Inspiring Students to Share Stories and Develop Compassion
Help me give my students books and snacks to inspire them to share their stories, hear and see each other more fully, and learn to be more compassionate.
Students need to feel heard and seen, and valued in order to create a compassionate learning community where everyone feels connected. Then the class can reach out to the larger community.
The items in my project are snacks and books of stories from our local culture that emphasize compassion and understanding.
Author Pieper Toyama, an alumni of our small, rural high school, inspired us at an opening-of-school-year staff meeting by sharing why he wrote Family Stories from the Plantation and Beyond. The point is to instill compassion for all, promote healthy relationships, and understand that we are all in this together. He is a retired teacher himself so he knows that this is the way to empower students with the confidence and ability to pursue their dreams. He wants students and teachers to be inspired to write and tell their own stories so that they can learn more about themselves, their families, and each other.
My plan is to have students meet in small groups to decide on two or three stories they like and then practice reading them aloud. Then students will take a walking field trip to Hale Ho’ola, our town’s skilled nursing facility, to read aloud to the residents, many of whom are former workers on the plantations. Next, students will write their own stories and then share them aloud to the upper elementary school students.
We will discuss what we have learned as a class, especially in terms of kindness and compassion. In order to be an example of one who is compassionate, I also want to provide healthy snacks for hungry students to address their immediate physical needs. Students will be able to reward each other with snacks when they see acts of kindness. All of this teaches valuable lessons about caring for one another.
More than half of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Solomon and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
