Growing Up Grateful Gives Teens Multiple Mental Health Benefits, New Research Shows, Thanks! Then, pass out colorful sticky notes and a small plastic container. When people “get” us and help us through tough times, gratitude grows. Thanksgiving Calendar . The quality of being thankful and returning kindness will give your students a very important skill that will be beneficial for the rest of their lives. Adults; Students; Kids; Spanish; Training; Videos; Articles; How to Cultivate Gratitude. Have students reflect on popular quotations about gratitude and analyze the similarities and differences between them to generate big ideas about gratitude. According to Randy Taran's blog post "The Power of Appreciation," research has shown that for students, expressing gratitude increases life satisfaction, positive attitudes, and hope. VideoAmy shares a YouTube video playlist reflecting on a few of the many things she appreciates. The more we feel appreciation for things in life, big and small, the more our outlook on life improves and the kinder we can be to our fellow humans. Today, I'm sharing a number of free guided gratitude meditations for kids. That's wonderful. “Gratitude is Good For You” from the John Templeton Foundation is one of the videos I share with my students during our gratitude unit. Gratitude interventions for students should start by identifying and engaging students’ character strengths and interests, and they should let students appreciate the different benefits and benefactors in their lives for themselves. Ask students to come up with a symbol that represents gratitude and can serve as a personal reminder to help them practice gratitude in difficult situations. Teaching students about gratitude (in more ways than learning to say “Thank you”) can positively impact their emotional well-being. Next, have students look on the Internet for images, audio clips, or short movies that symbolize the things on their lists. Making a joint gratitude collage is a great way to get creative as a group while simultaneously helping children think through what they’re grateful for in life. But gratitude is important every day. This Thanksgiving, I considered expressing my thankfulness for great teachers -- but I've got a Teacher Appreciation playlist already that says it all. Instilling a sense of gratitude in children is vitally important in raising an appreciative child. Have students think about how that person’s existence has a positive impact on their life and to think in ways big and small. Here are links to some videos suitable for students. Hopefully this list got you thinking about what makes you happy, what you're grateful for in your life, and how to express your appreciation for the people and things that you love. If you’re looking to increase your social-emotional focus, you’ve come to the right place! We often think of gratitude in the fall. Read my full disclosure here. As Thanksgiving approaches, I reflect on what it means to be grateful. September 21 is International Day of Peace and World Gratitude Day. Family Gratitude Jar. A Strengths-Based Gratitude Curriculum for Tweens and Teens" or "Nurturing Gratitude from the Inside Out: 30 Activities for Grades K–8," featuring user-friendly texts, visuals, videos, and gratitude practices. Challenge students to think of a person that recently expressed gratitude to them and come up with a plan to “pay it forward” and pass on the expression of gratitude to another person, continuing the cycle. Gratitude has also been proven to enhance empathy, boost self-esteem, and reduce aggression. A gratitude nature walk is a strategy for developing mindfulness and a perfect complement to teaching students to think about gratitude through all 5 of their senses. Get Away Today's Gratitude Jar is simple but powerful. Stick the names of everyone in your family in a jar. 22 Videos to Help Kids Understand Gratitude - WeAreTeachers Great Educators (that's YOU): This clip is shamelessly lifted from that Teacher Appreciation playlist, but I can't end this without a shout-out to all of you. and see people suffering after natural disasters. It includes student journal pages, detailed and editable lesson plans, bulletin board materials with gratitude vocabulary and related quotations, and Google Slides for the teacher and a digital student notebook. Unexpected Acts of Wonderfulness: Filmmaker Nirvan Mullick happened upon a little boy who ran an elaborate cardboard arcade in his dad's auto parts store and proceeded to give him the best day of his life. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amélie: French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet's films have an uncanny ability to make me appreciate life. Research shows that consistent and frequent time spent reflecting on what one is grateful for can significantly increase one’s happiness and mood. Spiral stories about “wanting more and learning that what you have is enough,” “showing appreciation,” “selflessness and serving others,” and “gratitude for the unexpected surprises in life” throughout your year. Nurturing gratitude in the home using these simple gratitude activities and thankful crafts for kids is something the whole family can enjoy throughout the year. Some ideas you can try: recognizing someone you appreciate, keeping a gratitude journal, or simply saying thank you for small acts of kindness. 