Relationship Skills & Social-Awareness
This section defines the key concepts covered in this chapter. These are the central themes upon which the activities are based.
♦ COMMUNITY
Relationships are threaded through every facet of our lives — playgroups, reading groups, soccer teams, debate teams, neighbors, roommates, work colleagues, and parents. We first define community; then, we address how we are in relationships with one another and what qualities facilitate connection.
♦ KINDNESS
Kindness can be offered toward oneself and to others. A pro-social behavior, kindness is an important element in bringing communities together. In fact, research shows that kindness breeds kindness. We build on the self-compassion work from Chapter 2, increasing self-care while also turning the focus of kind acts toward others as well.
♦ COMPASSION
Compassion is defined as an awareness of others’ suffering and a desire to alleviate it. This cognitive understanding of how others are feeling helps us take action. Scientific evidence is beginning to show that practicing compassion leads to increased well-being, happiness, optimism and resilience to stress, as well as a reduction in vindictiveness toward others.
♦ EMPATHY
Empathy is vicariously experiencing the feelings of another, even when the thoughts and feelings aren’t expressly communicated. To experience empathy is to be present with someone who is suffering without needing to fix or change their experience. We are born with the capacity to be empathetic. Children as young as two are able to notice when someone doesn’t feel the same way they do. As children mature, this ability needs to be nurtured in order to grow. This happens within trusting relationships and with encouragement and positive feedback. Cultivating empathy has been shown to reduce bullying, build positive peer relationships, better communication skills, and fewer interpersonal conflicts.
Empathy has two parts. The first is acknowledging the feelings we get in response to others’ feelings and emotions. This means seeing the suffering in someone’s eyes and feeling it with the person. Secondly, showing empathy also requires us to take the perspective of another person. In order to do this effectively, we need to be grounded enough that we can bear witness without pitying the other person, trying to fix the situation, or only seeing the bright side.
♦ GRATITUDE
Robert Emmons, one of the leading researchers on the science of gratitude, describes its two essential components. The first, he says, is an affirmation of good — that there are good things in the world. The second is the social component, where we acknowledge that there are others involved in our joy and appreciation of gifts both large and small. He describes gratitude as an “relationship-strengthening emotion.” Gratitude pushes us to see the best in ourselves and others, and to appreciate the little things around us every day. Studies show that practicing gratitude leads to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others.
♦ PERSPECTIVE
A point-of-view or interpretation of something, our perspective can change on a regular basis. Checking in, asking why and getting curious are all a part of perspective-taking, and require that we are really present. This allows us to see things as they really are, as opposed to believing what we think. Perspective-taking also supports a greater sense of empathy, another area focus of this chapter.
♦ BRAIN SCIENCE: PART 3
The benefits of empathy, compassion, gratitude and kindness, the core themes of this chapter, are well-documented in the neuroscience. Learned and developed over time, these pro-social behaviors help to build stronger relationship skills and social awareness. We include the brain science in age-appropriate ways to aid students’ understanding and development of these critical skills.
This section offers direction as to where the program is headed in this first chapter and some notes about things to look for in your students as you answer the reflection questions at the end of Chapter 3.
♦ STRENGTHEN COMMUNICATION
Communication is essential to having successful interactions, making and maintaining connections, cooperating with others, and building community — all central to this chapter’s themes of social awareness and relationship building. Listening and communicating well are skills that will serve our students throughout their lives. In fact, communication is often at the top of the list of soft skills that hiring managers seek. When we can understand and be understood through both verbal and non-verbal communication, we foster authentic connections with those around us. With a strong sense of self-awareness, we can begin to develop critical skills of listening and displaying nonreactive responses and behaviors when engaging with others.
♦ RESPECT SELF AND OTHERS
Continuing to practice self-compassion, while also expanding our heartfulness efforts lay the foundation for nurturing this capacity. Students will begin to notice how they feel when they do something kind and show respect, and how their action supports communities.
♦ ENGAGE WITH THE PRESENT MOMENT
Part of mindfulness is being nonreactive. Building upon the self-awareness work of Chapter 2, students’ self-knowledge, growth mindset and ability to find an anchor will help strengthen their ability to be present and take a little space for perspective. It is in this space that we can decipher situations and gain a clearer understanding of what is really going on. Students’ self-awareness will also help them avoid autopilot behavior and develop an interest and curiosity in the world around them. This helps students become increasingly observant and find gratitude in the little things. Ultimately, it is in the present moment that we find the freedom from worry and stress, allowing us to connect authentically, listen intently and show up fully.
