The Jelly Donut Difference | Kindness Activities and SEL Morning Meeting

The Jelly Donut Difference offers a touching narrative highlighting the significance of companionship and small acts of kindness. This unit's primary focus is on fostering Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) through the theme of kindness.

In my classroom, I typically kick off each Monday by sharing a story to introduce our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) theme. Subsequently, we center our morning meetings around that theme for the remainder of the week. If you wish to adopt a similar approach with this book, we have included discussion prompts for morning meetings and activities that can be seamlessly integrated throughout the week.

Alternatively, you also have the option to utilize this book as a standalone unit. While this unit emphasizes SEL connections, it also encompasses reading and writing connections.

This unit delves into random acts of kindness, story elements, context clues, and persuasive writing. And naturally, you may consider concluding the unit with a donut treat as a tangible reminder to spread kindness.

FOCUS: kindness, random acts of kindness, story elements, context clues, opinion writing, morning meeting SEL discussions

Included in this unit:

• Notes to the Teacher
• Lesson Plans Overview
• Morning Meeting Discussion Questions and Anchor Chart (Kindness)
• Activity #1 – The Jelly Donut Difference Read Aloud Link and Question Guide
• Activity #2 – Story Elements Map
• Activity #3 – Jelly Donut Vocab with Context Clues Mini-Lesson and Anchor Chart
• Activity #4 – Donut Craft + Writing (Students write about how they use kindness to make a “jelly donut” difference!
• Afternoon Meeting Guide
• Jelly Donut Vocabulary Scoot
• Kindness Color-by-Code
• OPTIONAL – Donut Snack as a reminder to spread kindness