We continued our conversation about thankfulness today at snack and project times. With Thanksgiving approaching, we’ve been delving into the very abstract, very challenging concept of gratitude and what it means in our personal lives. Last week, the Tugboats thought about the word “Thanksgiving” and noticed that it begins with the word “thanks,” which we all know is short for “thank you.” We pondered different circumstances that cause us to say “thank you,” and came up with quite a few: when a friend shares a toy, when a teacher or parent gives us something we need or want (like a snack or a special treat), and when someone gives us a gift. After thinking and talking it over, the Tugboats decided that we say “thank you” when someone does something that makes us feel happy and lets us know that they love us.
Once we decided on a general rule for thankfulness, we started thinking about things we are thankful for all of the time, but maybe don’t always say “thank you” for. It’s no surprise, a common response was “our moms and dads!” The class unanimously agreed that our parents almost always make us happy and certainly always let us know that we are loved. Many children also felt thankful for Harbor City School, which melted their teachers’ hearts! When we asked a few more questions, they were able to explain that coming to school, playing with old friends and meeting new friends made them happy and gave them more opportunities to feel loved and give their love. I’d say that’s definitely something to be thankful for!
After generating a list of think for which we are thankful, we got to work on our Thankful Turkey! Last Friday, Peter painted a very silly turkey body for us and we all made red, orange, and yellow handprints around him to make up his tail feathers. Today, we traced the Tugboats hands onto red, orange, or yellow paper and wrote their personal thankful message on each hand. We’ll add these hands to our Thankful Turkey’s tailfeathers. Once everyone has had a chance to trace their hands, you’ll see our big ol’ grateful bird prominently featured in the stairwell at HCS!
In other exciting news, the talented and generous Edson Dias has finished up our school photographs and they look great! The album is password protected, so feel free to contact me at carissa@harborcitykids.org if you’d like access. The photos are available for purchase as a fundraiser for the school, so keep those in mind as you plan for your holiday gift-giving season!