♦ DEEPEN CONNECTIONS
Connections are part of our nature as social beings. We thrive on connection to feed our soul, to give and receive support when needed, and to give us purpose. Having authentic connections supports our mental wellbeing and physical health, and helps us to live longer. Whether in person, over Zoom, across social media channels, or just through a good old fashioned letter hand-delivered with a stamp, being connected is a fundamental human need. With explicit opportunities to build empathy and compassion, and to practice gratitude, perspective-taking and kindness, we are teaching pro-social behaviors and planting seeds for developing and maintaining healthy connections.
The questions on the Teacher Reflection form are listed below so you can keep them in the back of your mind as you progress through the chapter.
1. Have your students increased their ability to engage with the present moment?
A. If yes, how have you seen this demonstrated by your students?
B. If no, what was missing or prevented them from being able to do this?
2. Do your students know how to show respect for themselves and others?
A. If yes, which of the following practices has helped with this?
B. If no, what was missing or prevented them from being able to do this?
3. Do your students show deeper connections, stronger communication skils and an understanding of how these foster a greater sense of community?
A. If yes, how have you seen this demonstrated by your students?
B. If no, what was missing or prevented them from being able to do this?
4. Please provide an example of how the gratitude lessons landed with students.
5. Please provide an example of how the kindness lessons landed with students.
6. Have you noticed that students are able to consider another perspective — either a person’s or in a situation?
A. If yes, how have you seen this happening?
B. If no, what prevented students from doing this?
7. Please use this box to provide any additional information you would like us to know.
Click here to complete the Chapter 3 Teacher Reflection Questions form.
Centering
These activities are designed to help you and your students can quickly and easily find your center. They can help during transitions between activities, tasks or lessons, and before testing. They can also be used at home with families. Over time, these activities will become comforting and most familiar for students.
Tone Bar
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: None
This is the same practice that was posted in Chapter 2 to give students more time with this centering sound before moving on to five bells in the next chapter. This quick audio clip can be used throughout the day whenever students need a quick activity to get present and centered such as during transitions, before morning meeting begins, or before taking a test
Glitter Jar
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
In this new glitter jar video, students will watch the glitter settle and then be prompted to notice if anything changed in their bodies, minds or hearts while they watched the glitter settle.
N: Ask students if they noticed anything change in their mind, body or heart as they watched the glitter settle.
EMOJI ANCHOR
Key Concepts/Goals: Community, Strengthen Communication, Deepen Connections
Format: Image
Prerequisite: Introducing the Emoji Anchor
This new check-in visual can help students answer the “How are you?” question a bit more easily. Remind students that there is no right or wrong answer and that their answer might change throughout the day — especially with some of the activities available in this curriculum.
Breathing
Breath work is a critical component in regulating the nervous system and is always available to us when needed. There are many ways to incorporate breathing when teaching social and emotional skills that, according to CASEL: help us understand and manage our emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.
PUSH-AWAY BREATH
Key Concepts/Goals: Perspective, Respect Self and Others, Engage with the Present Moment, Deepen Connections
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
This breath practice is a fun way for students to exhale (push away) all of their unwanted feelings, negative thoughts, doubts or anything that doesn’t feel so good in their bodies at that moment. Remind students that sometimes the negative thoughts or feelings may still come back, but we can enjoy the time without them, even if only for a few minutes. The idea of this practice is not to ignore the difficult things but by letting them go for a little while, we can gain a fresh perspective.
5-COUNT BREATH
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment, Respect Self and Others, Deepen Connections
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
Taking a breath in for a count of five and an equal breath out for a count of five regulates the nervous system and brings students right into the present moment. This breath practice is useful in many situations, and Miss Nicole gets students thinking about when or where they can practice.
N: Ask students when and where they might use this practice.
MORE BREATHING WORDS
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment, Respect Self and Others, Deepen Connections
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
Breathing words can offer support for students when they may want to shift their emotional state. Miss Amber starts with the word pairs, “joy/compassion” and “calm/patience,” and then she invites students to create their own word pairs. This introduction plants seeds for students to try this practice on their own for about one minute whenever they’re feeling like they might want to shift their thoughts or feelings in a particular moment.
N: As Miss Amber does in the video, ask your students whether they noticed any differences in how they felt when using the different word pairs.
