"Toothpaste Activity"

Today we did a lesson on empathy for others. First we read this book, Thank You, Mr. Falker. It's a great story about how a little girl over comes a learning disability and learns how to read. 

The part that I emphasized was this page where the reader can see how sad and hurt she feels when another student is making fun of her. We talked about how our words can either help and encourage others or hurt them. We want our words to be kind and helpful! I think this picture is a powerful example of what words can do to another person. 

After that I gave everyone a small tube of toothpaste and a paper plate. I asked them to squeeze all of their toothpaste out onto the plate. 

That part was easy and fun! The I gave them a toothpick and asked them to put all of their toothpaste back into the tube. That was not so easy! I heard a lot of, "That's too hard!" "It's impossible" "This isn't working so well!"

After a while we stopped and talked about the activity. We talked about how it's easy to say words but it's harder to take them back, especially when they hurt someone. We talked about how we can saw we are sorry for saying thing, but sometimes it's hard for the other person to forget what was said. I encouraged them to use kind and helpful words. We talked about being a family at school and supporting each other and showing kindness as best as we can. "Choose to be kind!" We will continue to emphasize and work on this throughout the year!