal reflection: a real empathy moment. Teacher prompts: “Think about a time you showed empathy or someone showed empathy to you. What did they do or say that helped?” Students complete a short reflection in their workbook or a template:

• My empathy moment: (who/what happened)
• What I noticed (feelings or body language)
• What I did/said (empathetic response)
• Link to music: one way the song reminds me of that feeling/choice

6. 40–45 min · Exit ticket & wrap. Teacher asks for one final written response: “One musical choice that could show empathy is…, and it would help someone by…” Students hand in their exit ticket and share one word if time allows (optional).

Resources

• Audio device/speaker and the unit’s song excerpt (teacher ensures it works offline if needed)
• Teacher slides/board for norms and the empathy response frame
• Listening response sheets (Moment A / Moment B)
• Empathy reflection template (short writing prompts)
• Pencils, rubbers, clipboards or workbooks
• Optional: chart paper with “Active listening rules” (e.g., face the speaker, wait your turn, kind tone)

Assessment

• Observation during pair and group tasks: can students explain feelings using sound evidence and speak respectfully?
• Formative listening-check: teacher notes students’ use of empathy-response language during round-robin sharing.
• Exit ticket: whether students connect musical choices to supportive/empathic impact.

Differentiation

• Support: provide sentence starters for the empathy frame and reflection (“I notice…”, “I think you might feel…”, “What helped was…”).
• Support: offer a word bank of emotion vocabulary (e.g., calm, excited, worried, left out, safe) and sound clue words (loud/soft, fast/slow, high/low).
• Extension: challenge students to identify a specific sound choice (e.g., changing dynamics or tempo) and explain how it could communicate “being cared for” or “not alone”.
• EAL/SEN: allow drawing or using icons for the first draft (feeling face + one music clue), then add a short sentence with teacher conferencing.