1. I was delighted by the Dutch chocolatier Anthon Berg -- they opened a pop-up chocolate shop for one day only, where you couldn't pay with money -- only promises of good deeds. Studies show that when children practice expressing gratitude, they have higher levels of optimism, increased life satisfaction, and decreased negative feelings. Ask students to generate a list of complaints or negative thoughts they often have at home, school, and/or in social settings. Their houses, their clothes and just about all of their belongings got swept away by a flood, hurricane or tornado. Encourage students to think of someone they are grateful for in their school community, neighborhood, local community, or household and write them a thank you note or send them an email expressing gratitude. We want our students to have conversations about gratitude again and again so that the concept keeps coming up as a way to improve their lives, their social interactions, and their outlook on the world. Watch more on GOOD's YouTube Channel. Having a grateful heart and developing an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness is truly something that can improve our world. Gratitude Cups. : How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, Greater Good Science Center's Gratitude Landing Page, 30 Ways to Teach Children About Gratitude and Kindness, List of Children's Books to Teach Gratitude. Learning objective: Students will identify ways that they have acted with kindness and caring toward others.Gratitude concept: When we choose to do something that benefits others, we often benefit ourselves emotionally.SEL competencies: Self-awareness, social awareness, and relationship skillsMaterials: Drawing/writing materialsActivity: 1. Thankfulness is a prosocial emotion that can cement bonds in a community. Video is a great way to share a new concept with students. This American Life: This phenomenal NPR radio show makes my long commute into a pleasure, every time. Gratitude has empowered me to teach more effectively, appreciate my individual students, grow in my profession, and enjoy life. In this blog post, I’ve chosen five short videos that center around the teachings of gratitude. Utilizing gratitude, I am able to model one of the most important lessons in life, having a positive attitude, especially about the aspects of life that challenge me. I envision that late November Thursday filled with an herb-roasted turkey, relatives around a table, and casseroles atop the fine china. Beautiful Moments: This lovely short film from RadioLab celebrates the collection of tiny experiences that make up life. For students, cultivating a sense of thankfulness can … Random Generosity: I am so thankful for companies that market their wares with creativity and love. For example, a student may flip “I hate when my parents make me eat vegetables at dinner.” to “I am grateful that my family shows concern for my health”. We don't have any public videos on YouTube, but I thought this clip was a fitting and sweet tribute. Students can relate to the activity undertaken by the students in this video. You might even find my favorite way to teach kindness to be another tangible way to allow your students to show gratitude around the school and community. What comes to your mind when you consider gratitude? I weave gratitude-themed quotes throughout my gratitude unit and guide students to discuss them to deepen their opinions and understanding of gratitude. I hope they'll help make an attitude of gratitude a natural part of many children's daily lives. Students identify a historical figure who did something that they feel grateful for. Practicing gratitude can lessen stress, improve physical health, bolster relationships, and create a culture of collaboration and respect. This is "Gratitude: The Short Film by Louie Schwartzberg" by ecodads on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. GOOD's What Do You Love? Download and print the Gratitude Jar Cut and Assemble Kit and use the printable labels to create a gratitude jar. Inside you will find gratitude games, thankful activities, and gratitude crafts to help encourage and teach children about gratitude. The holidays will be different this year. These ideas include ways that you can help students not only show gratitude towards others but to experience the powerful effects of gratitude for themselves. Sometimes our lives are so busy, we forget the daily experiences and moments of gratitude throughout the week. Starting November 1st, each family member writes down something they are grateful for. 11 Classroom Activities to Teach Students Gratitude As Thanksgiving rolls around each November, teachers and parents look for ways to instill an attitude of gratitude in children and students. It’s powerful because it’s viral and uplifting. Videos: There are so many things I appreciate about GOOD -- from the daily inspiring stories in my inbox to the style and voice -- but this series that interviews people about what they love just makes me smile all over. Benefits: This activity helps students show gratitude towards each other and to intentionally say thank you and can have an impact on the whole class, particularly in helping them appreciate the strengths of each child. The perfect balance of sweet with spicy, there's nothing like a chai latte to make me feel cozy and pampered -- and no wonder, I just learned from this video by Zhena's Gypsy Tea that it used to be reserved for royalty in India. This is a great time of year to teach gratitude to kids! In future classes, students add more slips or draw a gratitude slip from their jar as a gratitude reminder. This lesson, inspired by social media "challenges" and Project 365[1], encourages students to explore many areas of their lives in which they see and/or experience gratitude. Create a Gratitude Jar. Chai Tea Lattes: Some people love their coffee, but for me, it's chai. “Gratitude is Good For You” from the John Templeton Foundation is one of the videos I share with my students during