Social Emotional Learning Competency 

Self-Awareness

Skill Development: Kindness, Compassion
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Kindergarten (Spring)

Circle up! In this lesson, students will use the circle structure to explore how they can use books to identify emotions and develop self-awareness. By seeing how the books’ characters express emotion, the students can identify their emotions and increase self-awareness. Through this process, early learners can grow kindness in themselves and others.

Learning Objectives 
~to be used as a supplemental lesson to a literacy lesson

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. 

CASEL Social Emotional Learning competencies:  Self-awareness
Materials and preparation
●	Talking piece (or your class procedure for taking turns talking)
●	Kind “warm fuzzy” message 

●	Student names on strips of paper in a container

Key terms
●	Kindness
●	Self-Awareness
●	Social Awareness
●	Compassion

Attachments (included in this lesson plan)

●	Kind/Warm Fuzzy Message Template (complete during the lesson) 	
●	Teacher Resources:  Belly Breathing; Examples of Questions

Introduction (5 minutes)
●	Gather students in a circle, seated in chairs or on the ﬂoor.
●	Remind students of the raised attention signal, the talking piece, and the circle guidelines procedures that you use in your classroom.
●	First, have students practice belly breathing to help de-stress and cultivate calm. (see attached instructions, p. 6)
●	Prompt students: “As you breathe in, notice how your body feels more calm with each breath”.
●	Welcome each student into the circle, and have each student receive another classmate. Example: “Hello, welcome to our circle.”
●	Today, we will be learning how we can practice kindness towards ourselves and others.

Explicit Instruction/Teacher modeling (15 minutes)
●	Prepare to read the book Mac’s Big Wish aloud to students. Include opportunities to preview, infer and predict the outcome as you read. This might include a picture walk. (i.e., “Mac curled up in his bed and gazed out into the night . . . “ p. 8)  Ask students to share what they believe Mac is thinking about as he gazes at the moon.
●	Ask students to share examples of reﬂections from Mac’s Big Wish story. For example, who says kind things in the book? (i.e., Virginia: “Mac, you’re the dog I’ve been looking for!” “You’re going to be the best dog for a special job!” p. 22) Who shows kindness and compassion? (i.e., Roxy, Mr. Puddleton and chameleon wave and smile when Mac is adopted by Virginia, p. 22; Ema smiling, her hands extended, exclaiming “Mac” p. 28)

Guided Practice (10 minutes)
●	Ask how we, as a class, can be kind and compassionate towards each other. Using chart paper, write down what students share.
●	Guide students through grouping similar ideas using 
looks like/sounds like/feels like chart.

●	As a class, generate a list of guidelines for how we can practice kindness and compassion towards each other.

Independent working time (10 minutes)
●	Have each student’s name on a strip of paper in a container.
●	Walking around the circle discreetly, have students pick a name from the container and put it back in if they choose their own. Once every student has a classmate’s name, their job is to create a kind statement using the Warm Fuzzy Message worksheet.
●	Explain that a “warm fuzzy” refers to the warm, pleasant sensations one feels in the stomach and heart when emotionally moved by an act of kindness and compassion.
●	Their job is to write a message to their classmate that says something kind about them, ideally something positive they observed. For example, “It was cool how you put up the chairs of even our classmates who were absent at the end of the day.”

Diﬀerentiation

●	Enrichment: Advanced students may want to get more speciﬁc about the positive actions they observe. Support: Some students may need help deciding what to write to their classmates.
●	For Emerging Bilingual students, sentence frames are used to structure their responses, for example:
 “I noticed that ____ was kind because _______”

Assessment (5 minutes)
●	During independent work time, circle the room and ensure students who need support receive your help. Collect each warm fuzzy to ensure every student receives one and all are appropriate.

Review and closing (5 minutes)
●	Have each student share how they plan to show kindness and compassion in themselves and toward others. 
●	If time permits, have each student present their warm fuzzy to their classmate.
WARM FUZZY PLANNING  

Answer the following prompts in writing or by drawing a picture:

1.	What did you learn from Mac’s Big Wish?

2.	After reading the book, how will you be more kind and compassionate to yourself?

3.	How will you be kind and compassionate to others?

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Sophie & Sheba Books						Grade Kinder, Page 4 of 6
Open-Source and Free Lesson Plan Supporting Mac’s Big Wish, a Chidren’s Picture Story Book, ISBN 9781643883885

Dear               ,                    

My warm fuzzy message/picture of kindness and compassion to you is:

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Sophie & Sheba Books						Grade Kinder, Page 5 of 6
Open-Source and Free Lesson Plan Supporting Mac’s Big Wish, a Chidren’s Picture Story Book, ISBN 9781643883885

Teaching Support Resources

Competencies	Questions	
Self-awareness		Think about a time you had to make a hard decision that didn’t end up as you expected. How did you feel?

Think about a time you saw a friend get something they wanted. Did you smile for them? How did you feel inside?	
		
Social-awareness		How is Mac feeling? How do you know?
(p. 17-18 Mac is feeling unhappy because he couldn’t retrieve like Sandy or prance like Precious or run like Dash. Mac is feeling sorry for himself.)
(p. 25-36 Mac is content. Mac is aware within himself that he was Mac. He had the best job of all. He was a good friend. Mac is happy.)	
		
Directions for Belly Breathing:
1 It’s best to start practicing belly breathing when you are already relaxed. This way, students can build awareness of how being calm feels. Once students have the feeling of belly breathing mastered (practice it daily), they can apply it to stressful moments.

2 Start by breathing normally. Then, ask if your students notice anything about it. What parts of the body move as they breathe? What does it feel like?

3 Have your students sit back, relax their muscles and place their hands on their bellies.

4 With mouths closed, have them breathe in for four seconds or until they feel her whole chest fill with air, all the way down to their belly.

5 Have your students hold in the air for four seconds.

6 Have your students slowly blow the air out until it’s all gone. If students have difficulty breathing slowly, have them exhale through a straw. Then, you can tell them to pretend they are snorkeling.

7 Repeat until the body feels relaxed. Ask your child if they notice anything different from before. What does it feel like?

8 Include belly breathing as a regular part of your child’s routine, such as bedtime. With practice, it can become a familiar strategy that any child can use at any age.

Adapted from Classic-Play.com, an online resource for creative classrooms. 

Posted on August 31, 2022 by Sophie & Sheba Books						Grade Kinder, Page 6 of 6
Open-Source and Free Lesson Plan Supporting Mac’s Big Wish, a Chidren’s Picture Story Book, ISBN 9781643883885