CLASSROOM – Kindness – Week 13
World Kindness Day brings an opportunity for a lesson in the classroom this week. It’s also World Kindness Week so that students can experience and practice kindness all week long. While we don’t want to limit our students to just a week, we do want them to understand how our words and actions impact them and those around them.
On its own, kindness is a compelling character trait. A simple act may change a person’s mood for a moment or their outlook for a lifetime. The same can be said for any cruelty a person demonstrates. However, kindness shouldn’t replace a student’s drive for success, innate curiosity, or cultural traditions. It should live beside it and move with their educational career and help them to grow and learn.
This week’s project is designed to demonstrate how kindness can be a part of your students’ lifestyles.
HOW TO OBSERVE
Incorporate the Kindness Project into your classroom. Let us know the results. We love to hear from you!
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THIS WEEK’S PROJECTS
When we think of kindness, we often think of a nice thing someone said or being polite. Children also think of kindness as being good.
- Discuss with your students about what kindness means to them and write their answers on the board. Ensure they understand that kindness encompasses respect and courtesy without expecting anything in return.
- Ask your students to think of a time when someone was kind to them. Then have students write a story or draw a picture of that time.
- Place a jar, bucket, or another vessel in the room for the week. Encourage students to write down how others were kind to them this week. They can even write down kindness they saw happen. For example, they might notice someone:
- helping another student carry supplies, books or clean up after a project
- a friend offering a tissue to someone with a cold
- giving a pencil to someone who can’t find theirs
- helping a student sound out a tricky word
- encouraging someone who speaks English as a second language
- practice spelling words with a classmate
- let someone know they think they’re good at math
- offer to help a friend with science
- push a friend’s wheelchair through the snow
- taking the time to read to kindergartners on the bus
- listened politely during an opponent’s debate
- helped carry an opponent off the playing field
- welcomed a new student and showed them around
- At the end of the week, review the items in the jar and share them with the class.
- How do these kindnesses make the class feel?
- Do these kindnesses reflect the class as a whole?
- Did the giver lose anything? What did they lose by being kind?
- What did the receiver gain? Did they lose anything?
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