It is true that many first graders by nature tend to be pretty upbeat, optimistic little beings. That said, I do know that recognizing and celebrating all that we are grateful for promotes greater optimism, feelings of well-being for self and others, and quite simply a greater appreciation about what we can all learn from our peers, teachers, families and community members. I'm hopeful that it will also bring us closer to the true spirit of the holiday season - giving from the heart in a way that is impactful to others and ultimately ourselves.
This week, we are kicking off our ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE project. I will begin, of course, by facilitating a discussion about what gratitude means. Then, each day we will take time to recognize and celebrate the many ways we feel grateful. I suspect these will take the form of small, but important, gestures of kindness between friends and teachers, as well as things, actions, people, animals, places, etc., that make us happy and feel thankful. We will see where our attitudes of gratitude take us!
We will be be creating a bulletin board with an ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE tree to display our ideas. We will also have a special ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE jar setup in the classroom, with small slips of paper, for children to share how they are feeling grateful. These will be shared every day or so.
The holiday season is often a busy time, and one filled with the pleasures of gifts, parties, food and holiday cheer. I'm hoping that our ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE project helps to bring a greater awareness of how truly fortunate and blessed we all are. It will be exciting to see what ideas and notions pop up for all of us in the days ahead.
Wishing everyone a joyful and gratitude-filled holiday season!
Kathy Ravinski
... Look for a home-school family gratitude project by the end of the week. With an eye on what a busy time of year this is, I promise it will be simple!
