Students wrote and talked about kindness before reading the poem, ‘Small Kindnesses’ by Denusha Lameris. In crafting their own poems students focused on one idea, one stanza and small ways they have been kind or received kindness from others.
Lesson Note: Kindness has health benefits. Kindness not only feels good, but it can also boost the giver’s well-being.-Psychology Today
Ms. Wright, 7th Grade
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by Hailey C.
I’ve been thinking about the way
Kindness feels like happy and energized
Excited like a ballet dancer
Love spreads in fields
Flower blooms with
lovely smells
Water sprinkling down from the
sunny and clear blue sky
Rainbows in different
ways
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by Natalie H.
I’ve been thinking about the way
How kindness can be something very powerful
Kindness can cheer someone up
Comforting someone at their lowest,
Or checking up on someone can change the way they feel
Kindness can even make someone become
Even more confident than they were a second ago
Complimenting someone can make them
Change the way they feel about today
Holding the door for someone, smiling at them,
Waving at them are small acts of kindness
But they can always change how someone feels about today
People experience small acts of kindness everyday
And it can change the way they feel about today
Even during bad days kindness can go a long way
Ms. Wright, 7th Grade
Stuck In My Own Mind
by Brandon H.
I’ve been thinking about the way
Kindness feels so happy and energized
When I see people holding doors and smiling at each
Other as they wave at
Me when I sit in my own sea of problems
Giving gifts with no meaning
Or giving a warm smile back from instinct
It makes me think,
Think about the way real kindness feels
It feels good to get something back,
Sometimes you expect something back
Like a grade for your work
Or pay for your labor
But that’s not kindness
With intent or not
We help those off the ground
Help those who are stuck in their own mind,
Sobbing from grief
We help those who cannot help themselves
Untilted
by Mia N.
I’ve been thinking about the way
Kindness feels like happy and energized
When I see people holding doors and smiling at each
other and they wave at me
When someone helps me with my homework
I’m grateful and return that kindness back
When I fall over and have a bad day
Friends and family are there for me
All of us want to be treated nicely
We want someone to fill in
The missing piece to our puzzle
Someone to give us another cone
When we drop our ice cream on the floor
