Growing Kindness In Ourselves and Others

Circle up! In this lesson, students will use the circle structure to explore how they can grow kindness inside of themselves and in others.

Download lesson plan

Grade

Kindergarten

First Grade

Subject

Social emotional

View aligned standards

No standards associated with this content.

With the lesson plan Growing Kindness Ourselves and Others, we are introduced to mindfulness with the short parable "The Two Wolves." This story teaches young learners that inside of us we have both helpful and unhelpful seeds of emotion, and whatever seeds we choose to water, those are the seeds that will grow. Geared towards kindergarten and first grade learners, kids will reflect on how they can grow kindness in themselves and express appreciation for others—an important skill that fosters compassion and improves communication.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to understand how they can practice kindness towards themselves and others.

Introduction

(5 minutes)

Gather students into a circle either seated in chairs or on the floor.
Remind students of the raised attention signal, the talking piece, and circle guidelines developed in lesson 1.
First have students practice the belly breathing they learned last week to help destress and cultivate calm.
Welcome each student into the circle, have each student welcome another classmate. Example: "Hello Malika, welcome to our circle."
Share that today we will be learning how we can practice kindness towards ourselves and others.

Download to read more