Lesson
2
:

Learning Compassion from a Nonfiction Text

Grade

Grade 3

UNIT

6

Compassion

Last Updated:

June 5, 2025

In Unit 6, Lesson 2, “Learning Compassion from a Nonfiction Text,” students will learn an example of compassion from the life of a real person. By independently reading a nonfiction text, students will develop their reading comprehension skills. Finally, students will create sentences that demonstrate their reading comprehension and share their sentences with a partner.

SUGGESTED TIME:

20 minutes

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

  • Read a nonfiction text independently to develop reading comprehension skills
  • Demonstrate understanding of the main idea of a nonfiction text
  • Compose sentences that demonstrate comprehension of the word compassion 
  • Demonstrate understanding of standard English sentence structure and grammar  
  • Practice reading and conversation skills by sharing sentences with classmates

REQUIRED MATERIALS:

VOCABULARY:

  • Compassion: I see when others are hurt or need help, and I try to help them.

ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS MET

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.1

Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.2

Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.10

By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2-3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.3

Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.3.C

Decode multisyllable words.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.3.D

Read grade-appropriate irregularly spelled words.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4

Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RF.3.4.A

Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1

Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.B

Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion).

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.C

Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.1.D

Explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.3

Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.3.6

Speak in complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.1

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.3.2

Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

CHARACTER AND SOCIAL EMOTIONAL (CSED) NATIONAL STANDARDS MET

Moral Character A4

Offer examples of caring and compassionate behaviors (at home, in school, in the community)

Moral Character B4

Provide an example of a friend or role model who demonstrates caring and compassion

Performance Character B1

Provide an example of a friend or role model who demonstrates self-discipline (the ability to forgo instant and immediate gratification for a larger goal or commitment)

Performance Character B4

Provide an example of a role model who demonstrates grit (perseverance and passion for a long-term goal)

Civic Character A4

Explain why it is important for everyone to serve and contribute to their family, school, community, nation, globally

Civic Character B6

Describe how a role model volunteers and contributes to the common good

Social-Awareness A3

Recognize examples of stereotyping, discrimination and prejudice

LESSON PROCEDURE

  1. Tell students that today we will learn about some important people in American history who showed compassion.
  2. Tell students: Imagine that someone could own another person and make them do work they didn't want to do, without paying them. That is what slavery was like in America.
  3. Tell students that there was a time in America when there was slavery. People were taken from Africa and made to be slaves. This was very wrong and unfair. Slavery was ended in America in 1865. 
  4. Tell students that there were many people who helped the slaves become free. One of those people is Harriet Tubman.
  5. Play video: Who was Harriet Tubman? by A Kid Explains History (~4 min)
  6. Tell the students that another person who helped to free slaves on the Underground Railroad was named Jermain Wesley Loguen. His daughter showed compassion and helped others. She was named Sarah Loguen Fraser.
  7. Have students read the nonfiction text on the worksheet quietly to themselves. Circle the room to support the students. 
  8. Have students write the answers to the worksheet questions.
  9. Have students share their answers with a partner.

GRADE 3 UNIT 6 WORKSHEET 2: LEARNING COMPASSION FROM A NONFICTION TEXT

Compassion: I see when others are hurt or need help, and I try to help them. 

NONFICTION TEXT: SARAH LOGUEN FRASER’S COMPASSION

Sarah Loguen Fraser was born in 1850 in Syracuse, New York. She was the fifth of eight children. Her parents helped slaves escape to freedom. Her father, Jermain Wesley Loguen, was called the "King of the Underground Railroad." Her childhood home in Syracuse was a stop for about 1,500 slaves on their way to freedom.

In 1873, when she was at a bus stop in Washington, D.C., Sarah heard a boy scream. A wagon had rolled over his leg. She had compassion for the boy and wanted to help him and others who were hurting. Sarah decided to study to become a doctor. At that time, most people studying to become doctors were men. At some schools, women were not allowed to study at all. 

In 1876, Sarah became the first African American woman to earn a medical degree from Syracuse University's College of Medicine, and the fourth woman in New York State to earn this degree. Sarah opened a free medical clinic in the Dominican Republic and became that country's first woman doctor.

Source: 

Smith, Amber. “Sarah Loguen Fraser: Determined to be a doctor.” Syracuse.com. Published February 17, 2003.

ACTIVITY:

  1. What did Sarah Loguen Fraser do that was special for her time? 

  1. How did Sarah Loguen Fraser show compassion? 

  1. How did Sarah Loguen Fraser help others?

  1. What did you learn about compassion from Sarah Loguen Fraser that can help yourself and others? 

Prohuman K-12 Curriculum © 2025 by Prohuman Foundation is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
To view a copy of this license, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

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