I don't know about you guys, but this school year feels like a runaway train all of sudden...everything is picking up speed and it will be over before we know it! In light of that, I thought I better share some of the great work our cookie monster kiddos have been doing despite all the state testing and summer fever.
A few months ago (my how time has flown by!) I posted a book review of my weekend finds. One of the books I invested in was "Have You Filled A Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud. This is a great book for discussing empathy and practicing kind words. We utilized this book in several different ways including saying kind things to other group members, sharing times outside of group when others filled our bucket or dipped into it, and sharing ways to help someone whose bucket is low or empty. Here are a few ideas on how to fill a bucket from our third grade boys:
- help people
- be kind
- give hi-5s
- say please & thank you
- smile
A great companion book is "Bucket Filling from A to Z" also by Carol McCloud, and Caryn Butzke. This book is a great way to help small groups have open dialogue about all the different ways someone can be a bucket filler, or a bucket dipper. While reading this book, our 1st/2nd grade group identified several similarities between the scenarios in the book and what really happens at school and home.
An unknown bonus of this book was its help in developing a sense of insight and personal awareness. As we worked our way from A to Z, the Cookie Monster kiddos were able to relate to situations we read about- both in being the victim of bucket dipping and in recognizing how to fill a bucket by "treating others as you want to be treated."
After reading both of these uplifting books, each group created a few bucket filling statements to share with the ENTIRE school! We created a master list of all the kind, encouraging things we might want to hear...and then we made those super awesome words into cards...and then we hung them up in the hallway and invited the whole school to pick up a bucket filling card when they felt their buckets were too low! Some of the kids wrote jokes to make the person laugh, some traced their hands to give hi-5s, and some simply drew a bright picture and wished the person a good day.
The best part of this project, all of the Cookie Monster kiddos left small groups feeling good with their buckets full. For more bucket filling ideas, check out the bucket fillers website!
Kristina
