Right Speech
Speaking with kindness through stories and practice
Teacher Experience
A contemplative invitation for educators to reflect on before teaching.What does it feel like in your body when you’re about to speak reactively versus when you pause first? Try the ‘THINK’ practice for one conversation today: Is it True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, Kind? Notice how this simple pause affects both your inner state and the student’s response. How would students’ capacity to understand and apply principles of right speech change the learning environment? Remember that ‘Right’ here isn’t about right and wrong, but rather what is helpful.
Student Experience
A contemplative invitation for students to connect with this learning goal.Listen to stories about characters who use kind and unkind words, then notice how your body feels when someone speaks kindly to you versus when someone uses mean words.
Understanding
Students will understand...Our words can help or hurt others, and we can learn to choose words that make people feel loved and safe.
Action
Students are able to...Listen to simple stories about characters who choose kind or unkind words, and practice retelling these stories while demonstrating the difference between helpful and hurtful speech through voice, facial expressions, and body language.
Content Knowledge
Students will know...Kind words help people feel happy and safe, while unkind words can hurt people’s feelings. The Buddha taught that we can choose our words carefully, just like we choose which toys to play with. Simple stories show us how different characters use their words – some characters speak kindly and help others feel good, while other characters use mean words that make others sad. We can practice being like the kind characters in these stories. Every day we have many chances to choose kind words with our friends, family, and teachers.
Guiding Questions
Implementation Possibilities
Create daily story circles featuring simple Buddhist tales and folk stories about the power of words, with children taking turns acting out characters who speak kindly versus unkindly. Practice voice modulation exercises where children demonstrate happy voices, sad voices, and gentle voices while retelling story scenes. Use puppet shows and dramatic play to let children embody story characters who face choices about word selection. Establish morning story rituals where children share one kind thing they want to say that day, inspired by story characters they admire.
Assessment Ideas
Observe children’s retelling accuracy and their ability to demonstrate voice and body language differences between kind and unkind speech. Assess story comprehension through simple drawings showing happy and sad story outcomes. Document children’s spontaneous references to story characters when making speech choices during daily interactions. Use picture-based reflection activities where children connect story lessons to their own word choices.
