The year has started. Things are starting to settle and it’s time to count your blessings in the classroom. We call the start of the year through Thanksgiving (well, Canadian Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October) the beta period. It’s the time of year to try things out, get to know the students, build relationships, and set up the year for success. It can be hard to be thankful in the classroom unless we take a moment to sit back and list the things we are grateful for.
The beta period is not the time of year we spend getting deep into the content. We review. We read. And we talk about what is coming next. We check out our skills and show what we can or can’t do.
Most of all, we celebrate all the things were are thankful for in our classroom. Keep reading to see how we spend this special time of year.
What’s Happening in Our Classroom?
It’s the perfect time to take a look at what’s working, what’s starting to work and what needs to be scrapped. It’s time to count our blessings and make a list of all the things we are thankful for in our classroom. So, here is a little checklist we use to decide how are things working so far.
- What new friendships are being formed? Who could still use a friend or buddy?
- What relationships are being strained? Are there some students who need a break from each other?
- How is the seating plan working?
- How is the physical flow of the classroom working? What needs to change?
- How are the routines working? What is working well? What needs tweaking? Or what do we need to review to reteach?
- Which students need intervention? In reading? Writing? Math?
- Which students need support with organization?
- What are the interests of the class? How can we use this to our advantage?
And then we count the blessings. We look for all the things that are going well and communicate this to our students. We talk about how we’re coming together as a community and share what we are thankful for. Our students are included in this conversation.
One way we focus on being thankful in the classroom is through our simple gratitude journal. You can grab your own copy in the Resource Library or we can send you a copy when you join our email list.
How do we get our class in order so quickly?
One way is our classroom management system. We get to know our students and take the time to build relationships. This time spent investing in our students saves us so much time later in the year.
We teach expectations so students always know where they stand. By being clear, specific and consistent we save a lot of time rehashing issues.
We teach our students to self-regulate their emotions. By showing our students healthy ways to express their emotions, we can spend our time teaching while they keep themselves ready to learn. Sometimes doing a feelings check is all that is needed. You can find the Feelings Check in our Resource Library or we can send you a copy when you join thousands of other ninjas on our mailing list.
Now, being that we’re teachers, we turn this into an activity we can use for reading, writing and math. Students write poems and stories about everything for which they are thankful. We originally decided to create a tree of thankfulness until one of our students suggested making turkeys instead. Each feather listed something they were thankful for.
And that’s how we ended up creating our Canadian Thanksgiving reading and writing activities. Our students wanted to know how Canadian Thanksgiving started, so we did some research. We are so thankful for the curiosity and creativity of our students. They inspire us every day. Find the set in our TpT Store ($USD) or our BN Shop ($CAN).
Here is our most recent list of things to be thankful in the classroom for:
- our class is hilarious
- they keep us on our toes
- they can take a joke and still get their work done
- this group likes to come to school
- they understand our special brand of crazy
- they think we can draw really well
- all of them are happy to be in school
- they trust us to keep them as safe as we would our own children
How do we show that are we thankful in the classroom?
We love books and use them whenever we can. It can be a challenge to find books about Thanksgiving that don’t involve pilgrims (if you are from the United States you should know Canadian Thanksgiving has nothing to do with pilgrims. We didn’t have pilgrims). Here are some books we love:
Turkey Trouble by Wendi J Silvano This turkey does not want to become dinner for Thanksgiving and gets creative to get out of it.
Ten Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston This one can easily be turned into a little song that is perfect to read, play or sing with a younger buddy class.
Thanksgiving Day in Canada by Kris Val Lewicki This book can be a challenge to get your hands on, but it is a great read and it’s Canadian!
Giving Thanks by Jonathon London This is a different spin on Thanksgiving and puts the focus back on being thankful.
The Secret of Giving Thanks by Douglas Wood This is a great one that teaches kids to be grateful for simple things.
The Grateful Pumpkin
This is a simple tradition we started a few years ago. We buy a giant pumpkin as early in the year as we can. We leave it on the back table along with a cup full of Sharpies. Students are allowed and encouraged to write about things they are grateful for. If you can’t find one big pumpkin, a few smaller ones work just as well.
We write and read things on the pumpkin for a few weeks. In the end, usually, when the pumpkin looks like it needs to be put out of its misery, we draw names and one student gets to take the pumpkin home. Past pumpkins have been turned into pies, muffins, seed treats and compost.
If a real pumpkin is not in the cards for you and your class, try drawing a big pumpkin on a piece of chart paper. Give students orange markers to write on the paper pumpkin. In the end, take a photo of the pumpkin and share it with all your students and their families.
Recently we were asked what to do about students who write inappropriate things on the pumpkins. Honestly, this hasn’t happened to us because we start the lesson by sharing our expectations and mentioning that our families will see what’s written on the pumpkins.
However, because they are still children and we expect them to make mistakes, we make sure the pumpkin is kept in a place where it can be watched. We put it away when we’re out of the classroom (like if we have a supply teacher in or we’ve left for the day). This limits the possibilities for vandalism.
A Twist on the Grateful Pumpkin
Create paper pumpkins on pieces of paper. Make one page for each person who works in your school that you are thankful for. Have all the students in the class write kind notes of thanks and then deliver them to the heroes in your school.
