November is such a wonderful month for so many reasons. Christmas is just around the corner, fall is in full swing, s’mores and campfires blazing all across the country. But in November, some much more special happens – we take time to express out gratitude towards the things we are thankful for. We spend time sharing our thanks with others and encouraging others to do the same. This includes the classroom! What better way to make November something special for your students, than by taking time to practice showing thankfulness for all they are thankful for! Check out these 5 unique ways to help students show thankfulness in the classroom!
3 Second Conversations
Build a Thankful Tree

Thankful From A-Z
Make a Thankful Jar
Don’t have time to make a big tree? No problem – you can
still use the same idea, but this time in a very compact way! Find a small jar or container that you already have laying around your classroom and slap a (cute) sign on it and call it your “Thankful Jar”! Lay out scraps of paper for students to write out things that they are thankful for at appropriate times throughout the day. Then either when the jar is filled OR at the end of the week (whichever you prefer) go through the jar together as a class, reading all of the papers out loud. What things do people have in common that they are thankful for? What differences are there? This makes a perfect community circle activity during the month of November too!
Make a Mini Book
What better outlet to show our thankfulness than to write about it? Get your students writing about things that they are thankful for by writing and making little mini books! You can make these simply but cutting a piece of printer paper into quarters and stapling them together, or even just folding them. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy! But students DO love making a fun book – just wait and see! Have the students illustrate on each page something they are thankful for and then below it write what it is and WHY they are thankful for that item. Encourage them to think outside of the box – more than just people and places. What actions are they thankful for? What are they thankful for in themselves? The possibilities are endless!
Want to save these amazing ideas for later? Make sure to pin one of these pins below to help!