Gratitude Activities: Ideas for ELLs

By Lydia Breiseth

Finding ways to celebrate gratitude and appreciation in your classroom or school can be a powerful tool, yielding many benefits, such as:

• contributing to a more positive school culture for students and staff alike
• enriching students' social-emotional learning
• developing empathy and self-esteem
• boosting mental health
• strengthening school-family partnerships

At the same time, gratitude can show educators what's working. For example:

• Student appreciations of classmates may highlight qualities that a teacher might have overlooked.
• Staff appreciations may inspire colleagues to try something new.
• Taking time to hear what's working for families may yield some important insights.

The following ideas highlight some ways to shine a spotlight on gratitude, with considerations that will ensure that English language learners (ELLs) and multilingual families are part of these activities.

Ideas for Students

1. Introduce the concept of gratitude and related vocabulary words.

2. Ask students to brainstorm examples of kindness and gratitude.

3. Talk about gratitude during circle time or advisory period.

4. Using writing prompts.

5. Write thank-you notes.

6. Set up an appreciation station.

7. Set up appreciation mailboxes.

8. Create appreciation webs.

9. Share things you appreciate about your students with them.

10. Use appreciation as part of instruction and activities.

11. Read a story about gratitude.

Ideas for Staff

12. Make space for gratitude and appreciation among the staff. For example, you could:

• Set up an appreciation station in a staff lounge or departmental office where staff can post thank-you notes.
• Set up public appreciation stations near places where different staff members work, such as the cafeteria, nurse's office, or guidance office.
• Share examples of ways that other schools are celebrating gratitude, such as some of the activities above.
• Start meetings with an appreciation focus. You might start with a round robin where each attendee shares something that another staff member did that they appreciate, or ask staff to volunteer examples of things that students or families have appreciated. At Salina Elementary School in Dearborn, MI, the principal led an activity where teachers wrote their name on a paper and then taped it to their back. Teachers walked around writing things they appreciated on each person's paper, and then each teacher pulled the paper off to read it. Staff were provided with frames so they could keep the paper as a memento.

Family Engagement & Gratitude

13. Look for ways to emphasize gratitude in school-family partnerships. For example, you could:

• Send positive messages home and make positive phone calls.
• Thank families for ways they are contributing to the school or their students' education, whether in individual conversations or school-wide communication.

14. Share success stories related to families.

Ideas for the School Community

15. Consider a school-wide gratitude campaign. For example, you could:

• set up a school-wide appreciation station can highlight contributions by students and different staff members throughout the school
• invite families to send thank-you messages to staff
• encourage individual teachers to use appreciation activities in their classroom

Closing Thoughts

Gratitude can be transformational, and small acts and message of gratitude can ripple outwards in big ways. Start small and build on your successes — now and all throughout the year!