Lesson Plan: The Power of Random Acts of Kindness
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
- barista | bəˈristə | noun a person whose job involves preparing and serving different types of coffee.
- stressed | strest | adjective 1 experiencing mental or emotional strain or tension: stressed workers reported smoking more | she should see a doctor if she is feeling particularly stressed out.
- *hang in there idiom said as a way of telling someone to not give up, despite difficulties: “Work can get tough in the middle of a semester but hang in there and it’ll be OK.”
- unexpected | ˌənəkˈspektəd, ˌənekˈspektəd |adjective not expected or regarded as likely to happen: his death was totally unexpected | (as noun the unexpected) : he seemed to have a knack for saying the unexpected.
- random | ˈrandəm | adjective 1 made, done, happening, or chosen without method or conscious decision: a random sample of 100 households.•
- im·pact noun | ˈimˌpak(t) | • the effect or influence of one person, thing, or action, on another: our regional measures have had a significant impact on unemployment.
- inspire | inˈspī(ə)r | verb [with object] 1 fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, especially to do something creative: [with object and infinitive] : his passion for romantic literature inspired him to begin writing.
- gesture | ˈjesCHər, ˈjeSHCHər | noun a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning: Alex made a gesture of apology | so much is conveyed by gesture.
- kiosk | ˈkēˌäsk | noun a small open-fronted hut or cubicle from which newspapers, refreshments, tickets, etc., are sold.
- underestimated verb | ˌəndərˈestəˌmāt | [with object] estimate (something) to be smaller or less important than it actually is: they have grossly underestimated the extent of the problem.
Sources
New Oxford American Dictionary
*Cambridge Dictionary
Grammar Focus: Word -Recognition
Directions: Students choose the correct word to complete the sentences taken from the article. They are to choose from the options presented.
Researchers recruited 84 participants on two cold weekends at the ice skating rink at Maggie Daley Park in Chicago. They were given a hot chocolate from the snack kiosk and were told they could keep it or give it to a stranger as a deliberate act of kindness. The 75 participants who gave away their hot chocolate were asked to guess how “big” the act of kindness would feel to the recipient on a scale from 0 (very small) to 10 (very large), and to predict how the recipient would rate their mood (ranging from much more negative than normal to much more positive than normal) upon receiving the drink.
Reading Comprehension: Identify The Speakers
- Erin Alexander, 57, her sister-in-law had recently died. “I’m not sure I even necessarily know what ‘your soul is golden’ means.”
- Marisa Franco, a psychologist. “We have this negativity bias when it comes to social connection. We just don’t think the positive impact of our behaviors is as positive as it is.”
- Amit Kumar, an assistant professor of marketing and psychology at the University of Texas, Austin. “The people doing the kind thing consistently underestimated how much it was actually appreciated.”
- Tara Cousineau, a clinical psychologist. “I have found that kindness can be a really hard sell.”
- Jennifer Oldham, 36, who lost her 9-year-old daughter, Hallie. “People have bought groceries and baby formula for others in Hallie’s honor. They’ve donated school supplies and given hydrangeas to strangers.” “No small act goes unnoticed.”
- Kimberly Britt, president of Phoenix College in Arizona, left for a week of vacation in July, her vice president of student affairs hid 60 rubber chickens in her office. “She did it so I wouldn’t find them all immediately, and it did take me a while. But it was meant to bring a smile to my day when I returned.”
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