The Giving Season: Lesson 1

This time of year is truly one of my favorites not only because it means I get to see my family and get two weeks off of work but for the true meaning of the season. One of my most favorite lessons starts off with The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. It is a simple lesson with a big meaning. Now I have in the past read the book to the kids but I recently found a video on You Tube that I thought I would try to use and see how the kids liked it. It is an old video from 1973 read by Shel Silverstein and I thought that I may have kids falling asleep during it because it is a slow moving movie that runs around 9 minutes but I found the kids laughing, gasping, and crying throughout the movie so it will definitely be a lesson that I keep. It has become one of my favorite lessons because it is versatile and you can use it to talk about giving, compassion, friendship, needs vs. wants, etc. I have found that almost every time I do this lesson each class finds a different meaning of it for them and we discuss it together.

After watching the movie we talk about the people that are giving in their lives, how we can be better givers, why is it important to give to others, are there things that we can give to others that we cannot see (i.e. friendship, love, gratitude, kindness), etc. Now because this lesson is usually done around Thanksgiving I like to have the kids write thank you notes to people in their lives that give to them - something I don't think is done often enough. Sometimes I feel that even adults don't realize how important it is to just stop and Thank the people in our lives that we are thankful for and why. Maybe that person doesn't realize how much they are appreciated - like the Tree in the book and it's a great time of year to remind them! We write them to school staff, parents, sisters/brothers, grandparents, friends, teachers, whoever they want to write them to. I like to start off with their teachers and make it a "surprise" for the teacher which the kids seem to love doing and the teachers have loved receiving all the kind notes from their students. While they are writing the Thank You notes I play this song which I LOVE and it helps with classroom management as well because the kids will sit, write their notes, and watch the video (while swaying to the music). The Smart Board slide that I show with this music video is titled "Give Back to Those Who Stand By You!" Some kids don't get into writing the notes but they love listening and swaying to this song and so do I! Sometimes I play this song while we journal after talking about bullying as well - it's a great versatile song to keep on hand when you need it!

 

Here are the note cards I made to use with this lesson.