Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Explore: Exploring gratitude

40+ minutes

Discover: Promoting gratitude

10 minutes

Thrive: Practising gratitude

Explore: Exploring gratitude

Step 1

Explain the concept of gratitude and facilitate a class discussion about the ways in which we can express gratitude to ourselves, others and the world around us.

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Gratitude is the state or act of showing thanks, appreciation and kindness. It has many benefits, including increased empathy and resilience, enhanced self-esteem, improved sleep and increased mental strength. By practising gratitude, we can overcome challenges by focusing on the positive and what we do have rather than what we don’t have.

Step 2

Ask students to form small groups, then introduce them to the game Gratitude Alphabet.

Provide the following rules:

Taking turns, each person must state what they are grateful for using each letter of the alphabet. For example, each person must say a word starting with ‘A’ to complete the first round. Once everyone has answered, they move on to ‘B’.
Each person must come up with a new answer - no repeating words. If they can’t think of an answer within the time limit (group to decide), they can ‘phone a friend’ to help them.
Each player can only ‘phone a friend’ twice for the duration of the game. If the friend cannot help or they have run out of lifelines/time, they must forfeit the game.
The game continues until there is 1 winner or the group has covered the entire alphabet.

Step 3

Ask students to consider what they are grateful for within their school community and have some students share their answers.

Examples:

teachers, community members, classmates, sporting facilities, variety or quality of learning opportunities

Discover: Promoting gratitude

Step 1

Students will create a class magazine with the theme ‘Gratitude’. As a class, brainstorm ideas for stories that could be included in the magazine. There should be a combination of stories, practical tools, information and images.

Examples:

Definition of gratitude and ideas on how it can be expressed.
Facts sheet on the benefits of practising gratitude.
Profiles on teachers or community members students are grateful for and why.
Stories from the school community sharing what they are grateful for.
Activities for readers of the magazine to do to practise gratitude.
A-Z picture list of places/people/things/food/animals to be grateful for.

Step 2

Ask students to pair up and select their favourite concept based on the brainstorm. Explain they will be responsible for planning and designing a 2-page spread for the magazine based on whatever they decide. Before they start, make sure a range of topics and formats have been covered and that some pairs work on the front cover, contents page and overall design and collation of pages.

Step 3

This step looks at planning.

Provide each pair with the Magazine Planning worksheet and highlight items they need to consider before writing their article. For example, they may need to develop a set of interview questions or conduct online research.

Step 4

This step looks at creating.

Using Canva, students can piece together text and visual information to create their 2-page spread for the magazine. Before submitting their work, they must apply the font selected by whoever is in charge of the overall design and proofread all the text.

Step 5

This step looks at distribution.

Once all the pages have been collated, discuss the best way to distribute the magazine to share it with the school community.

Examples:

Digital distribution to students via school website/platform/email.
Write-up about the magazine and the purpose of it in the school bulletin.
Pages displayed around the school on screens.

Teacher note: Set up a classroom on Canva and share a Canva magazine template with the class. This way, all students can work on the same document, and you can easily monitor progress and provide assistance. If time permits, dedicate 1-2 lessons (approx. 120 minutes) to this task.

Thrive: Practising gratitude

Step 1

Ask students to pair up and discuss aspects of their life they often take for granted. Another way of framing this would be to have students consider things they are grateful for but don’t often express aloud. Share a relevant example from your own life to build engagement and role model vulnerability.

Examples:

Having someone to tell my worries to.
Having a healthy body.

Provide the following explanation to assist their thinking:

Have you ever heard the phrase, “Stop and smell the roses”? It supports the idea that we often take things for granted and can easily forget to stop and express gratitude for all the things we do have. By being more aware of all the things that bring joy and fulfilment, we can call upon them to help us move through difficult times.

Step 2

In small groups, ask students to brainstorm a range of ways they could express gratitude for something or someone they usually take for granted - encourage them to aim for 15 or more.

Examples:

Write a letter or thank you note.
Keep a gratitude journal.
Meditation or mindfulness to reflect on things we’re grateful for.
Bake something for someone.

Step 3

Have each group select their favourite ideas (up to 10), then complete 1 of the below tasks to encourage them to take action.

Tasks to prompt action:

Create a bingo card featuring 9 ways to express gratitude. Set a time period to complete each task and keep track of who is leading to build excitement.
Write each idea on a slip of paper and place in a jar. Each week, draw 1 out and set everyone the challenge to complete it.
Turn the ideas into a series of awards that could be handed out to the school community.
Devise a plan to feature 1 idea per week/fortnight within the school newsletter, assembly or school’s social media.
Transfer the ideas onto a spinning wheel that can feature somewhere prominent around the school. Students can spin it during break times and set themselves a challenge for the day/week.

Step 4

Wrap up the lesson by facilitating a class discussion about the importance of practising gratitude.

Use the following questions to prompt discussion:

What is your favourite way to express gratitude?
What is 1 thing you are more grateful for after this lesson?
Why is practising gratitude important to health and wellbeing?
How does practising gratitude build resilience?

Skills: Gratitude as a Tool for Coping with Challenges

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Skills

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

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