Kind Words

One day this past year I decided I was tired of certain kids being unkind to one another on a daily basis! We seemed to be caught in a vicious cycle.  Someone would insult someone, then another insult was said, then they were both standing in front of me, sad and hurt. I decided it was time to try to fix this and get them into some better habits! That’s when I grabbed some library pockets (that I bought because they were cute!) and invented “Kind Words.” Some days we didn’t use it, then someone would go back there and write something and others would follow. It was a miracle! I hope it works for you!

 

Kids are lined up to give those compliments!  It was a big hit!  They were allowed them to go up when finished with morning work.

 

Imagine...a line of kids just waiting to be kind to one another! 

 I used basic library pockets for the kids to put their notes in.

 Try my cards to give your kids prompts for their compliments!  There is a page of blank cards so they can be creative! 

Click {HERE} to find it in my TPT store!

Click {HERE} to see the product!

There need to be some guidelines set up so that only kind things are said in order build each other up!  There are 7 different prompts to choose from including a blank set for the kids to create their own!

Five For Friday 11/14

Doodle Bugs Teaching

I look forward to this link up when I remember early enough in the week to actually take pictures!  I think about it on Thursday and I haven't planned well enough and it's a bummer!  I'm on it this week!!! 

I am revisiting a topic I shared at the beginning of this school year and that is helping my kids work on kindness.  We are still enjoying our "kind words" station.  When they finish morning work, they can go get a card from a classmate's pocket on the chart.  They write one kind sentence, a compliment or encouragement to someone and put the card back. When their card is full, they get to start a new one and take the old one home.  Today, there was a line!  I love it when they are willing to stand in line to say something nice to each other. 

What's more traditional at Thanksgiving time than coffee filter turkeys?  We use markers (water based) and have them choose fall colors.  They color all over the coffee filter (doesn't have to be perfect) and then we spray them down with a water bottle.  The color spreads out and blends together, then they dry overnight.  Then we cut the shoe shaped turkey body, add a beak, eyes, and a waddle.  They also add some little turkey feet.  They grace our halls until we're ready to decorate for Christmas.  I think they're really cute even if they are cliche'. 

Color the filter with water based markers (like Crayola), and spray the filter with water.  It spreads and dries. 

Veterans Day is so important.  I wish I could impart to my kids how important our veterans are to our nation.  We read a mini-book about veterans with a buddy. They each made a "poster" with facts and pictures about Veteran's Day. Hopefully, they know a little more than they did before.  Their posters really turned out great! 

Buddy-reading our Veteran's Day book

They turned out really nice.  I love the illustrations which they came up with themselves. 

We are in the middle of our poetry unit.  We are basically just working on the elements of poetry and learning what poetry is.  I have a great book with so many poetry ideas that are scaffolded and mentor some fantastic poems.  I haven't taught a poem from this book that hasn't turned out fantastic.  They are perfect for open house and a poetry book.  For the Love of Language by Nancy Lee Cecil is perfect for ELL's and the whole group.  

My next activity includes finding some foamy stickers at Target Dollar Spot, JoAnn Fabric, or anywhere they might have them.  I bought a variety (the JoAnn stickers were 90% off end of season, so look for them this year and use them next year!)  I sorted them by type and put them in baggies for each kiddo.  It's something the early finishers could do for you.   We have already studied arrays, but this "brings it on home."  I told them they could not have more than 1 sticker left when they made their array. This made them try different configurations and make the most of the stickers.  They had to write the multiplication problem on a sticky and glue it on.  Voila! Colorful arrays!  They had a blast. 

Intentional Kindness

After the past two days of tattling, being mean to each other, and more unkind things than I care to type here, I had to do something.  I have a GREAT class, but when they are not with me, they (ok, three of them) are not too kind to one another. Some ugly things have been said, a little pushing, a little tattling, and I'm ready to have a class meeting.  So I did.  I told them that we are going to be kind to each other even if we are not best friends.

After school was out on Tuesday, I grabbed these library pockets that I bought because they were pretty - having NO idea what I was going to use them for. I stuck them to some black poster board. (They had adhesive strips on the back.)

 I reinforced the top edge with some clear tape.  I put each students' name on their pocket and inserted an index card with their name on it.

I hung it up at a level they can all reach and stuck cute letters saying, "Kind Words" over it.

I shared with the students that they can go get another student's index card out of their pocket and write one very kind sentence on it and go put it back.  I demonstrated some ideas for them. We discussed things from compliments on clothes to real compliments on behavior and etc...  They were SUPER excited. During "Work on Writing" today, I told them they could try it out. There was a line of about 10 kids waiting to get a card today during Daily 5.  Today was just our "try it day." Other days, they will be able to write on a card after they are finished with their morning work.  

I'm going to keep tabs on what they write and make sure they are all receiving messages on their cards.  I'll add some compliments as well.  When their index card is full, they get to take it home.  So far, I'm loving it!!!  How do you help your kids to show kindness?