Gratitude Sharing & Reflecting
About This Strategy
Abundant research has demonstrated the impact that gratitude can have on one's mental and physical health. However, it can be difficult to set aside sacred time to reflect on gratitude. This strategy provides resources for teachers who would like to build gratitude-focused activities into their classroom, like the Bucket Fillers activity included below. Building routines into class that allow students to reflect on their own gratitude will help them develop the improved physical and mental health and enhanced social and emotional skills that giving thanks can bring. The benefits of students learning to be thankful will extend far beyond the classroom walls.
Implementation Steps
-
Identify how much time, and when, to build gratitude activities into students' routine. Consider whether to use 15 minutes at the end of each week, 5 minutes at the end of each day, or 30 minutes each month to dedicate to student gratitude activities.
-
Select a gratitude activity to engage in with students. Here are some examples and resources to get started:
-
The Positive Psychology Program has a robust collect of gratitude exercises (see resource below) that can easily be implemented in the classroom.
-
Consider having students write in a gratitude journal (see resource below) in which they write their own gratitude lists.
-
If students would like to express their gratitude, consider having them write a gratitude letter as suggested in the Greater Good resource below. In some cases, it may even be appropriate for them to read the letter aloud to the person to whom it is written.
-
If you think students would benefit from a longer lesson on gratitude, consider using the Gratitude Lesson plans from Greater Good Magazine that are included below.
-
-
Once students are comfortable reflecting independently on their gratitude, consider opportunities to share the gratitude more widely.
-
Students could share out their gratitude with the whole class during circle time. See the "Circle Up: Co-creating Community Conversations" strategy in the BetterLesson lab for how to facilitate a successful class circle.
-
Consider creating a "kindness wall," (see Edutopia resource below) either physical or digital (see tech tool section below for suggestions), where students can publicly post messages of gratitude to one another.
-
Expressing Gratitude as a School Leader
Gratitude isn't just for students; it can also be a great tool for school leaders to use with staff. If you're leading a professional development session or staff meeting, consider giving participants 3 minutes at the start of the session to jot a note of gratitude to a colleague on a post-it and hand-deliver it. Alternatively, keep a stack of notecards in your desk and take time each week to jot a short note to a teacher and drop it on their desk or in their mailbox so that they know you're grateful for their work. You can also use gratitude walls in the staff room, or develop a digital system for school-wide staff shout-outs.
Bucket Fillers for Pre-K or Early Elementary Students
Pre-K or Early Elementary teachers can teach their students about the importance of being kind and expressing gratitude by introducing them to the concept of "bucket fillers."
Implementation Steps:
1. Before introducing students to "bucket fillers," fully research the concept by clicking on the resources below.
2. Determine how you will introduce students to the concept of "bucket fillers" (people who are kind, thankful, and do nice things for others) or "bucket emptiers" (people who do unkind things to hurt others' bodies or feelings). You can choose either of the options below or both of them:
- If you would like to introduce students to the concept of bucket fillers through reading a text, consider reading aloud one of the texts included in the resource section below.
- You might also like to read aloud a scripted story to students about what it means to be a friend. Consult the "I Can Be a Super Friend" scripted story included in the resource section below.
- If you would like to introduce students to the concept of bucket fillers visually, consider developing a bulletin board with two buckets in it. Include images of actions or words that might fill a person's bucket next to or in one of the buckets, and include images of actions or words that might empty a person's bucket next to or in the other bucket. Return to this bulletin board regularly throughout class to reinforce the importance of filling one another's buckets.
3. As an extension, consider having students share out during circle time when a peer has filled his or her bucket. Then, put that student's name next to or in the bucket filler's bucket to recognize and show gratitude for their kindness.
Tech Tools
GiveThx
- GiveThx is an app for students to express gratitude through peer feedback and reflection.
- GiveThx provides a structured way for teachers and students to practice expressing gratitude through peer feedback and reflection. The mobile and web platform is straightforward: students log in and write a short thank-you note for one of their classmates.
Padlet
-
Padlet is a digital corkboard type tool that students can use to gather information or reflections. Teachers can easily access each students' Padlet with a shared link.
-
Padlet could be used by students as a sort of "digital bulletin board" where students can express their gratitude for peers in a public format.
Seesaw
-
Seesaw allows for the documentation of artifacts, audio, video, and writing that can easily be shared with an entire class or with parents as students build their seesaw portfolio. Seesaw can also be used as a class discussion tool via its blog feature.
-
Seesaw could be used by students to create a gratitude journal. They could express their gratitude reflections in writing, video, or even drawings that could be uploaded to a blog-style journal.
Research Base
For additional related reading, see the resources below.