ESL WORKSHEET - Kindness and Empathy

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

WHY IT’S COOL TO BE KIND

LinguaHouse

May 29, 2023

Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2-C1)
Type of English: English for Teenagers
Tags: Behavior, Feelings and Emotions; Memory, Brain and Mind; Psychology; Health and Well-being; 13-15 Years Old; 16-18 Years Old; Article Based; Vocabulary Lesson
Publication date: 05/29/2023

The topic of this lesson is kindness and empathy. Students will do a reading on kindness which they will learn vocabulary from. Then they will watch a video from a ‘kindness guru’. There are discussion questions on the topic. The language point is on adjectives with –ed and -ing. There is a short dialogue which students can roleplay using different emotions. There is an optional extension or homework task to come up with ideas for acts of kindness and then to do one of them (by J. S. Fox).

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Speaker: Think about all the feelings you feel on any given day. Maybe it’s mad, sad, glad, afraid, afraid. Maybe it’s exhausted, frustrated, inspired, resentful.
I would suggest that over the course of any given day, most of the feelings I feel are about myself, my survival, my productivity, my fears, my celebrations.
Most of my primitive programming is designed to keep me safe. Most of my cultural programming is designed to keep me busy, productive. I would suggest then, that most of these feelings don’t actually lend themselves to something like kindness.
How is it then that we can escape this selfish storyline and contribute to something meaningful in the world?
How do we make time for something like kindness or generosity when most of the time, unconsciously or consciously, we don’t really feel like doing it.
It’s an ongoing battle for most thoughtful individuals, a constant wrestling match between what we know is right or worthwhile or good and what we actually feel like doing.
So, the question then becomes this: is what we’re fighting for in this world bigger than our feelings?
Most people unconsciously make decisions based on what they feel like in the moment. Our emotions drive everything, and if all of my actions are driven purely based on how I feel, then my life is roughly the size of myself.
When we get really clear on what we’re fighting for and we decide that that fight is so much bigger than ourselves, we can more often align our actions to our altruistic aspirations rather than just our fleeting emotions. We can choose our purpose, even though it is challenging or awkward or terrifying, and to adapt a quote from GK Chesterton, how much bigger your life gets when you make yourself smaller in it.
When we dedicate our lives towards something massive and purposeful, when we make decisions not just based on our personal feelings, but a worthy cause, a worthy fight that is so much bigger than us, for the common good, the greater good, our life becomes that much larger.
So choose a fight and make your life so big that you can’t help but live it beautifully.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/english-for-teenagers/why-its-cool-to-be-kind. Accessed on May 30, 2023. © 2008–2023 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.