N: As Miss Amber does in the video, ask your students whether they noticed any difference in how they felt when using the different word pairs.
DRAW THE BREATH
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment, Respect Self and Others, Deepen Connections
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
This practice invites students to see if their breath changes when they recall different situations. They’ll need a blank piece of paper (or the “Draw the Breath” page from the printed journal) and five different writing utensils.
Miss Vanessa asks students to recall a situation when they were mad, angry or frustrated. She encourages them to remember that situation in so much detail that they could imagine themselves right back in that moment. Then, while they’re focused on that situation, students are invited to draw the pattern that their inhale and exhale are makes. She goes through five different scenarios where students will draw their breath with different pens or pencils to notice if there is any difference. As a reminder, there is no right or wrong way to draw the breath. When we stop to notice it, we are reminded of how helpful it can be to check in with ourselves periodically. Doing this can provide a fresh perspective on the present moment and a deeper connection to and understanding of how we are feeling.
Moving
Dedicated opportunities to move the body can provide a brain break as well as a felt sense of increasing or decreasing energy. Plus, sometimes it just feels good to stretch!
NECK STRETCHES
Key Concepts/Goals: Perspective, Respect Self and Others, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
This simple movement experience introduces students to their spinal cord and how it carries sensory and motor information from the brain to the rest of the body. Students are reminded to be gentle with their spine during these stretches, which can be done standing up or seated.
N: Invite students to notice how they feel after stretching this part of their body.
WONKY WALKING
Key Concepts/Goals: Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
In this video, students will explore walking in several different ways. First, they will walk as they typically would, then with 25% silliness, 50% silliness, 75% silliness, and finally with 100% silliness. Students will need to have enough space to walk back and forth without bumping into things or each other, so this may be a good activity for them to do outside or at home. This is fun to do when your students seem stressed or just need a little break to be silly for a few minutes.
N: Ask students these questions to debrief the activity:
– How did it feel to walk while being silly?
– Was there a difference between walking at 25% silliness and 75% silliness?
– What did they notice in their minds and bodies while doing wonky walking?
MINDFUL WALKING: PART 3
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: Attitude of Gratitude
Using gratitude as an anchor, Miss Vanessa instructs students to recall the 5-4-3-2-1 practice. She asks them to bring to mind one thing that they are grateful for that they can see, one thing they can hear, one thing they can smell, one thing they can taste, and one thing they can touch that they are grateful for. Students can say these things to themselves while they are walking. This can be done in the hallways, at home, or on their way to the bus stop — there is always time to practice mindful walking and gratitude.
N: Ask students these noticing questions:
– What was it like to practice mindful walking using gratitude as an anchor?
– When can they do this in the future?
10-COUNT SIT AND STAND
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment, Strengthen Communication, Respect Self and Others
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: None
Even though we sit down and stand up multiple times each day without thinking too much about it, these actions actually require quite a few parts of the body to work together. When we slow down, we are better able to pay attention to which parts of our bodies are engaged.
N: Be sure to ask students what they noticed and why they think they did this activity.
Practicing
HEARTFULNESS: PART 2
Key Concepts/Goals: Kindness, Compassion, Respect Self and Others, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: Just Like Me
Building on “Heartfulness: Part 1,” this video invites students to share friendly wishes with themselves, a person for whom they care a great deal, and a neutral person. Miss Vanessa shares a few wishes to get everyone started and then offers space for students to send their own friendly wish(es).
Journal Prompt: What was it like to send yourself friendly wishes? What was it like to send someone you care about these friendly wishes? What was it like to send a neutral person these friendly wishes? What did you notice after you did this practice? How did you feel? When can you do this again?
JUST LIKE ME
Key Concepts/Goals: Compassion, Perspective, Respect Self and Others, Deepen Connections
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: None
In this practice, students will repeat phrases to themselves after hearing them in the video. They will have the opportunity to practice compassion and appreciate how much we all have in common as humans.
N: To follow up on this practice, engage your students in a deeper discussion about perspective using the “6 or 9 Perspective Visual” in the Enriching section and ask your students:
– What influences the green person? The blue person
– How does empathy play a role in seeing another person’s perspective?
H: Ask students to see if they can take the other person’s perspective next time they’re in a situation where they disagree with someone. Be sure to return to the discussion as a reminder for students to keep practicing this important skill.
