Here are some easy-to-implement activities, many of which can be adapted to fit any grade level. 22 Gratitude Videos To Inspire Kids of All Ages Ready to cultivate a more thankful classroom? Think about how warm your heart feels to express and receive appreciation. The playground includes . This will work for any age group. Disclaimer|Privacy Policy|Contact Us|About. My friends who have written a daily gratitude journal for at least two weeks speak positively of the experience. Maybe theyre grateful to the music teacher who comes once a week to give classes. Copyright 2021. As they make note of different things in nature, ask them to say a quiet thank you. This fun little activity from Mama's Happy Hive is very hands-on and thankfulness themed. This builds a sense of gratitude for quality time spent and sends them into their day feeling appreciative and appreciated. Express gratitude for leadership qualities as classroom management. Based on my 10 years of teaching experience, this is the most powerful tool that I know. Students express gratitude through singing. Ask: How have you benefited from this persons actions? Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. 1. Hey there! Reading short picture books about gratefulness and then talking about them as a class can be a powerful way to raise awareness of how much we have. These practices can help you recharge your batteries and get the most out of your summer break. (Gratitude for Tweens and Teens Lesson 3). Building gratitude dioramas with miniature crafted figurines of the people and things they're grateful for, Collaborating on a large gratitude sticky note or note card mosaic. We love this fun, collaborative craft since supplies are minimal but the effect is big! There is no better time than now to work on gratitude with your students as we head into the Thanksgiving season. I have compiled a diverse collection of picture books that perfectly support teaching upper elementary students about gratitude and gives voice to a variety of races, cultures, ethnicities, experiences, and backgrounds. Click an image below to either get this individual gratitude unit or get ALL 30 SEL units! 2023 The Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley. Further Reading:Can We Teach Happiness to Students? Show kids that weve got a lot to be thankful for with this song! Teachers can also foster gratitude by reminding students that when others help us, they are providing us with "gifts.". In choosing to express gratitude, students practice responsible decision-making and enhance the well-being of others, themselves and the world around them. Does being grateful really help your well-being? Children of all ages often express themselves best through art. Getting Ready for This Activity: This section offers simple ways a teacher might explore the activity for themselves first before teaching it to students. Get your watercolors and Sharpies ready and then have your students get to work. Students imagine what life would be like without certain things in our classrooms or schools. Random acts of kindness at school could include writing a thank you letter to a friend, including someone in a game at recess, holding a door, or picking up litter. It can be too easy at times to focus on the things that go wrong rather than the things that go right for us. They will actively be taking the time to show appreciation for each other and seek out the positives in each other. For example, they may be grateful for a birthday present, or give thanks to their mom for making them their favorite meal. New! Encourage gratitude to peers. For example, students could be grateful for their legs for allowing them to run track. Your email address will not be published. For your bookshelf: 30 science-based practices for well-being. And along with them, research showing the benefits of regularly practicing gratitude is also expanding to reveal new insights on how thankfulness can impact mental health. The Gratitude Game Creating art projects, reflecting on self-gratitude, and modeling gratitude in the classroom can help. These adorable pumpkins will be a breeze for older kids to construct. Ask students to identify a historical figure who did something they feel grateful for. Some fun gratitude projects you can do include: Students with fewer inclinations toward art can work together to build a gratitude jar or box for your classroom. Gratitude is an important quality to instill in students to create a culture of kindness in the classroom, the community, and beyond. The students in your 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th grade classroom would benefit from gratitude lessons and activities if any of these statements are true: Below are 4 reasons to promote gratitude in your elementary classroom. Afterwards, have students describe how that person reacted, and how the students felt when they did the act of kindness. Our Mission; Core Strategies; Meet the Team; Our Contributors; . And that can be especially difficult for still-developing brains. Although research on gratitude with young people has lagged behind the research with adults, the past several years have seen a surge of interest in youth gratitudeand studies reveal corresponding benefits. Guide your students in a gratitude art project, such as a painting or a diorama. Students who show gratitude will create stronger relationships with each other because they will be showing each other how much they appreciate them. Before they put things away, they are always encouraged to thank classmates they spent time with. Greater Good in Education. Students arent showing kindness to others. Lessons about self-gratitude are best done as a self-reflection exercise. It is important for students to be able to see, hear, and use relevant vocabulary while learning. Create a book as a class and have your children write down what theyre grateful for on a particular day. In addition, well share tips and ideas for how to teach gratitude skills to elementary students. Middle and high school students are old enough to engage in deeper self-reflection on their emotions and experiences. Edutopia and Lucas Education Research are trademarks or registered trademarks of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in the U.S. and other countries. Add these expressions of gratitude to your drawings. Students draw and write about ways they have acted with kindness towards others. Its up to us to showcase, cultivate, and appreciate them. In fact, thanking someone provides two . Teaching gratitude to children and allowing them to express their appreciation is important and beneficial. Given everything thats been going on in the world and all of the negative news that weve been inundated with, its important for us to teach gratitude to our students. Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) framework. It's a friendly reminder as well as a powerful lesson: we often forget to say thanks for the little things, such as our health, the lunch we were able to pack that day, or even our five functioning senses. those who are the least grateful seem to gain the most from making this effort, Counting blessings in early adolescents: An experimental study of gratitude and subjective well-being, Gratitude and the Reduced Costs of Materialism in Adolescents, How Gratitude Can Get You Through Hard Times. In this post, we'll go into detail about what gratitude is and why it's important. Gracias/Thanks by Pat Mora and John Parra. Ask them to silently reflect on the following questions: Notice the weight, texture, and temperature of the fruit. This activity can get younger students to start appreciating every person that makes their lives possible. Mindfulness activities work great as a series of"Do Nows"tasks students can do as soon as they arrive in the classroom, without the teacher's direction. List the different fruits that are mentioned on the board. Thank you for making a difference! Then, have them write it on a piece of paper or index card to hang on the wall. I show the students an example or let them see this form: Once a week, we go around the class and share our favorite gratitude. Students express gratitude to people whose actions have benefited society. 3. You may want to set a minimum word count to encourage them to think and dig deeper. Students interview an older person about gratitude, deepening their own understanding of gratitude. This can be a powerful starting point for teaching students about gratitude in your classroom. Students define gratitude and give an example of a time they felt grateful. These provide students with opportunities to practice the skills independently, with partners or small groups, or as a whole class. Students write five things theyre grateful for once a day for two weeks. Vocabulary words can help students develop understanding of gratitude and create connections through related words. Gratitude Scavenger Hunt Print out this fun, gratitude-focused scavenger hunt, then let your students loose to find things that speak to them! It gets students thinking about the topic and activating their background knowledge. 3. By helping students practice this skill over and over again, you can help strengthen their ability to practice gratitude on their own and reap the benefits. How much of an impact can a teacher have on a students life? Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education . Sometimes I really challenge the students by asking if they can be thankful for homework or chores. Poster paper (one per student), pencil, markers, colored pencils, etc. Older kids may be able to express their feelings of gratitude in a scrapbook of letters. Greater Good in Education. All rights reserved. The more grateful you are for the many gifts you discover, the more plentiful and joy filled your life will be. Students practice turning complaints into gratitude statements. If you love rustic decor, this is the gratitude project for you and your students. They are constantly seeking something better than what they already have. This challenge enables them to see what is good about homeworkthat it helps them learn and prepares them for school and life. Community Circle time gives me a phenomenal opportunity to regularly share my appreciation for how much I love being their teacher, how thankful I am for who they are, and how grateful I am for the fun and joy we have together each day. After our soft start, we always meet in our Community Circle. degree in Movement and Sports Studies, Ben Kissam, Education Writer, B.S. Students will: Practice noticing people and things they are grateful for and then writing about them Additional Supports Making Practices Culturally Responsive Adapting Practices for Students with Special Needs Making Classrooms and Schools Trauma-Informed and Healing-Centered SEL Competencies Self-Awareness Love Nature Take your children out on a nature walk and have them make note of what they're seeing, thinking and feeling. Ask them to: Imagine how you would express gratitude to the many people if you could. Educate on the Health Benefits of Gratitude For many students (and adults), saying "thank you" has always been something we were told to do. To create a gratitude map, have students: You can even ask older students to connect gratitude to behavior on a deeper level with short written response questions. If that person showed gratitude, how did it make you feel? All rights reserved. You might start your gratitude journal with being thankful for being alive, for having food to eat and clothes . It is important for kids to show gratitude because it teaches them to show appreciation for what they have instead of focusing heavily on what they do not have. Now, slowly take a small bite of the strawberry. In this episode of RocketKids, Aspen gives us a little rundown on the importance of gratitude and shares 10 things shes grateful for right now. TheRandom Acts of Kindness Foundationoffers plenty of resources for teachers determining how to teach gratitude to students, including free lesson plans. Lets recap really quickly. Make sure your students know that gratitude isn't a one-way street and that being grateful for one's own efforts or characteristics isn't selfish or vain, either.
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