Lesson 2: Acts of Caring at School
20 minutes
Introduce the lesson (4-5 minutes)
Introduce today’s lesson by telling students, “Today we are going to think about specific ways we can extend caring and kindness to people in our lives. We will watch a video that gives some examples. See if you can spot all the ways that caring is extended to the people in the video.”
Whole group discussion (5-6 minutes)
Engage students in a discussion using the following prompts focusing on the questions in bold:
How does the man show caring?
Is it realistic to be so caring, especially when it might mean self-sacrifice or disapproval from others? What are barriers to caring?
What does the man get in return? Do most of us experience the same in return for being caring? If not, what gets in the way? How can we better appreciate the benefits?
What emotions do you notice? (Encourage students to think about emotions of the giver, receiver and bystanders in the video, and the ripple effect of kindness)
Can someone be kind towards others without caring about them? What about vice versa?
Is kindness contagious?
In your own life, what do you desire most?
The intent of the above discussion is to get students to recognize the benefits of caring as well as the importance of caring for others we might not know. Many students may not say they desire to be good or caring, and that’s completely okay for now! The hope is to at least get them thinking that a fulfilling life includes caring about others. Barriers or obstacles to caring include our own negative emotions (e.g., resentment, irritation at someone’s lack of appreciation) or biases we might have (e.g., thinking someone doesn’t deserve kindness) – and the following activity is a good segue for students to start thinking intentionally about lifting those barriers.
Acts of caring challenge (6-8 minutes)
Transition to the activity by telling students that today they will begin their own “Acts of Caring” Challenge. For the following week, ask students to commit to five acts of kindness and caring in their school. Provide students with one clear example of one act at school, such as, “This week I am going to make sure I smile and say hi to my bus driver each morning.”
Give students about five minutes to brainstorm acts of kindness and caring in their journals or the chart in Appendix 2. Ask students to commit to five acts they’ll complete in the next week. They can find inspiration for their acts of kindness and caring from each other or from the collection of Post-It notes from Lesson 1. Additional examples of potential acts of everyday caring are provided in Appendix 3.
MCC Tip: Journaling helps people reflect clearly and commit with intention. Ask students to record their commitments in a journal or the chart in Appendix 2 and that way, you can also follow up as needed. Consider assigning students to accountability partners who can support brainstorm, execute and reflect about caring acts.
Wrap up (3 minutes)
To bring it all together, ask each student to share one act they chose (and why they chose the act they did if you have enough time) through a whip-around. Tell students that this will serve as a verbal commitment and they will report back next week on how the experience went. Tell students you will be reporting back on your own acts of kindness and caring as well.
Close by telling students when you think the next lesson will take place and how to reach out to you if they need support with their kind acts. If students were paired with accountability partners, remind pairs to check in and support each other throughout the week.
Content developed by Making Caring Common, a project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
