Well, after reading the book myself, it seemed to fit quite nicely into our theme of peace and kindness as we discuss Dr. King this week. We read the book and brainstormed ways we could be bucket fillers at school. When you say or do something kind to someone, you help fill their bucket. When you say or do something unkind, you empty it. Here’s the magical part… by filling someone else’s bucket, you also fill your own!
We wrote one way we could fill someone’s bucket at school on paper shaped like little drops of water and I created a bulletin board for our hallway. Standing back, looking at the display, my bucket was filled.
Mrs. D. also had the wonderful idea of making a smaller bucket for our classroom. When we see someone filling a bucket, we’ll jot their name on a small drop of water paper and place it in the bucket. Here it is empty, by the end of the day, it was FULL!
All day long, sprouts were not only being kind, but noticing others kindness. ‘You’re filling my bucket’’ was a common phrase heard through the class. There were lots of full buckets by days end. And the best part? All those small full buckets made my bucket overflow.
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8 comments:
Really LOVE that idea. Might pass that on to one of my collegues. She is having a hard time with some girls in her class. Just straight out being MEAN!! What other things have you done for MLK?? Love reading your blog. Awesome!!!
I also read The Crayon Box That Talked - it's very good and hits the message home. We also read various picture books about MLK himself.
I use the bucket filling/dipping concept in my classroom. Here is another favorite to pair with it: http://www.amazon.com/How-Full-Your-Bucket-Kids/dp/1595620273/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1295097020&sr=8-2
It made an impact...and a connection in our home. E came home yesterday all excited about the classroom bucket, and how when you fill someone else's bucket, you also fill your own. We have a marble jar, and when we catch E and her 'step-brother' doing or saying something especially nice for one another, they get to add a marble. When the jar is full, they both get to do something fun. It's helped to curb a lot of negativity we had been seeing at home, and doing this project at school only reinforces that!! Love it!
Great ideas! I may have to adapt your bulletin board idea, if you don't mind. Thanks for sharing. (Your blog helps to fill my bucket...it's so very nice to focus on the positive!!!)
We attempted to fill a "class" bucket right before Christmas but didn't quite get it filled so we continued in January and when the smaller bucket was totally filled, we dumped the fuzzies into a larger bucket and we're trying to fill it. I guess the bucket will just keep getting larger until the end of the year. I'm visualizing a Home Depot 5 gallon bucket full of fuzzies by the last day of school. lol
This so fills my bucket!
We had a kindie go home the other day and say to mom, "I forgot to give back my folder to Mrs G. But don't worry mom, she didn't dip from my bucket."
I love the bulletin board idea. I don't have any of the books, but one of my "secret readers" read it last year. I hadn't heard of it at the time and I was like hmm this is a bit corny, but then the kids loved it!
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