Fun with Character: Links of Gratitude

Every day for a week or the whole month, have each student write one person for which they are grateful on a strip of paper and why they are grateful, and make a chain in your classroom. Use colors appropriate for the season. Have each student share their gratitude as they place their link on the chain. See how long the chain is at the end of the week/month. For non-writers, you can have them draw a picture of the people for whom they are grateful and make a quilt of gratitude.

After you have done this for a few days, ask the students if anyone of them shared their gratefulness with the actual person they named on a link. If so, ask them how the person reacted and how they felt expressing gratitude. Was it easy? Did it get easier the more you did it? If they haven’t expressed their gratefulness, encourage them to do so.