Kindness
Constantly Kind Lesson © Jenny Jenkins 2015 www.valueslessonsnz.com
Have the slogan 'Constantly Kind' displayed in a prominent place.
Other lesson ideas about kindness are listed as subpages at the side or bottom.
Introduction
Read the following quote to your class. (Use a student to read the second part of each line)
Life is an echo (student: 'an echo.')
What you send out, (student) comes back.
What you sow, you reap.
What you give, you get.
What you see in others, exists in you.
So remember, life is an echo.
It always gets back to you.
(Both readers) So give kindness. ~Zig Ziglar
1. The writer gives us a good reason to be kind to others. What is it?
2. What are some other reasons to be kind? (Makes us feel happy, lowers blood pressure to keep us healthier, helps us live longer, builds closer friendships, kindness is contagious)
For more information about the scientific research behind these benefits, use this reference: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-r-hamilton-phd/kindness-benefits_b_869537.html
Lesson
Have a student ask you this question:
Student: 'Sorry, I couldn't do my homework last night because it was my Dad's birthday.'
Teacher: (speak in an angry tone with hostile body language) 'If you don't do your homework, how do you expect to pass this subject?'
Have a different student ask you the same question:
Student: 'Sorry, I couldn't do my homework last night because it was my Dad's birthday.' Teacher: (in a kind voice with friendly body language) 'If you don't do your homework, how do you expect to pass this subject?'
Ask both students these questions:
1. 'How did you feel when I gave you that answer? Why?'
2. 'Do you think it would be easier or harder to do your homework after that response? Why?'
Ask the whole class:
3. What is the best way to motivate others, with anger or kindness? Why?
4. Which response make you want to co-operate? Why?
5. If I spoke angrily to you all day long, how might it affect you? How might it affect me? How might it affect the mood of the classroom?
6. If we were kind to one another all day long, how might it affect us? Let's do an experiment for the next (x) days and find out.
7. Ask the students individually or in pairs to write down at least five ways in which we can show kindness to others in the classroom.
8. End each day by asking the students to report to the class any act of kindness done to them that day.
This Week's Challenge
Show the class the 4 minute You Tube clip on 'Paying it Forward': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT-HBl2TVtI This week, find ways to 'Pay it Forward' by helping someone with a need. Keep a log. Report back to the class at the end of the week.Begin the Next Lesson with Revision
1. What are some reasons to be kind?
2. Can anyone share how they went out of their way to be kind to a stranger?
Poster
Print out this Image as a Kindness poster: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/05/77/a9/0577a9b12b7857f665fb7c73bfa60a69.jpg
Images found at: http://www.positive-parenting-ally.com/images/authoritarian-parents-angry-father-scolding-boy.jpg; http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YT-QfKkJnPI/Uh5_Zv4qR3I/AAAAAAAALxE/ZBjfL-GTsgI/s1600/2.112.png