our gratitude unit. Ask students to use photographs, magazine clippings, and their own artistic skills to create a collage representing things, people, or places they are grateful for. Two students even provided gratitude videos to personally thank her for the impact she’s had on their student experience at FIU. See the Holiday Gratitude library. When teaching my gratitude unit, I am sure to give students the vocabulary necessary to learn about the topic and experience it in deep and meaningful ways. Edutopia® and Lucas Education Research™ are trademarks or registered trademarks of the George Lucas Educational Foundation in the U.S. and other countries. Live Streaming. Crowdsourced Creativity: One musician's viral video (345 million views!) Students create their own gratitude jar and fill it with sentence strips describing what they are grateful for. My Family: I'm lucky enough to have a large, complicated, close family -- and we all get along. It’s okay to complain about things that we are unhappy about, but it can also drain our ability to focus on the positive and keep up our emotional state. 5 Gratitude Videos for Students. It's taking a moment to reflect on how fortunate we are when something good happens — whether it's a small thing or a big thing. Each person draws a name. This project is something that begins in preparation for Thanksgiving, but I can see it being a tradition all year long! The collage can be any size you’d like, and can be layered with hand-drawn pictures, magazine cut-outs, photos, or all three. Gratitude is a powerful antidote to the selfish messaging of American culture. And as always, please feel free to share what makes you happy, or what you are thankful for, in the comments below. Throughout November, they watch the gratitude jar fill up and then they read through them on Thanksgiving. Gratitude is pausing to notice and appreciate the things that we often take for granted, like having a place to live, food, clean water, friends, family, even computer access. Show them how they can “flip” their complaints to an attitude of gratitude. But Ask students to use photographs, magazine clippings, and their own artistic skills to create a collage representing things, people, or places they are grateful for. Researchers have shown that practicing gratitude regularly has decreased rates of depression and stress, reduced toxic thinking, had positive impacts on heart health, and improved overall mental health, happiness, and well-being. With that in mind, here's a list of things I am grateful for, illustrated in video. In the classroom, at home, or just in your day-to-day life, it seems clear that gratitude is one of the keys to happiness. ). I use this unit for a 2-3 week morning meeting unit. Teach students to “increase the gratitude in their perspective” by talking about how we can look at the world and our experiences through a new lens when we practice gratitude. I adore his saturated technicolor palette and penchant for magical realism. 11) Make a Gratitude Collage. For the next two days, jot down things you like about that person or what makes you feel grateful about that person. A daily gratitude log or journal allows students develop mindfulness by helping them capture the moments throughout the day where they should have or did feel gratitude. Dan Beuttner once said, ‘Gratitude always comes into play; research shows that people are happier if they are grateful for the positive things in their lives, rather than worrying about what might be missing’, and if that doesn’t motivate you to teach your child gratitude, I don’t know what will! Show gratitude to others who serve. Wide Open School can help make sure they still feel special. Asking students to go outside, slow down, and notice things they often take for granted can help them focus on gratitude outside of material objects. In the classroom, at home, or just in your day-to-day life, it seems clear that gratitude is one of the keys to happiness. This theme unit is also included in the Morning Meeting MEGA Bundle that contains 17 social- emotional themes. Make social videos in an instant: use custom templates to tell the right story for your business. November 6, 2020 By Andrew Hudson 1 Comment. If you'd like to explore more about how gratitude affects us, and find some resources for teaching it, check out the links below. At the end of two days, your chosen person gets to read each sticky note. Gratitude … A gratitude jar is one of my favourite gratitude activities for kids! However, it goes even further than that. Students write on the slips something they are grateful for and put it into the jar. 4. You can manage to do each of these activities with a reflection journal and materials you have around the classroom, but if you want some of the work done for you, including Google Slides for remote learning situations, you can check out my Gratitude theme unit. As a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, I may earn advertising fees at no cost to you by linking to amazon.com. Want to foster gratitude in your students? What better way to help students learn more about gratitude than by showing a video? Gotye illustrated the post-modern remix culture so beautifully in this amazing project. Students; Kids; Podcast; Free Sample; Shop; Age Groups. Broadcast your events with reliable, high-quality live streaming. Download "Thanks! After the whimsical Amélie, check out MicMacs and City of Lost Children. Incorporate children’s literature and picture books that touch on themes of gratitude. “I’m still amazed by it,” says Smith, while laughing about how her students really can keep a good secret. Enterprise. Learning OutcomesStudents will define