Grades 2–5
Make It a Specific Compliment
For six moments, circle the compliment that says exactly what was great, then write two specific compliments of your own.
SEL worksheet · Kindness and empathy
Which Reply Shows Empathy?
Read six things friends say and circle the reply that shows you understand how they feel.
- Grade level
- Grades 3–5
- Time
- About 20 minutes
- Topic
- Kindness and empathy
- Answer key
- Yes, page 2 of the PDF
- Kids practice
- Kindness, Empathy, Perspective-taking, Inclusion
What kids do
Printed on the sheet:
- Empathy means trying to understand how someone else feels. An empathy reply listens, names the feeling and shows you care.
- Circle the letter of the reply that shows empathy.
- 1. “My dog is really sick.”
- 2. “I didn’t make the soccer team.”
Teacher tip
Read the replies aloud in different tones so kids hear the difference.
How to use it
- Read a short kindness story aloud before the sheet.
- Ask kids to name a kind thing someone did for them this week.
- Let kids choose to share or keep their answers private. Both are fine.
Watch for
Kindness that is only for friends. Talk about being kind to people we don’t know well too.
Talk about it
- Is it ever hard to be kind? When?
- Have you ever been in a moment like this? What happened?
Take it further
Hold a kindness week with one class challenge each day.
US Letter, prints well in black and white. Free for home and classroom use: print as many copies as you need.
More kindness and empathy worksheets
Grades K–2
Kind to Animals and the Earth
Color the twelve ways to be kind to animals and our planet, cross out the ones that are not, then draw one you will do.
Grades 1–3
The Kindness Ripple
Number six parts of a story to see how one kind act spreads from person to person, then plan a ripple of your own.
Grades 3–5
Kindness Vocabulary
Match seven kindness words, like compassion, generous and inclusive, to their meanings, then use two in a sentence.
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