How would I do this as it is not as easy as it sounds? Our school philosophy is SPIRIT, which is an acronym for Selflessness, Pride, Integrity, Respect, Involvement, and Trustworthiness. I knew I wanted to bring this philosophy into my classroom kindness lessons as well. After much thought, and since I teach English Language Arts, I figured the most appropriate way would be through our daily writing prompts. My goal was to share a new picture book, video clip, short article, or poem each week that spoke to us about being kind, compassionate, and showing gratitude. I wasn’t sure how the students would respond to these types of texts and media.

I visited my local public library and checked out a stack of picture books. I perused Pinterest for ideas on random acts of kindness. I went to youtube and viewed videos from all over the world dealing with kindness and compassion. I went to my Professional Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter and found Ripple Kindness Project and chatted with @HCPSTinyTech about various ideas to make this idea become authentic.

Once I felt ready, I introduced my first text to the class. I began reading Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson. This beautiful picture book tells the story of Maya, the new girl, who is made fun of by her fellow classmates. I knew it would be the perfect start to reach my goal. After reading the book aloud, I had my students return to their desks and reflect on a few points:

What is the message/theme that Ms. Woodson is trying to teach us?

Why do you think I chose to read this book to you and how can we apply what we learned from this book to our real lives?

I didn’t want summaries. I wanted the students to think about the story and respond about the treatment of Maya. Once they finished writing, they shared out their ideas. I was blown away. What a discussion that ensued. I knew I was on the right path.

Next week, I showed a video called "One Day" from Life Vest Inside to my students. Oh, my… what a reaction. They loved the video! I then gave them the same question prompts as last week and they wrote. This time, we talked about what it means to pay it forward.