2nd Grade Unit Introduction Sub-Concepts Covered: Vulnerability, Humility, Kindness Kindness in the Classroom lessons teach kindness skills through a step-by step framework of Inspire, Empower, Act, Reflect and Share. Each lesson starts with the ‘share’ step to reinforce learning from previous lessons. The ‘act’ piece is woven into the lessons but really takes place in the projects. The Courage Unit is the last unit in this series. It focuses primarily on giving students strategies to help them feel and act courageously even when it is not easy or popular. We want students to realize that they show courage when they make good choices for themselves and when they help others. As with other units, we hope to connect the concepts in this unit back to kindness, which is integral throughout the series. Unit Objective Students will: ● Identify things they can do to show courage for ourselves and for others. ● Identify the likely outcome for others by choosing a courageous act. ● Show courage through helping ourselves and others. ● Discuss how it takes courage to be kind to others without recognition. Student Introduction Welcome to the Courage Unit! Over the next few weeks, we are going to build some superpowers around courage, which means we are brave enough to do what we know is good for us and for others - even if no one recognizes our good efforts or if those choices seem like the popular choices. Sometimes the brave thing to do is the right thing...not the popular thing. We will talk about what it means to be brave, to help others, and we will even write down some advice for next year’s second graders for how they can show courage to themselves, to others, and to our school spaces. We are going to focus on these important areas: ● Being brave for ourselves! ● Being brave for others! ● Being brave to make our school a place where people love being! Let’s get started with our first lesson! © The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. All Rights Reserved. www.randomactsofkindness.org Page 1 Unit Lessons Lesson Title Lesson Objectives Materials Required Lesson 1 ● Discuss ways to show courage toward ❏ I Believe in Super Me - handout I Believe in Super ME! themselves. ❏ Pencils, crayons, markers ● Identify things that they are good at or believe about themselves. ● Identify things they can do to show courage. ● Identify things they want to get better at. ● Create a personified superhero to remind them of their courage. Lesson 2 ● Discuss ways to show courage toward ❏ I Do / They Feel worksheets I Do / They Feel others in particular ways. ● Identify the likely outcome for others by choosing a courageous act. ● Practice classroom presentation skills. Lesson 3 ● Discuss why taking care of our surrounding ❏ Courage through Kindness Cleanwork Makes the environment is actually a courageous act. to the School, pass Dream Work ● Discuss ways to show courage toward our surrounding environment in particular ways. ● Show kindness to others through helping with specific tasks. Lesson 4 ● Complete a random act of kindness. ❏ Sticky notes Random Acts of ● Explain how it takes courage to be kind to ❏ Pencils/pens/markers Kindness: Desk Notes others without recognition. © The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. All Rights Reserved. www.randomactsofkindness.org Page 2 Unit Projects Project Title Project Overview Materials Required Project 1 In this project, students will create a courage ❏ Courage journal page Courage Journal journal for the incoming group of 1st graders ❏ Pencils, colors who will be 2nd graders the next school year. Each student will give incoming students advice on how have courage for yourself, for others, and for the classroom as they become 2nd graders. Students should use the vocabulary they have learned this year such as respect, caring, inclusive, fair, perseverance, and responsibility. They should also make sure their advice recognizes that kindness is the foundation for all of these things. Project 2 In this project, students will create a tie-dyed ❏ 100% Cotton T-shirt (anything containing Wear Your Courage shirt for themselves using colors that represent 5% or more of polyester will not dye well) all of the things they have learned throughout ❏ Soda Ash the year. Red = respect; Orange = caring; ❏ Rubber Bands Yellow = inclusiveness; Blue = fairness; Green ❏ Rack (to dye on) - could be a plastic = responsibility, Purple = courage. garbage bag or some other plastic cover to protect tables and floors. You could When students wear it, they can be reminded also do this outside. that it takes courage to do these things for ❏ Plastic Bin, or, again, some kind of cheap themselves and for others, but they can do it! plastic (to catch the dye) ❏ Fiber Reactive Dye - These should be the colors of kindness as outlined above; some kits do not require Soda Ash - water will do! This kit from Amazon would work well: Tie Dye Kit ​ ❏ Ziploc Bags (to put shirts in) - optional; not all dying