Research
🗺️ Empathy Map and Evidence Board
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
Collaboration
Content Expertise
Effective Communication
Academic Mindset
Product
Assessment
Core Content
Community Partners
Essential Question
Critique and Revision
Submission Required
Students convert their interview and survey notes into an empathy map and clustered evidence board focused on what a graduating senior says, thinks, does, and feels about the next chapter. In small groups, they give feedback to 2 peers, receive feedback, and revise by removing assumptions not backed by data and adding missing evidence. Students then draft a design brief that names the intended audience, believable postgraduation goal, defining moment, and specific challenge their Origin Issue must communicate.
Plan day
Day 4
Duration
55 min
Grouping
Small Group
Steps
6 steps
Lesson plan
6 steps · 55 min| # | What teachers do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Launch the work by posting the goals for the day, reviewing the empathy map categories, and modeling how to turn one interview note into a quote-based evidence card versus an assumption. Remind students that their goal is to identify a believable postgraduation goal, defining moment, and specific challenge for the Origin Issue. (6 min) |
| 2 | Have students spread out their interview notes, survey results, and any community partner input, then sort evidence into an empathy map with the categories Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels. Require students to label each item by source and keep exact phrases when possible. (12 min) |
| 3 | Ask students to cluster repeated ideas from the empathy map onto an evidence board by patterns such as hopes, obstacles, supports, fears, or next-step actions. Students mark unsupported ideas with a different color and remove or revise claims that do not have evidence. (10 min) |
| 4 | Place students in small feedback groups of three. In round one, each student presents their empathy map and evidence board while peers review for evidence quality, missing perspectives, and whether the emerging story points toward a clear goal, defining moment, and challenge. Each student receives feedback from two peers. (10 min) |
| 5 | Direct students to revise independently by removing assumptions, adding missing evidence, and tightening their central insight. Then students draft a short design brief that names the intended audience, believable postgraduation goal, defining moment, specific challenge, and a How Might We statement to guide the Origin Issue cover and storyboard. (8 min) |
| 6 | Close with a quick share-out in pairs or at tables in which students read one sentence from their design brief and identify one part of their K–12 story that stays in the origin story and one detail that shapes the next chapter. Collect or check briefs as formative assessment before the next conference. (4 min) |
Preparation (8 items)
- Prepare empathy map templates with clearly labeled Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels sections in paper or digital format.
- Prepare evidence board materials such as chart paper, sticky notes in at least two colors, markers, or a shared digital board with color-coding already set.
- Gather or queue students' interview notes, survey summaries, and any community partner input from counselors, admissions staff, trade representatives, or career mentors so students can access evidence quickly.
- Create and post a brief model showing the difference between direct evidence, inference, and unsupported assumption using one sample note.
- Prepare a peer feedback protocol with 2 to 3 evidence-based prompts such as What claim is well supported, Where is evidence missing, and Which goal or challenge feels most believable.
- Prepare a concise design brief template that includes intended audience, believable postgraduation goal, defining moment, specific challenge, and a How Might We statement.
- Arrange students into feedback groups of three in advance and ensure each student will be able to receive critique from two peers.
- Post or display success criteria and a visible timer so transitions stay tight within the class period.
Student-facing instructions
You will use your interview notes, survey results, and any feedback from counselors, mentors, or pathway advisors to build an empathy map and an evidence board for a graduating senior's next chapter. First, sort your notes into Says, Thinks, Does, and Feels. Use exact quotes or specific observations when possible, and label each piece of evidence by source. Next, cluster patterns you notice across the evidence, such as hopes, obstacles, supports, fears, or actions. If you wrote something that is really a guess, mark it as an assumption and either find evidence for it or remove it. Then you will meet with a small group and present your map and board. Your peers will give evidence-based feedback about what is strong, what is missing, and whether your emerging origin story clearly communicates a believable future goal, defining moment, and challenge. After feedback, you will revise and draft a design brief. Your brief must name the intended audience, the believable postgraduation goal, the defining moment that launches the story, the specific challenge beyond high school, and a How Might We statement to guide your Origin Issue cover and storyboard. You will need your notes, survey data, empathy map template, evidence board materials, and design brief template.