MORE SELF-TALK
Key Concepts/Goals: Community, Kindness, Compassion, Empathy, Perspective, Deepen Connections
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
In Chapter 1, students learned to use self-talk to say, “I can do this.” Now, students are asked to think about how others might be feeling and encouraged to share this strategy by saying something like, “WE can do this.” There are many other ways to encourage positivity, and Miss Karly shows a few inspiring messages at the end of the video for students to use or to help them think of their own.
N: Be sure to ask students if any of the messages particularly resonated with them. Students can write them down to remember for the future.
GRATITUDE VISUALIZATION
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: Attitude of Gratitude
This audio practice offers a full seven minutes of being steeped in gratitude. Prompts of the little things around us each day with cues to notice how gratitude feels/smells/sounds enhance the experience of this practice. Just a few minutes of doing this each day can really open our hearts to the optimism and hope that gratitude brings.
3-MINUTE AWARENESS PRACTICE
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: None
This audio practice builds on the 1- and 2-Minute Awareness practices from previous chapters. Students are asked simply to pay attention to the present moment with the reminder that no two moments are ever the same. As always, they are reassured that whatever they are noticing is okay and that there is no right or wrong way to experience this present moment.
N: Here are some questions to ask students following this practice:
– What did they notice in their body, heart, and mind?
– Was it easier to identify what was going on in one place over another?
– How did it felt to be present?
NOTICING SENSATIONS
Key Concepts/Goals: Respect Self and Others, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: None
During this guided audio practice, Miss Shannon asks students to pay close attention to sensations they feel in their bodies, trying not to react, judge, or give in to the need to change these sensations. This traditional mindfulness practice provides an opportunity to bring increased awareness and acceptance to what is happening in any given moment, without judgment or the need to change what is there.
PLACE OF INTERNAL COMFORT: PART 2
Key Concepts/Goals: Compassion, Respect Self and Others, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: Place of Internal Comfort: Part 1, A Quiet Place
Miss Sophie’s guided visualization takes students on a journey to their “peaceful place.” Building off the discussion in Chapter 2, this is a tangible way for students to seek out a place inside themselves that is safe and can provide comfort. She reminds students how to keep themselves safe and what to do if they need to change anything about the experience.
Journal Prompt: After you listen to the poem “A Quiet Place” and practice with this video, spend a few minutes reflecting on how the poem is relevant to the material in this chapter and to your own place of internal comfort. Then, add what is most comforting to you about your “Place of Internal Comfort.”
COMPASSION PRACTICE
Key Concepts/Goals: Compassion, Respect Self and Others, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Audio
Prerequisite: None
In this recording, Miss Amber shares a beautiful practice of self-compassion. She guides students to remember a time they felt fully supported, safe and loved, and what that really felt like in their mind, their body and their heart. She reminds them that they can experience this feeling anytime, for as long as they need, by simply taking a few moments to recall this practice.
N: Ask your students when they think they can use this practice and how it can be helpful.
Journal Prompt: You can always recall this feeling anytime you need to. In order to help you remember, it can be useful to create a reminder of this feeling. Describe in your journal how your body, your mind and your heart felt during this practice.
IF I HAD A STICKER*
*The activity below is solely a journal prompt and does not appear on the student site. Please encourage your students to reflect on this prompt, which will appear in each chapter, so that they will have content for an activity at the end of the year.
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Journal Prompt
Prerequisite: Majority of the Chapter 3 Material
Ask students to complete this journal entry as a summary statement of something they learned in this chapter — almost as though they were writing something on a sticky note or going to tell a friend one thing they’ll remember or use from Chapter 3. At the end of the year, there is an activity that will bring together each of these “If I Had A Sticker” entries from each of the chapters. Students can come up with an example of their own or use one listed in the journal.
Journal Prompt: If you were going to write yourself a brief reminder or helpful hint of one thing that you learned in this chapter, what would it be and why?
For example: “Just. Like. Me.” because we all share in the common experience of being human. Or “Attitude of Gratitude” because I know this feels good, is healthy for my mind and body, and keeps me focused on the positive.
Reading
THE BOOK OF AWESOME #7: "THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PILLOW"
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: The Book of Awesome #1: “So What’s This All About?”
The author describes that familiar feeling of lying in bed awake, wishing sleep would come. Then suddenly the idea pops into your head to flip the pillow over, creating instant bed comfort.
The corresponding journal prompt is described below, after The Book of Delights #6.
