How to Implement Gratitude in the Classroom
I love it when the seasons change and it’s finally fall! November is typically the month that people around the world identify as the time to practice gratitude am I right? As we gear up for the holiday season, you may be looking for various ways to implement gratitude in your classroom setting.
Here are a few ideas to help your scholars learn about gratitude:
Morning Meetings are a great place to start the conversation about the meaning of gratitude. If you’re like me, you enjoy displaying Google theme slides to spark discussion amongst your students. You might like my Thanksgiving Google & Powerpoint Gratitude Slide Templates which have been a great way to keep a spirit of gratitude in the classroom. Providing meaningful discussions, video prompts, or questions can cultivate classroom communication as students share their ideas.
Read Aloud books are probably my favorite way to introduce gratitude in the classroom! I loved showcasing the book of the day and informing my students which book we were going to read for the day. Read aloud books can also create a sense of community where book characters help students understand the meaning of gratitude.
Acts of Kindness encouraging your students to quietly reflect and express gratitude helps foster the practice of positive thinking. Random Acts of Kindness has always been a part of my classroom practice that my students look forward to. This can easily be implemented with thankful notes in the classroom and amongst staff and other classrooms. You might like my Thanksgiving Thankful Cards for Staff & Students which has been a great way to keep a spirit of gratitude in the classroom.
Writing Prompts you can easily implement writing prompts in the classroom during centers, independent writing, or as a group assignment. You might like my Fall Writing Prompts Thanksgiving Bulletin Board Activities which has been a great way to keep a spirit of gratitude in the classroom. Your students could try different options based on their level of understanding:
students draw their responses
students write short sentences about their responses
students write a journal entry about their experiences
To support students' writing:
Share examples of the kind of response you are looking for.
Help students brainstorm their ideas with a graphic organizer.
Write Thank-You Notes An additional extension activity is to write thank-you notes with your students. For example, students can write a thank-you note for:
a person they mentioned in their writing prompts
someone who has helped the class in some way
a group of people in the community who have been helpful during the pandemic, like first responders, nurses, pastors, etc.,
Share Things You Appreciate About Your Students Having a discussion with your students about what you appreciate about them can build class relationships and confidence. Provide your students with the things you appreciate about each other. Different ways to do this include creating a chart displaying something you appreciate about each student or taking the time to notice great things about a few students each day, making a note of them, and then sharing them with the students.
Love these classroom ideas? Be sure to check back for my next blog post! In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you… send me an email or leave a comment on this post below.