Notes to show thankfulness work any time of year. Each month we try to make sure we show how thankful we are for all the people in our school who help us learn every day.
More Thanksgiving Activities to Show You Are Thankful in the Classroom
We believe in buddy classes. These are classes where older students work with younger students all year long. While we often spend this time reading, throughout the year we also look for other opportunities to help our younger friends with different crafts and activities.
Sometimes we read our favourite Thanksgiving stories to our buddy friends and sometimes we just read stories the little buddies love.
One of our favourite activities is our toilet paper roll turkeys. All you need:
- toilet paper rolls (paper rolls of any kind will work as long as they can stand up on their ends)
- colourful feathers (dollar store craft feathers are perfect, but taking apart a feather boa will work in a pinch)
- googly eyes
- glue (white glue will work but if you are in a big hurry, use hot glue with adult supervision)
- scissors
- construction paper (orange for the feet and beaks but you can add any other colours you like)
Have students glue eyes and a beak on one side of the roll to make a face. Glue feathers on the other side so they span out (like a peacock). Add feet to the bottom. Personalize it with any other details you like.
These make a really cute display and the kids love to make them.
Thanksgiving Writing
We made a set of Canadian Thanksgiving writing prompts that our students could include in their daily writing. Each day has three different prompts and can be used on paper or digitally. This makes them very easy to use whether your students are sitting in the classroom or working from somewhere else. Find it in our TpT Store ($USD) or our BN Shop ($CAN).
We also have a writing prompt set that is based on the autumn season and doesn’t include specific holidays. Find the set in our TpT Store ($USD) or BN Shop ($CAN). It comes in a bundle with all four seasons, too. Find the bundle in our TpT Store ($USD) or BN Shop ($CAN).
Thanksgiving Themed Math
We created some simple math worksheets that have a Canadian Thanksgiving theme. They feature a variety of concepts at a general grade level for Canadian math classes. Generally, Grade 3 features numbers up to 1000, Grade 4 includes numbers to 10 000 and decimals to hundredths, and Grade 5 includes numbers up to one million and decimals to thousandths.
You can find Numbers to 1000 in our TpT Store ($USD) or in our BN Shop ($CAN).
Numbers to 10 000 can be found in our TpT Store ($USD) or in our BN Shop ($CAN).
Find Numbers to a Million in our TpT Store ($USD) or in our BN Shop ($CAN).
Turkey Directed Paintings
We draw and paint adorable turkeys that we hang around the classroom. You can get your copy of this lesson sent directly to your inbox, or you can find a copy in the Resource Library.
Complete a Thankful Collaborative Poster
We use collaborative posters for lots of different reasons in the classroom, but this one is a simple autumn-themed one (though you can colour it for any season). Learn more about collaborative posters in this post: How to Use Collaborative Tasks to Create Classroom Community.
This Thanksgiving poster includes a thankful theme. Each of our posters includes 18, 24 or 36 pieces so they can be used with various-sized groups. Students each colour their piece and then the pieces are assembled into a nearly standard poster size. There is also a follow-up activity that compares Thanksgiving in Canada and the United States. Find the Be Thankful Collaborative Poster in our TpT Store ($USD) or our BN Shop ($CAN).
We also have a collaborative poster with more of a pumpkin theme “Let’s Give ‘Em Pumpkin to Talk About.” Find the poster in our TpT Store ($USD) or our BN Shop ($CAN).
Thanksgiving Lunch
One year we decided to have lunch together. The students planned it, but we helped oversee it. Generally, they made a list of dishes that could be eaten in our classroom (of course we avoided allergens). They included cultural dishes as our class is quite multicultural.
We asked our families who could send a few bites of a dish to bring them by the school on the day of our lunch. There was WAY more food than we needed, but the kids pushed their desks together to make a giant dining room table.
We supplied tablecloths and battery-operated candles to set the mood. Our reusable dishes were used to serve up all the food and then we sat together to eat a meal. We even made some juice punch and had a toast.
As we sat together enjoying each other’s company, we tried new foods and learned about Thanksgiving at our houses. We celebrated our differences and found that many of us had a lot in common.
The most unexpected part was when we carried all of our dirty dishes to the staff room so we could use the sinks to wash and dry them. They became a little team working together without much direction. The entire room was tidied and put back together quickly and then we went about the rest of our learning for the day.
Coming together as a classroom community was so important. It bonded us together and created a special culture in our class that has been very difficult to replicate with other groups since.
Your lunch together doesn’t have to be something as elaborate. Just sitting together over food is a great way to build relationships within your classroom.
Being Thankful in the Classroom Can Be Simple
You don’t have to make Thanksgiving a giant festival. In fact, we make sure we count our blessings as often as possible. It is so important to take the time to reflect.
This is why our beta period is so important to us.
When the days are difficult and challenging or when that student has gotten on your last nerve it can be hard to come up with a list of things to be thankful for. Don’t wait until you need your list. Appreciate the little things as much and as often as you can. Keep that list somewhere close by so when the days are tough, you can look at it and remember the good things.
Tell the students in your class how much you care about them, but remember to show them-especially when they’re driving you up the wall.
Have you held a beta period in your classroom? Which things are you the most thankful for in your classroom right now? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
