NOTE: I’m republishing this post from 2017 since both of these lessons are extremely popular this week, and thought new readers might want to hear about them.

 

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(Editor’s Note: I originally published this post in 2015)

I’ve previously posted about A Simple & Effective Classroom Lesson On Gratitude, one that I’ve done with my mainstream and Advanced ELL classes.

I’m modifying it this year for my Low Intermediate English Language Learner students.

I’ll first explain the Thanksgiving holiday, and the word “gratitude.”

Then, as in the “original,” I’ll be showing the Soul Pancake video that’s embedded below. The subtitles appear to be ones the video’s creators made and not the automatic ones YouTube generates, so that means they actually reflect what people are saying and not gibberish.

Next, I’ll go over this student hand-out. Here’s what it says:

Gratitude

 

Thanksgiving is a holiday in the United States.   Many use this time to think about what gratitude. Gratitude is feeling thankful about something or someone.

Close your eyes and think about someone who is important to you. You can think about more than one person, too.

Why is this person important to you?

 

I am grateful to have _______________________________________________________ in my life

because ___________________________________________________________________. He/she

makes me feel ______________________________________________________________. I would feel

________________________________________________________________ if he/she was not in my

life.

 

I am grateful to have _______________________________________________________ in my life

because ___________________________________________________________________. He/she

makes me feel ______________________________________________________________. I would feel

________________________________________________________________ if he/she was not in my

life.

I’ll model completing the form.

Next, I’ll call my wife, put her on speakerphone, and say what I wrote about her. I’ll invite students to do the same. As in previous years, I suspect a fair amount of tears will be shed.

We’ll end the lesson with students turning what they’ve written into cards to give the people they’ve written about, or posters we can use with a Shadow Puppet app narration that could also be sent to those in other countries.

Here’s the video I’ll be using:

Feel free to offer suggestions on how I can make this a better lesson.

I’m adding this post to The Best Resources On “Gratitude.”