Teach your class about compassion and empathy with Jamee Riggio Heelan's Can You Hear a Rainbow? As kids read about Chris, a boy who is deaf, they discuss the things he likes to do, as well as the ways he communicates with the world.

Stand in My Shoes, a story by Bob Sornson, is an effective way to teach young learners about empathy and making friends. Once pupils read through the story, they answer a series of discussion questions and complete reading...

Learn about how the seeing eye dog program began with a reading lesson about Eva Moore's chapter book, Buddy, The First Seeing Eye Dog. With vocabulary words, discussion questions, and extension resources, the lesson is a...

Through the journey of four stories of immigration, scholars complete graphic organizers and apply knowledge to create a visual representation of their findings on a large poster. Third and fourth readers write a letter to their...

Kindness and empathy can be as important as reading comprehension skills, especially for younger learners. Reinforce both with a instructional activity based on Rolling Along: The Story of Taylor and His Wheelchair by Jamee Riggio...

Introduce young learners to the idea of disabilities and making friends with children who are different than they are. Using Don't Call Me Special - A First Look at Disability by Pat Thomas, learners are guided through the new...

Help to create the next generation of friends with a lesson plan about accepting people who are different. As kids read Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, they answer a series of discussion questions and activities about making...

Develop a world-wide, email chain on which class members can showcase their acts of kindness. After defining the meaning of random acts of kindness through discussion and through a reading of Random Acts of Kindness,...

Young scholars investigate the character trait of perseverance and how it is used to help a girl gain independence in a fictional story. The story also has them think about the value of relationships and then write reflectively about...

Students consider the importance of giving as they read "Franklin Says I Love You". In this character education lesson, students engage in discussion about the importance of sharing and giving. They relate to the story by offering...

High schoolers explore correct social behaviors. In this social skills instructional activity, students take turns modeling correct social behaviors in various settings. High schoolers write text for a social story and share them with...

Students participate in literary circles to analyze characters, critique writing, discuss events, and  story elements.  In this literary circles lesson, students take responsibility for their learning as a member of the...

Fourth graders write about the forced Potawatomi migration. In this primary source lesson students are read journal entries from an emigrating party of Potawatomi Indians. Students reflect on the items the Indians might have taken with...

Students explore classroom community building. In this character development and community building lesson, students listen to Hands Are Not for Hitting and generate a class list of positive ways to handle classroom conflicts. Students...

Learners investigate the virtue of kindness and giving by conducting a children's literature study of "The Giving Tree". They make a list of words to describe emotions in the story and write a journal daily while looking at the virtues...

Students respond the story of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and discuss the ways in which she showed respect for herself and for others.

Fourth graders read the book "The Sign of the Beaver". As a class, they identify the problems in the story and predicting what they think is going to happen next. Individually, they examine the cause and effect relationships and...

First graders read "The Red Racer" by Audrey Wood. They identify choices and consequences present in the story. They identify and evaluate choices, and the consequences of those choices, in everyday life both at school and home.

Students share the value of helping others through reading and art activities. In this Clifford and the Big Storm lesson plan, students read the story, discuss courage, and create a gallery of heroes.

Students complete a unit using the story of the Little Red Hen to learn the storybook reading format as well as improve their reading and social skills. In this storybook lesson, students complete five lessons using the story of the...

Students in a special education classroom identify pictures of various living things. In groups, they role-play different roles to help them with their social and communication skills. To end the lesson, they take pictures of different...

First graders explore the relationships between the choices one makes and the consequences that follow. The importance of choices in context of getting along with others is stressed throughout the lesson.

After reading and analyzing The 'In' Group by Eve Shalen, sixth graders consider how the categorization of people results in exclusion, discrimination, and injustice.