Books Connect Us: April 10, 2020

Through Words Alive’s response to COVID-19, “Book Connect Us,” we are sharing best practices from our 20+ year history to help children, teens, and families use the love of reading to navigate this turbulent time. Here are a few highlights from the past few days. 

Reaching Coast to Coast

With the launch of Books Connect Us, Words Alive has seen an outpouring of individuals wanting to help!

We are excited to welcome our newest volunteers from California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Virginia!  More than 50 new "virtual volunteers" have reached out to ask how they can help create content, read and review titles, coordinate virtual book drives, promote Books Connect Us, and more.

We rely on our community's expertise, passion, and commitment to help deliver exceptional programs and resources to families - and for your support we are truly grateful.

We’re hosting weekly virtual volunteer orientations. Click here to learn more.

Help Support our Westreich Scholars

Last week, Words Alive hosted a virtual check-in with our young adult Scholars and Mentors to see how they are coping and what we can do to help.

Given the implications of the pandemic on schools, jobs, housing, and health, the Scholars in our Westreich Scholarship and Mentorship Program are leaning into their resilience to adapt to a "new normal." Many are struggling to access food, shelter, internet, and child care – making a shift to distance learning in their post-secondary program extremely challenging.

We are honored that our volunteer mentors are side-by-side with this year's cohort to help them creatively problem solve and prioritize their pursuit of education during this turbulent time.

You can support our 14 Scholars by investing in our mentorship program, signing up to become a mentor, and/or donations of grocery, meal delivery, or gas gift cards. Click here to find out how.

Story Station en Español & Upcoming (Virtual) Events!

¡Hola! ¿Quieres escuchar una historia? Join us on the Words Alive Facebook page for a special edition of Story Station every Friday at 2 p.m. PT as we feature a different a story in Spanish!

Are you interested in reading stories or creating resources in Spanish or another language?  Click here to get started!

Join us for Story Station every weekday afternoon (2 pm PT on Facebook Live):

4/13: Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae

4/14: Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham

4/15: We Do Not Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins

4/16: I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont

4/17: Gracia, Sr. Panda by Steve Antony

(Recordings are available on our Facebook page after the reading.)

Trending on #QuaranTEENS

Top stories and activities trending this week on #QuaranTEENS:

1.  Write a Letter To Your Future Self

2. All the Feels - Writing Tip from author Elly Swartz

3. TikTok Challenge: Why are books the best stay-at-home activity?

Books Connect Us: April 3, 2020

Through Words Alive’s response to COVID-19, “Book Connect Us,” we are sharing best practices from our 20+ year history to help children, teens, and families use the love of reading to navigate this turbulent time. Here are a few highlights from the past few days. 

2,100 More Books on Their Way to Homes Across San Diego

An image of two people loading lots of boxes of books into a big truck!

This week, Words Alive and Monarch School distributed 600 children's books to students. Last week Words Alive and Neighborhood House Association distributed 1,500 more children’s books to families at their meal distribution sites across San Diego!

In total, Words Alive has distributed more than 3,300 books to help build home libraries and provide comfort to our community in this uncertain time. We want to send a very special “thank you!” to all of our community partners for helping us bring stories to families across San Diego!

Want to help Words Alive give books to children in San Diego? Donate books using our Amazon Wishlist to ship books directly to us!

Virtual Volunteer Opportunity: Kids Reading to Kids!

A behind the scenes image of Eleanor Fryman reading for our new Kids Reading to Kids series.

This week, Words Alive’s Story Station launched our newest virtual volunteer opportunity: Kids Reading to Kids!

Do you know a child who might want to share a story with other kids who don't have access to books at home? Learn more here.

We pride ourselves on being volunteer-founded and volunteer-led, and are so excited to see our next generation of readers eagerly engaged!

Words Alive on TikTok!

Watch out world: Words Alive has joined TikTok - add us @WordsAliveSD!

