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Don’t you know yet? It is your light that lights the world.
In previous lessons we explored how easy it is to jump to conclusions about people and rush to judgments that are possibly not true. If we knew other people’s stories, or at least became more skilled at putting ourselves in other people’s shoes, then it would be easier for us to come from a place of compassion. Today’s lesson is an extension of this idea and is about putting this newfound compassion into action. As students practice a random act of kindness, they discover that kindness actually has a dual purpose: extensive research has illustrated that when we are giving and generous with our time and resources, we feel an increased sense of well-being in ourselves. In this way, kindness doesn’t just benefit others, but also improves our own levels of happiness and satisfaction.
· Recognize that kindness and generosity are linked to increased happiness and well-being.
Prior to teaching the lesson, watch the guest artist videos and perform your own random act of kindness to share with your students.
Kevin Love explains that helping others can be beneficial to the recipient and also to the person who is offering help. He shares that he felt inspired to give a donation to the people who work at the Cleveland Cavaliers stadium after games were canceled at the start of the pandemic.
Chris Paul shares the story of his late grandfather who modeled kindness and generosity in the way he treated the people who came to his store, often allowing them a reduced price for fuel or the ability to delay their payment.
Aditya describes the way helping people in his community with their taxes made him feel empowered and uplifted.
Shreya and Saffron Patel describe the inspiration behind the organization they created called Letters Against Isolation, which uses letter writing to help ease loneliness in senior citizens.
Display the ‘welcome slide’ from the Lesson 11 PowerPoint as you begin.
*Slide 1
As discussed in the teacher training, remember to make the suggested language below authentic to yourself and meaningful for your students.
* Slide 2
Example of What You Could Say:
“In the previous lessons, we practiced feeling greater compassion for ourselves and others. Today’s lesson is an extension of this idea. In addition to being more compassionate in the way we think about ourselves and others, we can also put these kind thoughts into action by helping other people. In his research, Harvard professor Michael Norton found that spending money on others made people happier than spending money on themselves. Does this surprise you to know?
Kevin has spoken publicly about the way being generous with others has brought happiness into his life. And Chris Paul is another NBA player who speaks about how his grandfather modeled generosity – which impacted not only his own life, but had a positive influence on his community growing up. We are going to watch short videos from Chris and Kevin sharing about this link between kindness or generosity and happiness.”
In the first video, Kevin describes his donation to the people who work at the arena where the Cleveland Cavaliers play. In the second video, Chris Paul shares a story about his grandfather’s generosity and kindness as he supported their community by offering discounts at his service station.
Introduce the next video of an additional example of generosity and kindness. You could also use a video clip from your own local context that you feel will better resonate with the students in your classroom or school community.
Example of What You Could Say:
“Kevin and Chris’s video showed us big acts of generosity, but many acts of generosity are smaller and don’t require you to spend money to begin helping people in your community right now! Here is another example of generosity and kindness from a teenager who made an impact in their community. ”
Play whichever additional video you think will resonate most with your students.
*Slide 3
Reflect on the way the videos all illustrated how uplifting it can feel to be kind and generous, and explain that students will now plan and complete a random act of kindness themselves. Students can do this in a small group and record themselves, and then share it with the class. Or they could do this on their own and simply write about their experience. These random acts of kindness can be done during the class time or as a ‘take home’ project.
Example of What You Could Say:
“We just watched a few videos of people sharing kind and generous acts. This is something really wonderful about generosity and kindness; aside from improving the lives of others, it lifts your own spirits as well.
I did not want to ask you all to put yourselves out there without also trying this out myself, so I thought of an act of kindness that would feel sincere to me. (Share your example).
As a class, let’s brainstorm a few ways that we can help other people in our community through acts of kindness and generosity.”
Example of What You Could Say:
“Now, let’s break into small groups of three or four to decide on the act of kindness and generosity that you want to accomplish. One of the group members should video record this act of kindness in hopes that when we come back together as a class, you can share it with us visually. If this is not possible, you can write down how the experience went, and how it felt to you, and share with us verbally. If you would prefer to work individually, that is okay as well – but still plan out your random act of kindness with your classmates.”
*If time and circumstance permits, students can leave the classroom and perform their random act of kindness at this time. Or, they can have a deadline set in which they have to complete their act of kindness by a certain time. This lesson will be completed at the start of the next lesson when students share their random act of kindness.
*To be completed at the start of lesson 12.
If you or your students would like to learn more about the ideas in this lesson, additional resources and third party links are included below.
Shreya and Saffron Patel created Letters Against Isolation to encourage volunteers to write letters to residents in assisted living and nursing homes in order to help senior citizens feel less lonely. Their website explains how to volunteer for this program and also provides free stamps if needed!
