The Jelly Donut Difference (compassion and empathy)

I ordered The Jelly Donut Difference a few months back and keep forgetting to write a post about it. The Jelly Donut Difference is written by one of my favorite authors, Maria Dismondy.  I originally purchased The Jelly Donut Difference to read with my first graders during their unit on compassion and empathy.  After reading the book I decided to use it with a group of kindergarten students who are having a hard time getting along with their classmates.

The Jelly Donut Difference is about a brother and sister who don't always get along (argue, push each other out of the way, etc...)  They notice that an elderly neighbor is lonely and work together to show empathy and compassion.  The author has a free Reader's Guide available.  Many of the pages are more beneficial to a classroom teacher, however, I did use the comprehension questions as well as the pages that are focused on making a difference.  I also downloaded a free lesson on TPT (link below) and found this to be the most useful in teaching the idea of kindness to kindergarten students.  Finally, I gave each student a kindness goal and rewarded them with jelly donut holes from dunkin donuts if they met their goal.  I also love the idea of doing a jelly cake in a crockpot for a classroom lesson and have included a link to that blog as well.

Connections:

You can purchase The Jelly Donut Difference HERE.

teachinginstripes.blogspot.com -jelly cake in a crockpot

Free Reader's Guide

Teacher's Pay Teacher's FREE lesson by An Apple A Day in First Grade

Cute Ideas HERE by www.teachingwithcrayonsandcurls.com

Another lesson and downloadable writing template HERE by www.primarily-speaking.com

Empathy (Hey, Little Ant)

Hey, Little Ant is a great book that challenges readers to look at life from an insect's point of view.  It is the perfect book for teaching empathy.   It can be really difficult for young students to understand the concept of "standing in someone's shoes" and this book does a really good job of showing just what this means.  

Hey, Little Ant can be used to teach so many different topics.  The teacher's guide lists the following:

Respecting differences

Fostering respect for all living things

Considering stereotypes

Recognizing alternatives to resolving tension through violence

Exploring concepts of big and small, powerful and powerless

Standing up to peer pressure

Connections:
I absolutely love the lesson that lunchbuddiesplus shared on her blog.  She uses Hey, Little Ant to show the difference between  a "thinking of you" person vs. a "just me" person.

You can also get some ideas from the Hey, Little Ant Teacher's Guide.

Some good resources on TPT:
Social Skills, Perspective Taking, Thinking about others  ($3.50)


Bullying- Hey Little Ant! ($3.50)


These are all FREE on TPT:
Hey Little Ant Point of View by Lockwood's Little Learners


Ant Writing Response Pages {Freebie} by Jen Ross - Teacher by the Beach


Hey, Little Ant Opinion/Persuasive Writing by Creativity-To-The-Core



Ant Craftivity by Kelly-Morgan


Hey Little Ant Bulletin Board Writing  by Working-4-The-Classroom

Hey, Little Ant! Reader's Theater by Hanssen-House

School Counseling with ClassDojo Big Ideas (Mindset, Perseverance, Empathy)

I've been using ClassDojo for about 9 months now and I think it is one of the best FREE resources that I have found.  You just create an account and you have access to some great teaching tools.  I had been using ClassDojo to teach students about Mindset and then they came out with the Perseverance series and most recently the Empathy series.  I use these short video clips ALL THE TIME and students LOVE them.  You can check it out HERE.

Growth Mindset (5 videos in the series plus 2 activities)

Perseverance Series (3 videos in the series plus a follow up activity)

Empathy Series (3 videos in the series plus a follow up activity)

Be sure to check out the resources page for posters, coloring pages, etc....  This may be more useful for classroom teachers but there are a few things that I have printed off:)

School Counseling with ClassDojo Big Ideas (Mindset, Perseverance, Empathy)

I've been using ClassDojo for about 9 months now and I think it is one of the best FREE resources that I have found.  You just create an account and you have access to some great teaching tools.  I had been using ClassDojo to teach students about Mindset and then they came out with the Perseverance series and most recently the Empathy series.  I use these short video clips ALL THE TIME and students LOVE them.  You can check it out HERE.

Growth Mindset (5 videos in the series plus 2 activities)

Perseverance Series (3 videos in the series plus a follow up activity)

Empathy Series (3 videos in the series plus a follow up activity)

Be sure to check out the resources page for posters, coloring pages, etc....  This may be more useful for classroom teachers but there are a few things that I have printed off:)

ONE (bullying and bystanders)

I odered the books ONE and Zero a few months back and finally got around to using ONE of them. I had heard a lot about these books but I was still pleasantly surprised with the powerful message behind ONE.  If you don't already have this book in your counseling library I would definitely recommend it!  ONE has a great message of inclusion, empowerment, and tolerance.  This book does a great job of teaching elementary students the power of ONE person.  In the story, Blue is the quiet, passive color who is bullied by hot headed Red.  The other colors are bystanders, who don't like the way Red it treating Blue, but don't stand up for him.  Every time Red bullies Blue and no ONE speaks up, Red grows larger and more powerful.  Finally, the number ONE stands up to Red and teaches all of the colors that everyone counts.

You can purchase ONE HERE.