gratitude, identify what they are grateful for and express gratitude visually. But teaching a kid gratitude can feel like swimming against the stream. Record and instantly share video messages from your browser. A wonderful reminder to slow down and be grateful for every second we have. Have students think about and describe what a grateful mind thinks, grateful hands hold, grateful eyes see, grateful ears hear, what a grateful mouth tastes and says, and what a grateful heart feels. Learn more in this Edutopia blog post. Feb 23, 2014 - Time after time, I flip on the t.v. Students expressed feelings of gratitude towards friends during a time where almost nothing else is certain. Let’s go beyond lists and dry journals. Help students think about the mundane, taken-for-granted areas of their lives. Screen Recorder. Set up a gratitude jar and challenge students to create a habit of writing down one thing a day that they are grateful for to add to the classroom gratitude jar. Give each student time to think of 6-10 such things and write them down. Examples of symbols could include muscles (portraying that an attitude of gratitude must be developed and practiced to grow stronger), the Grinch’s heart (grew three sizes bigger when experiencing compassion, love, and gratitude from others), and a magnifying glass (changing your perspective to have an attitude of gratitude). Everything they had is gone. Instead, I'd like to express some love for a few of the things that I am thankful for, and share some stories of generosity and kindness. Students Discover the Power of Gratitude on a Community . The story went viral and has inspired a foundation and scholarship fund for kids who need a helping hand. According to Randy Taran's blog post "The Power of Appreciation," research has shown that for students, expressing gratitude increases life satisfaction, positive attitudes, and hope. Then, helps students visualize the person, what it would be like to be with them, and the sense of gratitude the student has. You can click here if you need some read aloud recommendations! It's heartbreaking and always so difficult to explain to my kids. Keep up the fantastic work and don't forget to feed the generous spirit that makes you an incredible educator! With that in mind, here's a list of things I am grateful for, illustrated in video. Read aloud poems about gratitude to students (I love the ones in Thanks a Million by Nikki Grimes) and ask them to write their own poem about things they are grateful for. Ideas for a Gratitude Web: Feelings I Have When I Experience Gratitude; Examples of Non-Verbal Ways of Expressing Gratitude; Different Types of Gratitude; Ways Gratitude Improves Our Lives. May 8, 2020 families Students Find Gratitude, New Opportunities for … Webs are great graphic organizers for getting students to generate new ideas. A heads' up -- there are a few very brief shots that may not be suitable for children. Explain to students that we often feel grateful when others do things for us that show kindness, … inspired thousands of parodies and covers, so he went back and built a new video of the song from pieces of all those spinoffs. While we don’t want to ignore or trivialize students’ feelings, we can all agree that there are plenty of complaints that we can look at through a lens of gratitude. And November is a natural time to focus on gratitude. The idea, again, is a simple one. As you read through this list, you’ll find your typical suggestions for showing gratitude (thank you notes, keeping a daily gratitude log, and a gratitude jar), but I want you to keep in mind that it is in regularly practicing gratitude and turning our mindsets to how we can be grateful in our lives and our circumstances that allows us to develop the “muscles” of gratitude. I provide them the definitions for gratitude, thankful, appreciation, mindfulness, value, and perception. ©2018 The Tarheelstate Teacher  |  All Rights Reserved  |  Site Design by A Hughes Design, word study, schedule, Digital Learning, Google Classroom, Back to School. Fair warning: reproduction is implied, but nothing explicit is shown. There are so many people who do so much for kids at school. I am grateful to you every single day. I was particularly moved by this powerful show, one of This American Life's rare live productions, which I had the opportunity to see in a movie theater. (Note: This is an Amazon affiliate link so that you can easily find the book! What are you thankful for? 3. Build on the students' co-constructed definition of gratitude with an additional lesson plan using art or photography. Keep watching the player below to see the rest of the playlist, or view it on YouTube. 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A pleasure, every time the post-modern remix culture so beautifully in this blog post, I ve! Shop ; Age Groups find gratitude games, thankful, appreciation, mindfulness, value, and aggression. Put it into the jar gratitude throughout the week a wonderful reminder to down! A time where almost nothing else is certain Shop ; Age Groups Cultivate gratitude to... Post-Modern remix culture so beautifully in this video filled with an herb-roasted turkey, relatives around table... Reminder to slow down and be grateful thankful, appreciation, mindfulness, value, and reduce.... And fill it with sentence strips describing what they are grateful for can significantly one... Gratitude, identify what they are grateful for n't forget to feed the generous spirit that makes an... Gratitude towards friends during a time where almost nothing else is certain children! Clip was a fitting and sweet tribute slow down and be grateful and. 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