Empathy Rocks in the USA: Migrant Families
Find the Lesson Here
Students will learn about the people who pick the food they eat, and the challenges faced by these families and particularly by these children.
Each month we will provide our “Empathy Countdown,” with 5 Acts of Kindness, 4 suggested art lessons with instructions, 3 Reading Guides, 2 Activities, and 1 Empathy Inspiration. Each has a lesson about empathy that can be discussed either before or after the art project is completed. These are simply extras provided for you if you would like to supplement the lessons, and are not required. Most projects shouldn’t take more than thirty minutes and are easy and fun for students.
Supplemental Guides for October
ACTS OF KINDNESS
Let someone go in front of you in line who is going to be faster
Throw a party to celebrate someone just for being who they are, which is awesome.
When you hear that discouraging voice in your head, tell yourself something positive — you deserve kindness too!
Share your umbrella with someone who doesn’t have one!
Make a card for a former teacher who taught you something important
Art Projects
Finger-paint Rain
Paper Plate Sun and Moon
Friendship Flowers
Finger Painted Wish
Reading Guides
Carmela Full of Wishes
Pancho Rabbit and the Coyote: A Migrant’s Tale
A Chair for My Mother
Classroom activities
Egg Faces
Think Happy Thoughts
Empathy Inspiration
Sophie Bernstein planted a small backyard garden and donated her harvest to a local food bank. It was then that Sophie learned about the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables at food pantries and about food deserts; areas without access to affordable nutritious food.
When race riots broke out in nearby Ferguson, Missouri, Sophie decided to address social injustices in the best way she knew how. She launched Grow Healthy, a nonprofit that has created 22 vegetable gardens at low-income child care centers and has grown and donated nearly 17,000 lbs of produce to local food banks and families in need. At 15, Sophie and her team of almost 800 volunteers also lead garden workshops in which they teach community members, especially kids, about plant science, sustainable gardening and the benefits of eating fresh produce.