The Kind Kids Club

During the month of December our class focused on the importance of paying it forward! Students from The Kind Kids Club invited my students to do RAKs (Random Acts of Kindness) around our school and throughout the community.

Our first RAK was to start "You've Been Elf'ed" around our school. Students chose two classes to be secret elves for and we left some candy canes with a poem from the Elf.

Next, members from The Kind Kids Club sent us Jingles, a reindeer mascot, to deliver our daily RAKs and keep eye on us. Here are some of the letters Jingles left for us:

Our RAKs included making cards for our cafeteria ladies, sitting with a new friend at lunch, playing with someone new at recess, caroling around the school, and adopting two students for our Holiday Giving Project. We also invited the other third grade classes to join us in "lighting up" our school! Students wrote friendly letters to their classmates telling them why they are an important part of their class.

My students' favorite RAK was caroling around the school. We invited my teaching partner's class to join in on the fun. Each class chose three classes to serenade with holiday cheer; however, we ended up being invited to several other classrooms. Students sung some holiday classics and we gave each teacher a candy cane as we left. This RAK was a wonderful way to spread cheer throughout our school!

Holiday Giving Project
We adopted two sisters from an elementary school in our community for our Holiday Giving Project. This school has had a challenging year, and I knew asking the principal if we could help any of their students would be a great way for us to give back. The idea for the project comes from the lovely Laura Candler from Teaching Resources. Students were asked to complete chores at home to earn money for their gifts. We had a wrapping party before delivering the gifts. My students went above and beyond in showing generosity toward these young girls. 

Our last RAK activity was given to us by our wonderful school counselor! She gave our class a drawing of the Grinch and encouraged my students to help his heart grow by performing RAKs. Each time I saw a student demonstrating kindness to his or her friends, I would write the RAK on a heart and tape it to our Grinch. My students set a class goal of 17 hearts. I'm proud to say they met their goal! :) I enjoyed this activity because it helped me as the classroom teacher focus on positive reinforcement. It's so easy to only see the negative behavior the weeks leading up to break, but focusing on RAKs helped my students remain calm.

The last day before break each student was given a certificate and inducted into The Kind Kids Club.

Jingles brought us some of our favorite books for our classroom library!

I hope these RAKs give you some ideas for next year! I love teaching students the importance of being kind and generous to others.