November: A Month of Friendship and Kindness

 When it comes to November, here in the U.S, we think of Thanksgiving and a big feast with family and friends.

But November can simply be a month for focusing on gratitude, friendship and kindness.  In fact, November 13th is World Kindness Day! World Kindness Day (originally launched in Tokyo as a movement in 1997) has been celebrated throughout the world since 1998. 

Lately, the world has been in crisis, and the children are the ones most helpless and affected. Of course, there are myriad ways we can help--and you may already have your charities, all of which are good.

Personally, I am always wondering what's the best way to show my gratitude. I have gone from one charity organization to another, but this year, I'm focusing on Save the Children. And what better time to do it. November's World Kindness Day is a start. 

Let's begin by rejecting war, politics, racism, hunger, socio-economic disparities ...and welcome peace, diversity, kindness, and sharing by celebrating World Kindness Day on November 13th. Of course, we can wish it all the negative away, but we can take part in World Kindness Day (and all year long, too). Let's go beyond the turkey and the fixings...and find ways to help others who need help.

Save the Children & World Kindness Day 2023

Click here for Ways to Help and Participate. 

These links are from Save the Children website.

When it comes to teaching, I have looked for activities that help encourage kindness in one way or another.  Not all schools include it in their curricula. As a reading teacher, I created a resource that I have used as a supplement to a reading or social skills lesson. It's a short readers theater that focuses on helping others in need. No politics, no religion...just a script for a classroom and a teacher who wants to read about friendship and human kindness. Perhaps it will give your third/fourth graders some ideas for volunteering during the holiday season. This resource is editable, so you can modify and adapt the text to suit your classroom needs. But you will have a complete script ready to go if you choose not to alter it. 

If you are interested, you'll find it here:

Readers Theater About Kindness: The Kindness Project

Thank you for stopping by!