TikTok is a video-sharing social network that is all the rage with teens and young adults.You can watch our first video, featuring Words Alive volunteer Bijan Nowroozian, on our #QuaranTEENS site here.

Share our TikTok with a teen or young adult in your life, and ask them to make a response to our challenge!

Upcoming (Virtual) Events!

An image of our Words Alive Story Station logo.

Join us for Story Station every weekday afternoon (2 pm PT on Facebook Live):

4/6: A Frog on A Log? by Kes Gray

4/7: Bunny's Staycation by Lori Richmond

4/8: Ribbit by Rodrigo Folgueira

4/9: A Feast for Ten by Cathryn Falwell

4/10: ¿Se lo comió un oso?  by Robie H. Harris

(Recordings are available on our Facebook page after the reading.)

Learn more about Books Connect Us here!

Books Connect Us: An Introductory Guide!

As the effects of COVID-19 continue to evolve, we are wishing good health and peace to the greater Words Alive and San Diego community!  And as we continue to navigate this situation, we are writing to share free and engaging resources to continue connecting children, teens and families to the power of reading! 

Please use and share these ideas as ways to support learning, healing, and a sense of connection among your families, students, and communities! 

Visit our Books Connect Us page at www.wordsalive.org/booksconnectus, and check back often as new content is added daily. 

Here's a sneak peak: 

• #QuaranTEENS: Where you'll find: 

  • Activities and writing prompts helping teens process and cope with impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as response poetry and 6-word memoirs. Fun challenges for teens on TikTok, live author talks, and virtual book discussions are coming soon! 

  • Collection of videos from YA authors and illustrators with insights into their experiences as writers and creators. 

• Story Station: Where you'll find:

  • A growing collection of ready videos of wonderful stories read by both authors and Words Alive guest readers, many with links to ideas for extended activities that families can do together at home. Stories in Spanish are coming soon! 

  • Short videos for parents and caregivers about strategies they can use to help children connect with books and stories at home. 

  • Storytime on Facebook Live!: Join us every weekday at 2pm PST for a new, interactive storytime. Our first two have seen over 1,500 views and were a blast! Find us on Facebook at @WordsAliveSD. Please share with families, on social media, and with fellow educators.

From everyone at Words Alive, stay safe, be well, and we'll see you soon. 

Books Connect Us: Thursday, March 26, 2020

Through Words Alive’s “Book Connect Us” campaign, we are sharing best practices from our 20+ year history to help children, teens, families, and our community use the love of reading to navigate this turbulent time. Here are a few highlights from the past few days. 

Introducing Words Alive's Story Station

This past Friday – taking from the best practices of our Read Aloud and Family Literacy Programs – we debuted Words Alive Story Station online! 

Local, award-winning children’s author, Marcie Colleen, joined in the celebration with a live reading of her book, Penguinaut! on Facebook Live. Tune into the Words Alive Facebook page weekdays at 2 p.m. PT for more great stories! You can watch Marcie read Penguinaut! here.

Interested in reading a children’s story on the Words Alive Story Station? Email Robyn to become a Story Station Conductor!

Virtual Volunteer Opportunity: QuaranTEENS

Looking for a meaningful way to help teens navigate the impact of COVID-19, social distancing, and their new normal?

You can help create content for our new QuaranTEENS page. Leveraging some of the best ideas from our Adolescent Book Group, we’re looking for help creating journaling and creative writing prompts, arts and crafts ideas, author talks, discussion questions, and more to help support teens during this time.

Learn more about virtual volunteer opportunities here.

Building Home Libraries

There are children across San Diego sheltering in place without access to books in their homes. The Words Alive community is helping. 

We want to send a very special thank you this week to Lacy Crawford, who partnered with Warwick’s in La Jolla, to ship new books to a group of wonderful teens from our Adolescent Book Group. Lacy hopes to inspire others to support local independent businesses and provide books to children in our community who need them.

