Thanksgiving Kindness Emergent Reader Book to Focus on SEL

Inside: Use this Thanksgiving Kindness Emergent Reader to show all the ways kids can be kind, helpful and generous during Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving time, if we protect it from getting overshadowed by the excitement of the winter holidays that follow right after, can be a magical time for families.

We spend time together, dust off old traditions, and get to reconnect with family members that we don’t see as often as we’d like.

We eat big meals and bake pies and watch all the sports.

But the change in schedule and all the family and the “need” for polite behaviors can feel intense and overwhelming for kids.

So to help set our kids up for success, we can prepare them ahead of time and show them all the different ways to be kind and helpful and generous during the holiday with this Thanksgiving Kindness emergent reader set.

Other Ways to Celebrate Thanksgiving with Kids

We love celebrating Thanksgiving with kids.

We prepare kids to be kind and helpful during Thanksgiving dinner with these Thanksgiving Kindness Role Playing Cards.

We focus on gratitude with our Gratitude Pumpkin, our Printable Gratitude Pumpkin, and our Gratitude Kindness Notes.

We also use our Kindness Leaves Kind or Unkind Sort and our Kindness Leaves Craft and Write to add a little more social emotional learning to our Thanksgiving time.

We countdown to Thanksgiving Break with our Paper Chain Countdown Calendar that helps kids do one kind activity a day.

And we read Thanksgiving books.

Thanksgiving Books About Being More Grateful:

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks

Being Thankful

100 Ways to Be Thankful

The Thankful Book

It’s Great to Be Grateful

The Things I’m Grateful For

Thankful

The Other Side

And we read this Thanksgiving Kindness Emergent Reader.

How to Use The Thanksgiving Kindness Emergent Reader

1. Purchase and download the Thanksgiving Emergent Reader Set.

2. Print out the version you wish to use: color or black and white and cut them apart. I swear by my paper cutter I bought my first year teaching because I can’t cut a straight line.

If you use the black and white version, use these skin color crayons so students can color in the people.

3. After you staple the pages, read the book together.

You can follow up with partner reading, silent reading, group reading, or reading to a class pet/stuffed animal.

4. Use the Discussion Starters to further the conversation about Thanksgiving and all things kindness during Morning Meeting or to build up their listening and speaking skills.

5. Students can write or dictate about how they will show kindness during Thanksgiving with the two writing prompts that come on dotted line paper and lined paper.

And then get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving Day and shower others with kindness at the same time. This Thanksgiving we can focus on gratitude and kindness.