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.
"Hurt No Living Thing"
Goal:
To encourage kindness toward living things as a means of introducing the idea of treating all people with respect
Materials:
"Hurt No Living Thing" (see below)
Process:
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.
"Hurt No Living Thing"
Hurt no living thing;
Ladybird nor butterfly
Nor moth with dusty wing.
Nor cricket chirping cheerily,
Nor grasshopper so light of leap
Nor dancing gnat, nor beetle fat
Nor harmless worms that creep.
Christina Rossetti
As this poem was written more than 75 years ago, it is in the public domain and can be reproduced.