You can find more ways to help here.

Upcoming (Virtual) Events:

Join us for Story Station every weekday afternoon (2PM PT on Facebook Live):

3/30: Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora

3/31: Truck Full of Ducks by Ross Burach

4/1: Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall

4/2: Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

4/3: It’s Okay to Make Mistakes by Todd Parr

(Recordings are available on our Facebook page after the reading.)

QuaranTEENS events coming soon:

- Lesson Series on Fact vs. Fiction

- TikTok Challenge

- Cooking Show

Keep an eye on this blog for more weekly updates!

Words Alive Responds to COVID-19

Dear Words Alive Community,

Words Alive was founded on the premise that our youth, even while facing extraordinary challenges, can – and will – benefit from the power of reading.  For over two decades Words Alive has shown that reading strengthens our mental well-being, creates positive changes in our lives, and builds community.  These lessons ring truer today than ever before. 

As we navigate the unprecedented situation caused by the COVID-19 virus, Words Alive is bringing our expertise and resources to the forefront to help our community use their love of reading to navigate this turbulent time.

Words Alive has expertise in areas where we are seeing need: resources to engage teens, helping families connect stories to the power of play, and access to books in San Diego’s homes.  In response, today we launch our "Books Connect Us" campaign with three new projects:

QuaranTEENS:  An online platform designed to help teens address, cope with, and digest our current situation through reading and writing.  Teens will find author talks, writing prompts, stories, video challenges, and more on the site.

Story Station: Providing engaging online resources to help families create positive interactions despite stressful school and daycare closures.  Families will find live storytelling and recorded stories, accompanied by activities to encourage play and celebrate learning at home.

Book Deliveries: As families make brief stops around their neighborhoods, Words Alive is working to pre-position books at each location for their home libraries. In just the past 24 hours we have given away more than 1,000 books that families will find available at feeding sites and Little Free Libraries around San Diego.

Learn more about these projects here: www.wordsalive.org/booksconnectus.  Check back for daily updates with new content.

How You Can Help

Research shows us that readers, because we read, often have a strong understanding of our shared humanity and common struggles.  Today, we’re facing a common struggle unlike any we’ve seen before.  As a community of readers, we can act on our strengths and our love of reading to bring solace, comfort, and moments of normalcy to children, teens, and families.  Here are ways you can help.

1) Virtual and At-Home Volunteer Opportunities

We have a growing list of virtual and at-home opportunities to support #BooksConnectUs including:

• Arts & Crafts*:  Help with craft and sewing projects

• Book Drives*: Replenish our supply of books to fuel book deliveries with gently-used books or organize an online book drive using our Amazon Wishlist

• Content Creators: Develop prompts, activities, and responses for our online Story Station & QuaranTEENS pages

• Curriculum Writers: Write curriculum to support new titles to be added to our programs

• Little Free Libraries*: Refill Little Free Libraries in your neighborhood with books from Words Alive

• Page Turners: Read stories and complete short reviews to help us identify titles to include in our curriculum

• Social Media: Share resources and opportunities with your network

For details, visit www.wordsalive.org/booksconnectus and click on Virtual Volunteer Opportunities.  Our volunteer coordinator, Robyn Grand, is ready to help and can be reached at [email protected].

*For projects that involve physical materials, Words Alive has a plan in place to observe precautions as outlined by the CDC, such as limiting contact, protecting skin, and observing quarantined timelines for surfaces.

2) Donate

This is hard to ask in such a volatile economic climate, but knowing the importance of the hope, inspiration, and resources Words Alive can deliver in the coming days and weeks:  Will you consider making a donation to Words Alive today?

I’d like you to consider joining those donors who make recurring monthly gifts, whether it be $5 or $500, which will enable us to plan and deliver Words Alive’s programs as our new normal continues to shift.

You can donate or set up your recurring gift online. Our donor engagement manager, Christina Meeker, is ready to help and can be reached at [email protected].

