Teaching Kindess



With everything that we are expected to teach in a single school year, it's hard to find time to focus on the social-emotional skills that our students so desperately need.  I have found myself pushing these lessons to the bottom of the list over the last few years to make more room for writer's workshop, reader's workshop, math instruction, science, and more to make sure I am hitting all of the standards.  What I've noticed is that the population I work with needs these lessons more than ever and I miss teaching them.

As I drove in to school this Wednesday, I thought about my lesson plans for the day.  I thought about my phonics lesson and the teaching point I had ready for reader's workshop.  I thought about the math games I had prepped and ready to go.  Yet, none of it seemed as important as talking to my Kinders about the meaning of kindness.  So, I pulled into school, threw my lesson plans for the day out the window (which anyone who knows me, knows that's unheard of!), and decided to give my students what I thought they needed the most in this moment.

We started our discussion about kindness with this amazing book!

You can find it here!


It sparked a wonderful discussion about the ways in which we can be kind to others, both at school and in life.  I was so impressed with the compassion, thoughtfulness, and empathy that my students demonstrated.  We brainstormed a list of ways we can show kindness toward others.


I created this writing page for my students to share their ideas.  I just adore the way they represent their thoughts through drawing.



You can grab the writing pages for free in my TPT store, here!

How do you encourage kindness in your classroom?






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