THE BOOK OF AWESOME #8: "HIGH-FIVING BABIES"
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: The Book of Awesome #1: “So What’s This All About?”
Because they never let you down…
The corresponding journal prompt is described below, after The Book of Delights #6.
THE BOOK OF AWESOME #9: "WHEN YOU GET THE MILK-TO-CEREAL RATIO JUST RIGHT"
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: The Book of Awesome #1: “So What’s This All About?”
The author describes three ways this could go — too much milk, not enough milk, or just right — in a humorous way.
The corresponding journal prompt is described below, after The Book of Delights #6.
THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS #5: "BOTAN RICE CANDY"
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: The Book of Delights #1: “Preface”
Describing a fond childhood memory, the author, Ross Gay, tells the story of a time his father bought three boxes — one for himself, one for Ross, and one for Ross’ brother.
The corresponding journal prompt is described below, after The Book of Delights #6.
THE BOOK OF DELIGHTS #6: "THE VOLUNTEER"
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude, Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: The Book of Delights #1: “Preface”
The author describes a volunteer school crossing guard who takes her job very seriously and clearly loves the role.
Journal Prompt: After you’ve listened to “The Book of Delights” and “The Book of Awesome” stories, see if you can write one thing a day in the boxes below that was “awesome” or “delightful” or that just made you smile.
SILENCE IN THE AGE OF NOISE #3
Key Concepts/Goals: Perspective
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
As we continue reading from Erling Kagge’s book on silence, this entry focuses on all the ways silence can be experienced.
Journal Prompt: Have you had a similar experience with all the different ways silence can feel? Write about it here. When has silence felt like a nightmare? A friend? Reassuring? A deeper way to experience your life?
THE COOKIE THIEF
Key Concepts/Goals: Kindness, Perspective
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
We all make assumptions and hold them to be true, as the author of this clever poem describes.
N: Share a time this happened to you, and ask your students to do the same.
Journal Prompt: Write about a time you made an assumption that you were certain was true but then later learned that, in fact, it was not.
Exploring
INTRODUCING THE EMOJI ANCHOR
Key Concepts/Goals: Kindness, Perspective
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
How we are feeling at any given moment can change like the weather, and sometimes we need an anchor to steady the storm. In this chapter, we have changed the theme of the answer to the “How are you?” question from weather to emojis. These fun faces are intended to invite students to check in and observe how they are, without judgment. Use the visual in the Centering section to help get students started and then move on to the “Check-In Challenge” in their journal or the Enriching section, where they’ll check in with themselves once a day for six days by identifying an emoji and writing a few words about why they chose that particular one.
N: Here are some questions to ask students following this practice:
– What did they notice after checking in with themselves for six days in a row?
– Were their answers similar or different each day?
– Was it easier to answer the “check-in” question the more they did it?
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
Key Concepts/Goals: Kindness, Perspective
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
This video highlights the work of the Kindness Crew at Juanita Sanchez Educational Complex (JSEC), a Providence Public High School. We asked the school social worker, current students, and alumni to answer a few questions with the hope of inspiring your students to continue practicing kindness and to join in a 30-Day Kindness Challenge. Brainstorm a list of random acts of kindness with your students. There are also a few suggestions listed in the Enriching section, where the 30-Day Kindness Challenge Calendar is located. See what happens if you all do something kind each day.
N: Here are some questions to ask students following this video:
– What do you think about the JSEC Kindness Crew?
– What is a small act of kindness you can do in your community?
AFTER the 30-Day Kindness Challenge, ask your students the following questions:
– How was it to offer kindness every day?
– How was it to be the recipient of kindness?
MINDFUL DOODLING: PART 2
Key Concepts/Goals: Perspective, Engage with the Present Moment
Format: Video
Prerequisite: None
Building on “Mindful Doodling: Part 1,” where the patterns were half completed, this activity uses the same sheet of boxes. This time, however, they are blank so that students can create 12 new patterns. Miss Vanessa guides students through each pattern if they want inspiration, or they can create the patterns on their own. Students can use the blank sheet found is in their journal or in the Enriching section if they want to do the activity again or share it with friends or family.
Journal Prompt: Here are blank boxes that you can fill in while watching the “Mindful Doodling: Part 2” video, or you can make 12 new mindful doodling patterns. If you are using the electronic version of the journal, you can use this page for reference while you doodle the patterns on a blank piece of paper.