Our Words Alive community is strong, motivated, and deeply compassionate - and for that I, and our 8 person-staff, are deeply grateful.   If there is anything we can do to help or support you and your family, please do reach out.

Best wishes for health and safety,

Rachael Orose, MPA

Executive Director

p.s. The Words Alive staff is working remotely through this situation.  We are all best reached via email.  Our email addresses can be found online. You can also leave a message on our voicemail – 858-274-9673 –and we will do our best to return it as soon as possible.

Our Community Needs Books

Words Alive is committed to providing books to children in our community. Right now, the need is greater than ever.

Words Alive is collaborating with the Neighborhood House Association to provide book donations to families who are picking up food at meal distribution sites across San Diego. Words Alive is doing everything we can to get every single book we have out into the community in the next few weeks, and the books collected in recent book drives will help us do this. This means that we need your help to replenish our book shelves!

You can help by getting a jump start on your Spring cleaning and going through your home library looking for used children’s and young adult books to donate. There are four types of books that Words Alive cannot accept: religious books, adult books, reference / text books, or damaged books. Once you’re ready to donate your books, email a picture of your donation (or a “shelfie” as we like to call it!) to [email protected]. We’ll coordinate a time for you to come drop off your donation at our warehouse.

If you’re unable to leave your house, don’t worry! You can do a virtual book drive from your house. Our Amazon Wishlist is full of titles we will use in our programs, and the books ship directly to the Words Alive office. You can help and invite friends to participate also!

Reading is an escape from reality, and now, more than ever, we are going to provide that necessary escape for our community. Join us!

How to Access Books Without Leaving Home!

We know that reading provides an incredible, and sometimes necessary, escape from reality. Now, as we navigate this unprecedented situation to keep all members of our society safe, we have resources to help the Words Alive community to find comfort in reading.  

Thanks to a number of amazing resources, you don’t have to leave your home to access books! You can use this new technology to download books and volunteer for Words Alive from the comfort of your own home. Words Alive Page Turners help us read and review books to use in our programs. Simply sign up for a book here and when you’re done review the book using this form! 

Here’s a few ideas for where to get books with a few simple clicks. 

Libby 

Libby is a public library app and allows you to borrow from a collection of thousands of ebooks and audiobooks right from your phone, all while supporting your local library! 

Here’s how to use it: 

• Open your App Store and search for Libby. Download the app. 

• The app will prompt you to answer the question: do you have a library card? Choose Yes or Not Yet and follow the prompts. 

• Search for books! You can download e-books or audiobooks directly to your phone. 

 Scribd

Scribd is an app where you can access thousands of the best books, audiobooks, and more. All in one app. Due to the current situation, Sribd is making their entire library available to anyone, for free, for 30 days.

Here’s how to use it:

• Open your App Store and search for Scribd. Download the app. Sign up.

• You can also go directly to scribd.com and sign up there!

Audible 

Audible is Amazon’s audiobook company and they are home to an unmatched selection of audiobooks. 

Here’s how to use it: 

1. Open your App Store and search for Audible. Download the app. 

1. Sign Up.  

1. On your computer, go to www.audible.com. Browse and purchase an audiobook.  

1. After purchasing, the book will appear in the Audible app on your phone and you can download it directly. 

1. Start listening! 

Happy reading and stay safe! 

February Volunteer of the Month - Christine Tokunaga!

Christine has been volunteering with Words Alive for five years as an office volunteer, Art & Lit facilitator, and as part of the Armed Services YMCA Neighborhood Exchange support team. Christine is always eager to learn and try new things and is committed to helping support Words Alive’s mission of connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. Now, let’s hear from Christine!

Q: So, tell us a little about yourself. 

A: I’m a native to Southern California. Originally an elementary school teacher.  Currently working with Point Loma Nazarene University, School of Education as a University Supervisor and adjunct professor.   I love reading, art, traveling, and spending time with my family.  

