1. Using kinesthetic experiences to deepen analysis and practice empathy
Embody to Empathize
Using kinesthetic experiences to deepen analysis and practice empathy

2. Warm Up Recall a vivid experience you had in high school.
→ Jot your answer down on the worksheet
→ Share your experience with a partner

3. Introductions Lynn Brown - Lincoln Center Education Teaching Artist
Kali Heft - 10th Grade ELA Teacher
JP Passero - 9th and 10th Grade ELA Teacher
Danielle Rivellese - 9th Grade ELA Teacher

4. Our Partnership Partnership with LCE was built into the NVCHS charter
Currently in its 5th year operating in the NVCHS system

5. Lincoln Center’s Capacities for Imaginative Thinking
Capacities are ways of thinking like an artist
9th grade focuses on Noticing Deeply, Posing Questions, and Making Connections
10th grade focuses on Embodying, Identifying Patterns, and Creating Meaning

6. Activity 1: Mirror to Embody
View your image.
What details do you notice?

7. Tips for Noticing Deeply
Look for as many details as you can
Set a goal
Look again and again
Take a break and look again!
Find familiar things
Ask, “Where else have I seen this?”
Find unfamiliar things
Pose questions about these!
Be patient and calm
Ask a partner for help
Ask, “Why is this the way is it?”
Reflect on how you notice
Be persistent

8. Activity 1: Mirror to Embody
With a partner or triad →
Recreate the pose as faithfully as possible.
Partner A Holds pose for 30 seconds.
Partner B practices noticing deeply
Partner B starts discussion with what they notice
Partner A shares anything they felt physically from the embodiment
Switch roles (other partner notices)

9. Activity 1 Reflection Questions
Together with your partner, reflect on the following questions:
What feelings or emotions did you and your partner discover in the photographs?
What details support your discoveries the most?
What strategy or strategies activated your discoveries the most?

10. Activity 2: Pose to Embody
Look over your situation slip →
author a pose to represent the character (and how they are feeling) in that moment
observe a partner’s pose --What choices do you notice in the embodiment? What do the choices reveal about the character?
switch roles (other partner notices)
revise your pose based on your partner’s feedback
view each other’s poses again ---What has changed?

11. Activity 2: Pose to Embody Reflection Question
How is authoring an original pose different from mirroring a pose from an image?

12. Activity 3: Create a Tableau
Each group receives an excerpt from The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Together, read the passage and consider how the characters feel in that situation.
Author a group pose (tableau) to represent the characters in that moment.
With your group, discuss the reflection questions.
Share out to the whole group.

13. Activity 3: Tableau Reflection Questions
Together with your partner, reflect on the following questions:
How are the distinct pieces of your tableau connected? How do they combine to build meaning?
What feelings or emotions did you discover in the tableau?
What character based questions are being prompted by the activities so far?

14. Writing Task
Using the embodiment activities as well as the text provided, write a paragraph analyzing the author’s use of characterization of one character. Be sure to provide appropriate evidence.

15. Extension Options
In a triad, discuss possible extensions and/or differentiations. Participants share with whole group.

16. Personal Reflection What new experience(s) did you have today?
What are you still wondering/thinking about?
How would you implement ideas from this workshop into your practice?

17. Whole Group Reflection
Share personal reflection
Debrief today’s experience
Q&A with facilitators

18. Contact Information
Lynn Brown -
Kali Heft -
JP Passero -
Danielle Rivellese -