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Thanksgiving Community Building Activity
Lamson
Lam
For the last three years I have done this Thanksgiving-based
activity and it is often one of the most valuable school-wide
community-building activities I do all year.
I tell the
students that we are on an "Appreciation Mission" or a "Mission
of Thanks"
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I
ask them to identify a list of all the low-profile people
that they are thankful for throughout the school.
(By "low-profile" I mean not me, not their principal,
not their last teacher, not a cluster or specialist teacher,
not our student teacher-Often the low profile people end
up being the cafeteria staff, the bus-driver, the school
secretary, the security guard, the supply monitor, or
the crossing guard.)
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I make a chart of these people and allow the children
to sign up for whomever they feel the most thankful for.
(Once they have written one thank you letter to a low
profile person, the children are allowed to write their
second letter to anyone they want.)
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Every child writes a thank you letter that they
decorate and frame to their special someone.
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We post these Thanksgiving messages throughout
the school, the cards are then either all posted together
in a prominent place for the entire school community to
read or they are posted where the "thankee" is most likely
to read them.
Benefits
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We
are recognizing the members of our community who are often
overlooked.
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Writing
for a real and meaningful purpose.
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A very powerful sense of audience impact (recipients
almost always find their children for a hug and often
have admitted to shedding tears over how touching a gesture
it is).
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A
side benefit of this activity is that I now have a list
of adults that I can turn to if a child is upset, needy
or misbehaving. They have already established a
special connection with my student.
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