Writing Thank You Notes (and making fun Thank You Pockets)

When you sit back and think about it, there are so many people in our students' lives working to help them learn and move through the world in a successful manner.  In just the school building alone there's the teachers, the school leaders, the specialty teachers, the custodial staff, the cafeteria employees, the school secretary, the nurse, the classroom assistants, and lots of school volunteers.  Sometimes all these people and the ways that they're positively impacting kids gets lost in the shuffle of the school day.  This made me think that there's got to be a way to help students say thank you to the important people in their world.

I went on a quest to find a way to help students acknowledge the kindnesses in their lives.  First, I found this free resource in Art by Jenny K's shop on Teachers Pay Teachers.  It's a collaboration poster that kids work together to complete.  They each color a page of the poster.  Then, they attach the pages together to create a massive poster.  



There's even a version that includes the word "Volunteer" so kids can make that poster to go along with the "Thank You" one. 

These posters inspired me to create a resource that I call "A Pocketful of Thanks."  

Here's a little video of Jenny and I talking about the projects...

I wanted to combine the collaboration posters with a tangible note of thanks that kids could also give to people they were grateful for.  First, I started planning out solid tools to help students construct a meaningful thank you note.  I put together a step-by-step guide for crafting the notes.  There's a brainstorm, pre-write, rough draft, and a final copy resource.  It's got everything students will need to write the very best thank you notes.

Oh, and I didn't want to leave out the little ones, either.  I put together a set of the same brainstorm, pre-write, draft, and final copy resources for students in grades 1-3 as well.

However, I didn't want to stop there.  I thought it would be really fun if kids could make some thank you note pockets to place their notes inside.  That sparked a whole bunch of pocket designs.

The pockets are super simple to make.  After students select a design they like best (or create their own), they just cut out the pocket shape and fold it together.

 

Then, they add a little glue to the folded taps to seal the pocket side and bottom shut.  Next, they fold the final copy of their thank you note (written on fun scrapbook paper) in half.

Finally, all they have to do is slip their thoughtful thank you note inside the pocket they created.  It's ready for delivery!

Each pocket shape has a different design on the front and back.

When students are finished they've not only learned how to write a thoughtful and meaningful thank you note, they've also created something the recipient will treasure for always.

I've been thinking about all the ways that the Thank You Note Pockets could be incorporated into classroom instruction and here are some ideas...

-- Have students create the pockets for classroom volunteers.  They could make the collaborative posters by Art with Jenny K, too.

-- Incorporate the thank you note writing activity with a larger kindness unit.  Check out this FREEBIE for more ideas on how to incorporate kindness into the classroom.

-- Use the pockets as part of an end of the year activity.  Students could write them to classmates or adults in the school building that helped them during the school year.

-- Add the thank you note pockets to a novel or short story study. Students could write the thank you notes as if they were a character in the literature, and they could write them to another character in the book or story.

-- Have students create the pockets during Teacher Appreciation Week.  Kids could give them to teachers that they are grateful for.

-- Make a bulletin board with the pockets and fill them with notes of thanks to classmates.

If you're ready to get your students writing a note of thanks and creating fun thank you pockets, you'll find everything you need HERE:

I hope you and your students have fun with the Thank You Pockets!

Thanks for stopping by,

Mary Beth