Cover of Each Kindness
Each Kindness
📚
Compassion 1st & 2nd Grade
By Jacqueline Woodson

Book Guide

Each Kindness

A story that explores compassion and opens a conversation with your child.

★★★★★ Loved by families
Read the Guiding Questions Find this book →
♥ This book teaches: Compassion. seeing past difference to offer kindness.

Before, During & After Reading

Guiding Questions for Parents.

Definition: The ability to feel what others are feeling and the action of trying to help them with their troubles.  In short:  Feel what others feel. Summary: The narrator is a part of a clique of girls who are rude to a new girl named Maya. They fail to include her in their activities, and when she tries to approach them, they tease her and turn away.  Things change when Ms. Albert leads the class in a kindness activity. She drops a stone in a basin of water and asks students to notice the ripples. She explains that this is what kindness does - it has a ripple effect - “each little thing we do goes out like a ripple into the world.” Each student drops a stone in the basin and shares about an act of kindness they did. But when it comes to the narrator’s turn, she can't think of anything. Burdened with guilt, she resolves to change her attitude toward Maya, but the girl doesn’t ever come back to school. At the end of the story, she does something to express what she should have done for Maya.     Lesson Objectives: 
  1. Students gain empathy for kids like Maya who are teased. They are more inclusive and willing to reach out to their classmates, all of them. 
  2. Students participate in the “Ripple” activity which is included under “Activities for Compassion’ on this website. 
  Guiding Questions: 
  1. Describe the new girl, Maya. 
  2. Why did the other students criticize Maya? 
  3. A clique is a group who tend to be rude to others outside the clique. What are some of the behaviors of the girls in the clique toward Maya?  
  4. What did the narrator and the other girls in the clique do when Maya tried to make friends with them? 
  5. How did Maya try to get the friends to play with her? Did it work? 
  6. How do you think Maya felt when the other girls teased her? Did you feel sorry for Maya? 
  7. Describe the kindness activity Ms.Albert did with her students. 
  8. It was too late for the narrator to change her behavior from rudeness to kindness toward Maya. What did she do to show what she wished she had done for Maya? 
  9. Have you ever been part of a clique? What was it like? Have you ever been rejected or teased by members of a clique? What was that like? 
  10. The narrator had a lot of regret for not being kind to Maya. Do you think it is better to do what you know and feel is right or not do it? Why? 
🌿   Virtue Connection: Compassion means feeling what another feels and choosing to act.

Hands-On Practice

Activities for This Story.



Activity: “Ripple Activity”: Students watch the video and discuss the story. A basin of water is provided along with a pebble. Students take turns throwing the pebble in the water and sharing an act of kindness they did recently, just like in the story.    

Materials needed: a basin of water; a pebble  

Directions: Introduce the story: “This story is about compassion and kindness. After we listen to it, we will do an activity that will help us practice being kind and compassionate.” Show the video and discuss it. Gather students around a basin of water. Tell them they will each get a chance to throw the pebble in the water and share about an act of kindness they did recently, just like in the story.    

Wrap it up: “I hope you enjoyed the activity today, and that you learned how important it is to be kind and compassionate. There’s an expression you may have heard before: what you give out comes back. So go out of your way to help someone else when they need it. Helping and happiness go hand in hand. When you help someone, you create ripples of happiness!   

About the Story.

This guide is part of the Values & Virtues library, a free collection of 400+ book guides and activities organized around 12 core virtues for children from pre-K to 6th grade. Each guide includes Guiding Questions designed to open a real conversation with your child in 10 minutes or less.

Read-aloud video · Best with headphones

Find this book at your library or bookstore →

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