Today marked the last day of our "bucket-filling" unit. The students learned about feelings/emotions, relationships and bucket-filling.
To introduce the unit the students had a discussion about what feelings are and what makes us feel a certain way? The students were put into groups and then were given a feeling/emotion. They had to draw pictures and use adjectives to describe the emotion/feeling they were given. They then presented their pictures to the class.
The next day we read, "Have you filled a bucket today?" The students brainstormed ideas on how they could be a bucket filler. Throughout the unit we also read, "Bucket filling from A to Z,"How full is your bucket?" and "Will you fill my bucket?"
We then went over rule number one of bucket filling.
1. Be a bucket filler.
The students then created their own buckets and came up with ideas on how they can be a bucket filler.
We then went over rule number two of bucket filling.
2. Dont Dip.
Before letting the students know what rule number 2 was I gave them an activity. Each group got a tube of toothpaste and some toothpicks. Each student had to try and squeeze all of the toothpaste out of the bowl. Once all the toothpaste was out, one at a time they had to use the toothpick to put the toothpaste back in the tube. The students quickly figured out that this was an impossible task. Once the toothpaste was out, it was very hard to put it back in the tube....this acts much like using hurtful words. Once we say or do something hurtful we can't take it back. We have to be careful with our words because it may be hard for someone to forgive us.
The next day, we learned the last rule of bucket-filling.
3. Use your lid.
What is a lid? A lid is something we use to protect our buckets. The students learned that it is important to stand up for yourself if someone is doing something that you do not like. It is also important to seek help if that doesn't work. We also learned that sometimes using your lid doesn't work and your bucket may be emptied even if no one purposely dipped in it. Sometimes we get sick, a family member may pass away or our pets run away. These are situations that we cannot control. In order for our bucket to be filled again we need time to grieve.
Not only do people have buckets...but animals have buckets too! It is easy for us to express ourselves but it is harder for an animal to express their wants/needs. We talked about why some animals end up in shelters, and how we can help animals in need. We had a special guest come visit us! The students filled Tucker's bucket up...and he also filled up our buckets!
Throughout the unit we also disucssed friendship, bullying and tattle tailing. The students came up with skits to show the difference between asking someone for help and tattle tailing.
To finish the unit we had a sharing circle. The students shared what they learned about bucket filling.
