The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights

Children naturally love the rhythm and evocative language of poetry. A poem is a wonderful way to express deep feelings that are sometimes difficult to verbalize directly. These are a few of our favorite poems about diversity and friendship.

To encourage kindness toward living things as a means of introducing the idea of treating all people with respect

"Hurt No Living Thing" (see below)

Read this poem aloud to your students. Invite them to replace the author's choices of "living things" with their own. I often use the poem to discuss ways in which people and animals like to be treated. Then we generate a list of actions that hurt others and a list of alternatives. I ask the children what they would write that Christina Rossetti did not. You can also have them illustrate their ideas.