BRAIN SCIENCE: PART 3
Key Concepts/Goals: Kindness, Perspective
Format: Video
Prerequisite: Heartfulness: Part 2
This lesson helps students understand what happens in the brain when we experience empathy as well as the difference between empathy and compassion. Miss Sophie also includes the reason why compassion can be more sustainable than empathy, and she shares a few simple and practical ways students can try this next time they are with someone who is relaying a difficult situation.
Journal Prompt: Recall a time that you listened to someone close to you share a struggle/difficult situation.
– Describe the situation.
– Describe your response.
– Did your response come from a place of compassion or empathy?
If you responded from a place of empathy, how could you have responded from a place of compassion?
ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
Key Concepts/Goals: Gratitude
Format: Video
Prerequisite: Brain Science: Part 3
Gratitude helps us to be more optimistic. It also releases dopamine, a feel-good chemical from the brain, which makes us want to continue practicing gratitude. Developing an attitude of gratitude can also improve the quality of our sleep, increase our attention, energy, and enthusiasm, and decrease mental health issues. Miss Vanessa references the worksheet, “100 Things That Make You Smile.” Students can start working on filling in the worksheet with various things that make them smile (articles of clothing, a summer activity, restaurants, a person who is grateful for them, etc.).
Journal Prompt: Having an “attitude of gratitude” helps us have a more positive outlook on life. Fill in this list of things that make you smile, and keep it handy for those times when you need a little uplifting. It might take a while to fill it in completely, so come back to it anytime you have a few more ideas to add.
Enriching
Sometimes we offer videos outside our curriculum lessons, or images or coloring pages that help illustrate a concept. The videos are all linked from this section. Images or coloring pages can be easily downloaded for saving and/or printing.
Videos
“Brené Brown On Empathy (Kid-Friendly)”
In this student-friendly version of Brené Brown’s famous video, she describes the difference between sympathy and empathy. A sympathy response, which usually starts with, “at least…,” is not comforting and drives disconnection. By contrast, empathy forces us to connect to something in ourselves that can understand another’s suffering; and this response fuels greater connection among those involved.
“How To Forgive Your Ex (Or Anyone Who Hurt You)”
In this video, Prince Ea discusses how the anger and grudges that we all hold keep us from being happy. If we can stand in someone else’s shoes, we can better understand their background, thoughts and ideas so as not to impose our expectations on their behavior. Forgiveness is not weakness; it is strength and peace.
Worksheets
MINDFUL DOODLING: PART 2 WORKSHEET
Co-requisite: Mindful Doodling: Part 2
This version of the Mindful Doodling worksheet has the same 12 boxes as Chapter 2, but they are all blank this time. Students can use this worksheet to follow along with the “Mindful Doodling: Part 2” video or to create their own new patterns. This page is also in their journals.
CHECK-IN CHALLENGE
Prerequisite: Introducing the Emoji Anchor
Checking in with ourselves is a form of self-care and also an opportunity to recognize that what we feel changes frequently. Invite students to try checking in at the same time every day for six days in a row, and see what they notice. This page is also in their journals.
N: Here are some questions to ask students following this practice:
– What did they notice after checking in with themselves for six days in a row?
– Were their answers similar or different each day?
– Was it easier to answer the “check-in” question the more they did it?
30-DAY KINDNESS CHALLENGE
Prerequisite: Random Acts of Kindness
Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17. Though it only takes up one calendar day, this worksheet is offered to make it a 30-day celebration. This page is also in the student journals.
Because kindness is a key concept in this chapter, we offer this tracking sheet you can fill in with your students or for students to fill in on their own or in a group. Brainstorm ideas with your students after watching the Random Acts of Kindness video. Other ideas include:
- Send a friend a handwritten note in the mail.
- Pick up litter.
- Bring coffee to your teacher.
- Thank a teacher for an interesting class or discussion.
- Leave a note of gratitude for the janitorial staff at your school.
- Offer a sincere compliment to a classmate.
- Invite the new student to join you at lunch.
- Clear snow from your neighbor’s driveway or off the basketball courts in the neighborhood.
- Send a note to Ms. Molina at JSEC (182 Thurbers Ave., Providence, RI 02905) telling her how she and her students inspired you to join in the challenge.
Make sure one of your 30 days falls on February 17, when you will join a global community celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Day!
100 THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SMILE WORKSHEET
The companion worksheet to the “Attitude of Gratitude” video is a Google Sheets file that you can post to the Google Classroom and “make a copy” for each student. It is also in their print journals.
