Kindness Starts Here

Curriculum Area and Level

Social Sciences (The New Zealand Curriculum, Levels 2-3)

• "Understand how people make choices to meet their needs and wants"
• "Understand how cultural practices reflect and express people’s customs, traditions, and values"

This lesson enables students to think critically and empathetically, fostering a sense of community and mutual respect within their classroom.

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Lesson Overview

Duration: 60 minutes

Lesson Title: Kindness Starts with Me

This one-off lesson focuses on developing an understanding of kindness, its significance in the classroom, and the role individuals play in creating a positive community. Students will explore kindness through discussion, reflection, and a creative activity that reinforces the practice of kind actions daily.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the lesson, students will:

1. Define kindness and identify acts that represent it.
2. Reflect on how practicing kindness enhances relationships and supports a healthy classroom culture.
3. Contribute individually to a collaborative ‘Kindness Tree,’ demonstrating their commitment to creating a caring environment.

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Materials Needed

• A large cut-out of a tree on a poster/chart paper (to symbolise the "Kindness Tree")
• Coloured card or paper cut into small leaf shapes (approx. 35 pieces)
• Felt pens or crayons
• Blu-Tack or glue

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Detailed Lesson Plan

1. Tuning In: The Power of Kindness (10 minutes)

Focus Question: What is kindness, and what does it look like?

• Begin the lesson with students sitting in a circle on the mat.
• Share a short story or anecdote about an act of kindness (teacher-specific, or use a simple story like helping a friend in need or sharing a resource).
• Facilitate a discussion using the following prompts:
  • "What is kindness?"
  • "How does it feel when someone is kind to you?"
  • "Why is kindness important in our classroom and community?"

Teacher Tip: Write core answers on the whiteboard under the title "What is Kindness?" to reinforce visual learning.

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2. Discussing Kind Actions (10 minutes)

Activity: Brainstorming Acts of Kindness

• Keep students seated in the circle.
• Provide examples of kind actions (e.g., sharing, giving a compliment, helping someone clean up).
• Ask students to think-pair-share with the person next to them about one kind action they’ve done or could do.
• Invite a few students to share their responses with the group.

Teacher Tip: Celebrate different types of kind actions mentioned. This highlights diversity in the ways we can care for others.

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3. Creating the Kindness Tree (30 minutes)

Activity: Individual Contribution to the Class ‘Kindness Tree’

Instructions:

1. Transition students to their desks. Show them the large cut-out of the "Kindness Tree" displayed on the wall or pinned onto a display board. Explain that this tree will grow with ‘kindness leaves,’ each representing a kind act they can do for their classmates.
2. Hand out one coloured paper leaf to each student and provide felt pens.
3. Ask students to write one specific kind act they will commit to in the classroom. (Example: "I will help someone who feels left out.")
4. While students write, circulate the class to support spelling, encourage meaningful ideas, and provide further examples if needed.
5. One by one, have students come up to the "Kindness Tree" and attach their leaf using Blu-Tack or glue.

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4. Reflecting and Sharing (10 minutes)

Focus Question: How does kindness start with us?

• Gather everyone back in the circle.
• Read some of the kind acts aloud from the tree.
• Use prompts to spark insights:
  • "How do you think practising these acts of kindness will change our classroom?"
  • "What can we do if we notice someone needs an extra helping of kindness?"

Close by reinforcing the idea that small actions can build a supportive classroom. Celebrate their contributions and the creation of their Kindness Tree!

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Extension Ideas (Optional)

• Daily Kindness Check-In: Add a few leaves to the tree each week and track kind actions in the classroom over time.
• Kindness Journal: Introduce a class journal where students can reflect on one kind act they experienced or gave each week.

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Assessment for Learning

• Observe participation in discussions: Are students contributing ideas about kindness?
• Review the "kindness leaves" for clarity and evidence of engagement.
• Monitor students’ application of kindness in the classroom following the activity (track improvements through anecdotal notes or simple peer observations).

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Māori Perspectives and Cultural Inclusion

• Emphasise manaakitanga (hospitality/kindness) as a core value in Māori culture.
• Use whanaungatanga (relationships) to link kindness to building strong, positive classroom connections.
• Integrate whakataukī (proverbs) such as:
  "Nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou, ka ora ai te iwi." (With your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive.) Highlight its relevance to sharing and kindness.

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Notes for the Teacher

This lesson offers a flexible structure for starting conversations about social relationships and respect in the classroom. It ties into the Social Sciences curriculum by exploring how people’s values and choices (e.g., practising kindness) impact their communities. Make the activity a meaningful display for long-term classroom engagement.

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Outcome: This simple yet powerful lesson seeds the idea of a kind and inclusive classroom environment, leaving students with practical ways to incorporate kindness into their daily interactions.