End-of-School-Year Activity: Showing Appreciation for Fellow Students

It's the end of the school year and your students have had 9 months of making friends and learning to get along with and respect each other. Now is the perfect time to hold an activity where that community is expressed with something the students can take home for summer vacation. Try this activity, adapted from our Caring School Community® Class Meetings "Appreciation Cards" lesson for grades K–6.

In this lesson, the students write down what they appreciate about others and discuss what they liked about working with partners this year. Prior to the lesson, gather an 8½" × 11" sheet of heavy tag board and a marker for each student, some yarn, and a hole punch. Punch a hole in two corners of each sheet of tag board and tie a piece of yarn through the holes to make cards that will hang around the students' necks.

1. Introduce the Lesson

Briefly describe the classroom community the students have created this year. Share your observations about how the students have acted in caring, fair, helpful, respectful, and responsible ways during the school year.

Ask and briefly discuss:

• What are some things you appreciate about your classmates?

Have a few volunteers share their thinking with the group. Explain that today the students will have an opportunity to write about things they like and appreciate about one another. Show a sample Appreciation Card and explain that each student will get a card to hang around his neck, with the card on his back. Explain that the students will walk around the room, stopping to write what they appreciate or like about each student on his Appreciation Card. The students will write their comments without signing their names.

Ask:

• What are some things you might write about your classmates?

Have a few volunteers share their thinking with the group. Write their ideas where everyone can see them.

Students might say:

• “I’d write, ‘You make me laugh.’ on Mary’s card.”
• “I’d write, ‘You are kind.’ on Darlene’s card.”
• “I’d write, ‘Thanks for sometimes sharing your snack.’ on Ricky’s card.”

2. Discuss Including Others and Distribute the Cards

Point out that it is important to include everyone in this activity. First in pairs, and then as a class, discuss:

• How would you feel if not many people wrote on your card?
• What can you do to make sure we all have nice things written on our cards?

Students might say:

• “I would feel like no one likes me.”
• “In addition to what [Sonali] said, I would feel embarrassed.”
• “I agree, and I think we should have time to write on a lot of people’s cards.”

Distribute a card and a marker to each student. Have each student write her name in the center of the card.

3. Have the Students Write on the Cards

Have the students hang the cards around their necks so they rest against their backs. Model how to write on a card while it rests on a student’s back. Remind the students to move around the room responsibly and have them start the activity. Give them plenty of time to write on the cards and let them know when they have a few minutes left.

If the students have difficulty generating ideas, stimulate their thinking with questions such as:

• What is one thing you might tell someone you like about him?
• What might you want to thank someone for?
• What is something nice you might write to a classmate about what she did?

Circulate during the activity to make sure all the students are being included. The students don’t need to write on every classmate’s card.

4. Read the Cards and Reflect on the Activity

Have the students return to their seats and give them a minute or two to read their individual Appreciation Cards. Ask and briefly discuss:

• How does it feel to read what others wrote?
• How does it feel to be a member of a caring community?

Have each student share with the class one thing she liked about being a member of the classroom community. After all the students have shared, share one thing that you liked about being part of the community. Encourage the students to keep in mind the things they’ve enjoyed learning this year and the things they still want to learn as they go on their summer vacations and return to start a new grade.

5. After the Lesson

Have the students take their cards home as a remembrance of their classmates.
 

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