6 OR 9 PERSPECTIVE VISUAL
Is it a 6 or a 9? It depends on which way you look at it. This visual is a fun way for you and your students to discuss perspective and to see that sometimes there can be more than one answer or that more than one person can be correct.
N: Ask your students these questions when sharing the visual:
– What influences the green person? The blue person?
– How does empathy play a role in seeing another person’s perspective?
H: Ask students to see if they can take the other person’s perspective next time they’re in a situation where they disagree with someone. Be sure to return to the discussion as a reminder for students to keep practicing this important skill.
Enriching
These activities are best done in person. We describe them for you to lead with your students if and when you are all together during the upcoming school year.
THEME DEFINITION: RELATIONSHIP SKILLS AND SOCIAL AWARENESS
THEME DEFINITION: RELATIONSHIP SKILLS AND SOCIAL AWARENESS
Having practiced becoming more aware of our own thoughts and feelings in Chapter 2, we now shift the focus to the thoughts and feelings of those around us. This chapter combines two CASEL competencies, relationship skills and social awareness, allowing students to spend more time on these interrelated topics that build upon each other. CASEL defines these two core competencies as follows:
Relationship Skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. The ability to communicate clearly, listen well, cooperate with others, resist inappropriate social pressure, negotiate conflict constructively, and seek and offer help when needed. (CASEL.org)
Social Awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The ability to understand social and ethical norms for behavior and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports. (CASEL.org)
Teaching relationship skills increases compassion, empathy, kindness and communication which helps students establish and maintain healthy relationships, resist social pressure and manage and resolve conflict. Teaching social awareness increases empathy and gratitude which helps students learn the art of perspective-taking and also how to respect and appreciate their community and the people in it.
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to submit the Teacher Reflection Questions form from Chapter 2, please do so this week. Additionally, please remind your students that they also have an intentional pause built in for their own reflection on the Chapter 2 Student Reflection Questions, found at the bottom of the Student Site in the blue footer.
STUDENT JOURNALS
Student journals come in 2 formats — print or Google Docs.
- Click here to download the PDF that is best used with pen and paper.
- Click here to open a digital journal in Google Docs that you can post to your Google Classroom and “make a copy for each student.”
Students will be accessing this file for all activities listed with an asterisk on the Chapter Overview chart. Please share the following information with students as an introduction to the journal writing activities. This information is also listed inside the journal for repetition.
Journaling is an opportunity to connect your head and your heart and has been found to relieve stress, anxiety and depression. Journaling is not every student’s favorite activity; but in the spirit of keeping an open mind, we encourage students to try completing each of the journal prompts in this chapter before opting out of journaling altogether.
It is also important to establish safety with the journals, and let students know whether or not the content is being reviewed, and whether or not they’re being graded.
In general, we offer the following guidelines for responding to the prompts:
Be honest — no one is reviewing this work!
– Try not to get caught up with spelling or grammar — just keep your pen moving.
– No judging…and if judgment starts happening, you can write about that too.
"What's Going On In This Picture?"
Format: Image
Prerequisite: Just Like Me
This section of the New York Times offers weekly photos without captions. You can select one photo and provide it to all groups, provide a different photo to each group, or even have groups select their own photo. Be sure to ask students to look for clues that help provide context and understanding. In debriefing the activity, see if they can identify what assumptions they make when looking at the image.
STUDENT CHAPTER REFLECTION
Format: Form
Key Concepts/Goals: Engage with the Present Moment
Prerequisite: Majority of the Chapter 3 Material
Once your class is ready to move on to Chapter 4, please ask students to submit the form found through the link at the bottom of the Student Site in the dark blue footer. Some responses are short-answer and some are checkboxes. The questions on the form are listed here for your reference:
- Have you increased your ability to and comfort with practicing mindfulness and being present?
- Do you know how to show respect for yourself and others? What has helped you do this?
- Communication skills and connections are strong themes in this chapter. Do you feel your connection with peers and/or adults is stronger?Do you have a better sense of community? Have your communication skills improved?
- Which lessons on gratitude (The Book of Awesome, The Book of Delights, 100 Things That Make You Smile, Gratitude Visualization, and Attitude of Gratitude) helped you increase your feelings of being grateful for the little things in life?
- Did you participate in the 30-Day Kindness Challenge?
- Have you noticed that you are able to consider another perspective — either a person’s or in a situation?