Build Empathy10 min Low Light
Newspaper Story
Students write the human story behind a headline — from the inside.
Teaches students to see the human dimension behind abstract events — history as lived experience, not just dates.
Instructions
Give students a headline — real or fictional, historical or current. They must write a 5-sentence first-person account from someone directly affected by that event — not a journalist, but a person living it. Share one or two. Debrief: what did you have to imagine that the headline left out?
Classroom timer
10:00
Best used when
During any lesson about historical events, social issues, or current affairs.
Variation
Students swap stories and write a response from a different person affected by the same event.
Time
10 min
Noise
Low
Prep
Light
How did it go?
Quick evaluation — helps you find what works again.