processes require this; the shirts could simply sit on the plastic covered surfaces overnight. ❏ Sharpie Marker (for writing names or other encouraging messages; be sure each shirt is at least marked on the tag so students know whose shirt is whose!) © The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. All Rights Reserved. www.randomactsofkindness.org Page 3 Courage 2nd Grade • Lesson 1 I Believe in Super ME! This lesson will introduce students to the Courage Unit by giving them time to think of ways to show courage, first, to themselves. The lesson ends with students brainstorming ideas for how to be courageous toward themselves over the summer and then drawing a superhero version of themselves so they can remember that courage and all of the unit topics they have studied this year are truly super powers! Kindness Concept(s) Lesson Objective Courage, Kindness Students will: Lesson Timeframe 45 minutes ● Discuss ways to show courage toward themselves. ● Identify things that they are good at or believe about themselves. Required Materials ● Identify things they can do to show courage. ❏ I Believe in Super Me handout ● Identify things they want to get better at. ❏ Pencils, crayons, markers ● Create a personified superhero to remind them of their courage. Standards Map This lesson aligns with CASEL Teacher Connection/Self-Care Competencies, National Health Education Standards, and Common Many people associate the term “courage” with being strong, standing up to Core State Standards. Please refer to oppression, and fighting for what is right. While all of these definitions do in the Standards Map for more information. ​ ​ fact refer back to various types of courage, there is yet another focus that is equally valuable: the courage to respond with kindness. This unit will focus on kindness as a form of courageous action. Your ability to infuse kindness into your daily life is the most courageous thing you can do for yourself. When your thoughts change, your behaviors change, which ultimately leads to a positive change in those around you as well. This kindness chain reaction starts with you! This week, write out one specifically kind thought about yourself and post it on your bathroom mirror. Repeat it to yourself aloud every single time you read it. At first this may feel awkward and unnecessary. However, the more you hear kind words out loud, the more likely you are to internalize them. How can you be kind to yourself today? Tips for Diverse Learners ● The brainstorm lists could be small drawings or simple words for emerging writers. ● Advanced students or those adept with computers can create a superhero with a few clicks that can be downloaded and printed from the DC Comics: Super Hero Me! Website: https://www.dckids.com/dc-super-friends/htmlgame/name/super-hero- me © The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. All Rights Reserved. www.randomactsofkindness.org Page 1 Share 5-7 minutes So far this year we have talked a lot about kindness and all of the super, special things we do to help others and make them feel special. These are our kindness superpowers! Can anyone remember the names of these superpowers we’ve talked about so far this year? Respect, Caring, Inclusiveness, Fairness, Perseverance, and Responsibility Which of these do you feel like you are pretty good at so far? Invite student responses. Which do you want to practice more, even over the summer, so that when you are in third grade next year, you will be ready to put these superpowers into action? Invite student responses Inspire 7-10 minutes What is Courage? For our last unit, we are going to talk about a superpower that uses ALL of the other superpowers: COURAGE. What do you all think courage means? Invite student responses. Yes. Courage means that you are brave when facing new or difficult circumstances. Sometimes courage means being kind to and including someone at recess. Sometimes it means taking responsibility for something you did wrong. Sometimes it means working hard to finish something that you find really difficult and you know it would be easier to just quit. Doing everything we’ve learned about this year to be kind, caring, inclusive, fair, determined, and responsible takes courage! This unit will focus on courage as it connects to kindness. Being kind requires us to be brave and willing to try something new or different with ourselves, others, and even our spaces (like our school). When we have the courage to be kind, we feel better about ourselves and help others to feel better too! Explain that there are 3 ways to show courage through kindness: Kindness to Yourself: It might sound silly, but it takes courage to be kind to ​ yourself. Most of us don’t think about how we treat ourselves, but kindness actually starts with the things you say and do to yourself first! If you can’t be kind to you, how can you expect to be kind to others? Kindness to Others: Sometimes it can be very difficult to treat others with ​ kindness.