Teaching Empathy

A friend of mine has cancer and I told the kindergartners about him.  I thought we could cheer him up.  He happens to be a special person in the birding world and the author of one of our field guides.  The first time we sent him a card with several different bird drawings on it.  One of the students drew Bill Thompson III and the likeness was amazing.  Then a friend of Bill's asked other birders to print that character {that Brayden drew} and take it birding with them.  They call it Flat William like Flat Stanley books from a few years ago.

Then the kids wanted to send one more and I thought that was a sweet idea.  When I heard that the Red-headed Woodpecker was his favorite bird, we decided to make a card with woodpeckers on it.  We also decided to write a story about Bill and Red-headed Woodpeckers.  It turned out very nice.  The kids do not know Bill, but I can tell that they like making him feel better.  I thought this was a good way to teach them empathy for others and I think it worked.