Q: How long have you been volunteering for Words Alive?

A: I have been volunteering for about 5 years.  

Q: What brought you to Words Alive? How did you first get involved with Words Alive?

A: I started with Rolling Readers in 2013 and continued on with Words Alive when Rolling Readers joined Words Alive.  

Q: What do you enjoy most about your volunteer roles? 

A: I’m a children’s book hoarder.  I love reading them, looking at the art, reading them to children, talking about them, holding them, turning the pages, and being in their presence.  No matter what I’m doing to help with Words Alive, I love that I can be around children’s books and share them.  

Q: What is the most rewarding aspect of your roles?  

A: I once met a person that said that it was unfortunate that all children didn’t try to reach for the moon.  It was an "a ha” moment for me as a novice teacher because I knew all my students were capable of reaching the moon but I told this person that day, that not all children have had the opportunity to learn what the moon is and some have never seen the moon.  It's hard to reach for something you do not know exists.  As an elementary teacher, I’ve worked in many underrepresented areas where our children do not have access to so much out there. I helped student by student, class by class, but Words Alive empowers parents, preschoolers to college-bound students to be able to reach the moon.  It is rewarding to be a small part of that enormous work.  

Q: What is your favorite memory of volunteering with Words Alive?

A: One of my favorite memories of Words Alive was listening to one of the ABG students at the Words Alive Art & Lit exhibit at the San Diego Art Institute.  He described his experience with reading, discussing and creating art together with his class.  It was so moving to see the young man speak about how his class related to the story and characters and how it helped open opportunities to express themselves, bond, and extend their learning.  It was so amazing to see what an impact that ABG has had in the lives of all their students but also to see all the proud families gathered to share in all their hard work.

Q: And by the way, what are you reading lately?

A: I just started reading a new novel written by a friend, The Secret Jesus: The Modern Novel by Sue Stephenson.  It’s an intriguing non-religious fiction story about Christ's DNA being discovered in an ancient relic―and secretly used to create a boy.  

Social Emotional Learning: Forgiveness

By Yael Lorberfeld, Blog Volunteer

Forgiveness Comes with a Life Present

A lot has been said, but maybe not enough, about the need for attention to Social Emotional Learning in the educational system. Words Alive is following in the footsteps of the "Choose Love Program," which is working to integrate Social and Emotional Learning (SEL)  in schools. They designed an enrichment program that aims to help children acquire the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to recognize and regulate emotions, have a positive goal, have empathy for others, build positive relationships, and ultimately make responsible decisions.

"The Choose Love Program" believes that this task is possible when kids master the four pillars of their program, which are: Gratitude, Courage, Compassion, and Forgiveness. 

Forgiveness is one of the four pillars because it can liberate us and give us a better emotional state.

Forgiveness and Mental Heath

According to Psychology Today (2020), forgiveness is vital for mental health. To become emotionally free, it is important to create a separation from a conflictive situation and the self.  This way, resentment can be released. It helps people to be able to move ahead rather than keeping the emotional involvement in injustice or trauma. 

Brain Activity

In the physical scope, carrying the hurt or anger of an offense leads the body to release stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Research has repeatedly linked health benefits to the reduction of stress. Eliminating the continuous flow of those hormones may explain why forgiveness yields to better health, such as lowering high blood pressure and heart problems. "There is a connection between forgiveness and mood improvement, optimism, as well as a shield against anger, stress, anxiety, and depression." (Psychology Today, 2020)

Life experiences with trustworthy people or with betrayal influence the range of how much a person will be forgiving. According to Heidi Moawad, MD (2018), forgiveness physically alters the brain's wiring. "It leads from the misery of a broken promise to wellness that builds new neuron pathways into physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being." It is outstanding how forgiveness or the lack of it influences our brain functions. 