You can find three different lessons to go along with ONE at welcomingschools.org.  You can find discussion questions to go along with ONE and ZERO HERE and worksheets to supplement the story HERE. There is also a fun demonstration using food coloring HERE.

Everyone Counts Pop-Up Craft by http://readandcreate.co.uk/

Worksheet

Watercolor Activity Page

ONE Lesson and Bulletin Board by Jyjoyner counselor

Being an Upstander

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Tacky the Penguin

Tacky the Penguin is a cute book about being yourself.  Tacky the Penguin is an odd bird and doesn't behave like all of the other penguins.  He wears crazy Hawaiian shirts while all of the other penguins are in their tuxes.   The other penguins find Tacky annoying until his odd behavior saves the day!  I use this book with kindergarten and first grade students to teach lessons on tolerance, self-esteem, self-acceptance, etc...

Purchase Tacky the Penguin HERE.

Connections:

Lesson:  Read Tacky the Penguin aloud for students then lead a discussion:

Discussion Questions:

Tacky the Penguin

Next, use the Venn diagram from the link below to compare Tacky to the other penguins.  

Tacky the Penguin

You could also use this printable to compare the actions of Tacky compared to the other penguins:  This printable has a cute writing activity called "Like Tacky" with a shirt that students can decorate any way they wish.

Tacky the Penguin Companion Printables

You could also have students write on this paper:

Tacky the Penguin Writing

Next, have students create their own "Tacky Penguin":

Create your own Tacky the Penguin

Finally, have students write a sentence telling you what they like about Tacky:

Writing Prompt: I like Tacky because...

Here is another cute idea from Live, Laugh, Love Kindergarten:  Tacky Penguin Craftivity

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Making Friends is an Art! (Making and Keeping Friends)

Last week I posted one of my crayon themed lessons and I'm sharing another one today (sidenote:  this book is actually about colored pencils).   Once my third graders are done with their lesson on empathy and compassion using The Day the Crayons Quit I introduce a book that talks about friendship qualities.  Making Friends is an Art! is my absolute favorite book about friendship.  The main lesson of this book is that " To have good friends, you need to be a good friend."  The author also points out that "you can't expect the other colors to like you if you don't like yourself."   The main character (Brown Pencil) learns that he doesn't have friends because he never laughs, always puts others down, frowns, complains, disagrees, etc...

Making Friends is an Art!

Connections:

www.elementarymatters.com has a great lesson idea with a making friends is an art FREEBIE!

TPT: Making Friends is an Art FREEBIE

Making Friends is an Art Guidance Lesson

Teaching Kids How to Make Friends

Discussion Questions and Crown Activity by Life Lesson for Little Ones

Here is another crown FREEBIE:

I also purchased this product from TPT for $2.00.  I would recommend it!

PowerPoint with activity

You can purchase Making Friends is an Art! HERE.

More books about friendship:
How to Lose All Your Friends


How to Be a Friend


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The Day the Crayons Quit (Empathy)

Today I am sharing a lesson that I have been working on with my 3rd graders.  We are doing a crayon theme this month and I will be sharing some other crayon themed lessons in the next few weeks.  This particular lesson focuses on Empathy and Compassion using the book The Day the Crayons Quit.  

The Day the Crayons Quit

Description from Amazon:  Crayons have feelings too!  Poor Duncan just wants to color.  But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing:  His crayons have had enough!  They quit!  Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon.  black wants to be used for more than just the outlining.  Blue needs a break from coloring all those bodies of water.  And Orange and Yellow are not longer speaking--each believes he is the true color of the sun.  What can Duncan possibly do to appease all of the crayons and get them back to doing what they do best?  

To begin the lesson I read the book The Day the Crayons Quit and had a class discussion about empathy and compassion using THESE discussion questions.  The following week I assigned students to play the part of each crayon in the story and students acted out the story using this Reader's Theater Script.  I made "crayon hats" for them to put on their head as they read the script.  These were very simple to make.  I googled "crayon image" and printed out the simplest one that I could find.  I then printed them out on construction paper and stapled strips of paper around them to turn them into hats.

Next we reviewed our theme words (empathy and compassion) and each student made a crayon writing craft.  I purchased this Crayon Craft / Craftivity for $3.00 on TPT.  Students were assigned a color and instructed to write a few sentences showing that they understood how that crayon felt.  For Example, one student wrote "If I were the Red Crayon I would feel tired.  I understand how Red feels because I feel like I have to do more chores than my sister just because I'm older.  I wouldn't want to work on holidays either and I would feel like I was being treated unfairly.  I would want some time off and I would want to be treated fairly."  

The following week I had students respond to the crayon's letters.  Each student had been assigned a crayon color the previous week so they wrote a letter back to that crayon.  They were instructed to write a letter that showed their crayon that they understood how the crayon felt (Empathy) and to then let the crayon know what they could do to make things better (Compassion).  Here are some of their letters:

 Finished result:

You can Purchase The Day the Crayons Quit HERE.  I also think it would be fun to read The Day the Crayons Came Home.

More Connections:

Writing Activities for The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit

Literature Response: The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit Letter Writing Activity

A Crayon Box Full of Activities

Writers Guide for The Day the Crayons Quit

More Writing Paper

Crossword and Maze

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