I recently stumbled upon two books that seem especially timely: Teach Kindness First by Kathleen Murray and Stop the Hate for Goodness Sake by Andrew B. Campbell and Larry Swartz. We strive to create classroom environments with kindness and empathy at the core, leading to behaviour and beliefs that students will carry beyond our classrooms: these books provide specific ideas to support us in our endeavours.
Effective teachers also use powerful mentor texts to ensure engagement, diversity, and topics to spark meaningful conversation and powerful writing. Three picture books that address kindness and yet are presented quite differently: Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson, The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates and Juniper Bates, and Sidewalk Flowers by JonArno Lawson and Sydney Smith. Using one on its own is effective; bringing the three together even more so.
It seems there is no better time to counter the hateful rhetoric that is so prevalent these days. After all, “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.” Lao Tzu