Forgiveness and Healing

Tamara Levitt (2013, 2020) affirms that even though forgiving someone might be difficult, it is incredibly healing. She emphasizes that forgiveness is not about justice, it’s about freedom. In this process, we often find that strong negative emotions towards a person who wronged us can soften, even for just a little. One technique she recommends is to take time to feel compassion for the events in the offender's life that brought that person to act the way they did. If so, there might be a shift in our perception. It might help to remember that everyone has their own challenges. She suggests following this practice, even if it is only to help stop the continuous harm of anger and resentment. 

Steps towards Forgiveness

Psychologist Robert Enright (2011) outlines four Steps of Forgiveness. 

• The first is the recognition of your anger by exploring how you've addressed or avoided the emotion. 

• The second is a choice. It is the decision to forgive, regardless of the offender.

• The third is to cultivate forgiveness by developing compassion for the offender. 

• Finally, the last step is to release the harmful emotions and reflect on how you may have grown from the experience and the act of forgiveness itself.

Some of the books on the Words Alive curriculum list that touch on the path towards understanding forgiveness are: 

The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan

The Astonishing Color of After is the first book by Emily X.R. Pan's. In it, the topics of emotions, grief, and forgiveness are skillfully treated with the combination of fantasy and reality, using a very artistic approach. The book explores the passage of healing and the inner magic that can happen when we believe. 

Leigh Chen Sanders goes to Taiwan to meet her grandmother, for the first time, in search of answers, after her mother committed suicide. She believes her mother turned into a beautiful bird after her passing. In the story, she searches for clarity and closeness with her; she finds herself chasing after ghosts, uncovering family secrets, and forming a new relationship with her grandparents. It is a novel about love, forgiveness, and self-discovery through family history.

Harbor Me, by Jacquelin Woodson

This book is about six kids that gather in weekly conversations in a classroom with no adults. They talk about their difficulties and find a space to feel safe and grow. When the six are together, they can express their feelings and fears they hide from the rest of the world. This way, they rise braver for the rest of their lives. They discuss topics related to family problems like parent incarceration, racial profiling, and adaptation to change. It is a story about braveness, forgiveness, and friendship.

Hey, Kiddo, by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Hey, Kiddo is a memoir of a boy trying to make sense of his life with an addict mother, and a father who he doesn’t know. Krosoczka shows how he came to understand, through a gradual process, his parents' personal issues, as he was simultaneously forming his own identity. Living with his grandparents, he discovered the love for art, which lead him to write this book. It is a story about discoveries, growing up, forgiveness, and the use of art as a means to express and elaborate.

Through forgiveness, we can encounter a freer way to live, an emotional space from conflict, brain and body reduction of harmful stress hormones, and ultimately wellbeing, which can become a present of health and happiness to our life.

Learn more about the SEL topics of Gratitude, Courage, and Compassion.

Sources:

• www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/forgiveness

• www.apa.org/pubs/books/interviews/4441016-enright

• www.tamaralevitt.com/2013/08/19/on-forgiveness-2/

• www.neurologytimes.com/blogs/neurobiology-forgiveness

• Robert D. Enright, Forgiving Life: A Pathway to Overcoming Resentment and Creating a Legacy of Love (APA Lifetools) Hardcover – January 15, 2012 . 

Social Emotional Learning: Compassion

By Joanna Kneller, Blog Volunteer

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is an initiative that teaches children specific skills and behaviors to help them manage emotions, make better decisions, create and achieve goals, and treat others with kindness. By practicing these vital skills, children are able to successfully cope with daily challenges and can thrive both inside and outside the academic environment.

The nonprofit organization, Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement™, supports SEL by educating children about their thoughts, and how they can change angry thoughts into loving thoughts. Their signature program, The Choose Love Enrichment Program™, integrates SEL to teach students to choose love in any circumstance through self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.

The Choose Love program curriculum focuses on four character pillars: Courage, Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Compassion. Today we will talk in detail about compassion.

