Bring “When We Are Kind” by Monique Gray Smith into your classroom with this meaningful, ready-to-teach 5-day read-aloud unit.

Through interactive read-alouds, layered texts, rich discussion, and purposeful writing, students explore kindness, empathy, gratitude, relationships, community, and the ways our everyday actions can make others feel valued and cared for.

What’s Included

• 5 complete interactive read-aloud lessons
• Carefully selected layered texts
• Learning goals and success criteria
• Essential question
• Before-, during-, and after-reading discussion prompts
• Community Circle questions
• Collaborative anchor chart activities
• Oral language opportunities
• Differentiated Quick Writes for Grades 1–3
• Follow-up activities and reflection opportunities
• Connections to Gholdy Muhammad’s 5 Pursuits
• Ontario Language Curriculum (2023) connections
• Ready-to-print materials

Students Will Explore

• What kindness looks, sounds, and feels like
• How our actions affect others
• Empathy and understanding
• Gratitude and appreciation
• Positive relationships
• Belonging and community
• The importance of caring for ourselves and others
• How small acts of kindness can make a meaningful difference

Perfect For

• Interactive read-alouds
• Reading comprehension
• Oral language and discussion
• Writing
• Social-emotional learning
• Building classroom community
• Kindness and empathy
• Culturally responsive literacy
• Indigenous education
• Beginning-of-year community building
• Grades 1–3

This low-prep unit strengthens literacy skills while creating meaningful opportunities for students to talk about kindness, reflect on their own actions, and consider how they can contribute to a caring and inclusive classroom community.