What is Compassion?

“Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around.” 

—Leo Buscaglia (author and educator aka "Dr. Love"

The fourth "Choose Love" pillar is compassion in action. The Program Overview defines compassion in action as:

"Compassion has two components: the first is empathy, which means putting yourself in someone else's shoes and trying to feel what that person feels, and the second is action, which means helping someone in need and performing acts of kindness without expecting anything in return. Compassion in action is the understanding of a problem or suffering of another and acting to solve the problem or alleviate the suffering."

Before children take compassionate action, it's important they understand the meaning of empathy, which can often be confused with sympathy. The Choose Love Program Educator Guide indicates that, Daniel Goleman, emotional intelligence researcher and thought-leader, suggests that there are three types of empathy: cognitive, emotional and compassionate. … It further states that, “… Empathy skills lay the foundation for communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution, impulse control, relationship skills and leadership skills. …” (Source)

The Choose Love program teaches children necessary empathy skills they can use to support and connect with one another in a compassionate manner.

Why is it Important to Teach Compassion in the SEL Movement?

Teaching students about compassion is vital. The school environment alone can be extremely stressful. Some children struggle to make friends and are often ignored, excluded, and teased or bullied by other students. Many children feel pressured to perform well in class while also dealing with difficult issues at home.   

Children need the support of their peers, teachers, and parents. And compassion plays a major role in building these connections and relationships by teaching children to think about how others are feeling and what they can do to help them.

It's also critical for students and teachers to participate in open discussions and practice activities within the classroom to demonstrate how students can apply their newly learned skills. For example, if a classmate appears to be upset, how can the other students respond in a supportive manner? Or, if a student sees another student struggling, what are some ways to show kindness to that person?

By talking freely in a safe environment, children become more comfortable expressing their feelings and paying attention to other students' feelings, which in turn, helps build empathy. The activities performed within the classroom prepare children to behave appropriately in real-life situations.

Showing compassion towards others is highly beneficial to all involved, and those who practice it will experience:

• Enhanced connections and relationships

• Ability to respond in a kind and loving manner

• Improved social skills

• Social and moral awareness

And one of the greatest benefits is that compassionate children become compassionate adults! 

That's why we at Words Alive are following in Choose Love’s footsteps by focusing on Social Emotional Learning, and compassion specifically, in our programming this year. These are a few of the books we’re reading and discussing with students that focus on compassion:

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped… But then she meets Ocean James. He’s the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her—they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds—and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to let it down.

Ivan: The Remarkable True Story of the Shopping Mall Gorilla by Katherine Applegate and G. Brian Karas (Illustrator)

Captured as a baby, Ivan was brought to a Tacoma, Washington, mall to attract shoppers. Gradually, public pressure built until a better way of life for Ivan was found at Zoo Atlanta. From the Congo to America, and from a local business attraction to a national symbol of animal welfare, Ivan the Shopping Mall Gorilla traveled an astonishing distance in miles and in impact. This is his true story and includes photographs of Ivan in the back matter.

Little Quack's New Friend by Lauren Thompson and Derek Anderson  (Illustrator)

One day when Little Quack is playing in the pond, he hears the strangest noise in the distance. He listens closely along with his siblings, Widdle, Waddle, Piddle, and Puddle, only to find that it's a frog in their pond. The other ducklings aren't so sure about taking this new guy under their wings, but Little Quack is determined to make a new friend, no matter how different he may be! In no time at all, everyone is squishing in the mud, splunking on lily pads, and quacking up a splash in the spirit of friendship!

Learn more about the SEL topics of Gratitude, Courage, and Forgiveness.

SOURCES:

• https://www.jesselewischooselove.org/

• https://www.norwichpublicschools.org/

• http://www.wechoose.love/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/EducatorGuide.pdf 

• https://www.mindful.org/what-if-schools-taught-kindness

• https://www.amazon.com/