When is the last time you received a thank you card…an actual card? So many people want to say thank you via an email or text. On the one hand, it’s great they are acknowledging the thought, words or actions that prompted it, but on the other, it’s so nice to receive that actual card, especially if they took the time to write it or better yet, make it! Cards of Kindness explores whether thank you notes still matter before students learn how to write a thank you note and then actually construct one from a variety of recyclable items!

Set

• Give students the following prompt: Do thank you notes or cards still matter? Ask them to think, pair, share their thoughts and ideas with their shoulder neighbor before discussing as a class.
• Ask students when the last time they actually sent and/or received an actual hand written thank you card or note (not a text or email)?
• As a class, read the article from the New York Times titled “Do Thank You Notes Still Matter?“.

Materials

• iPad or Laptop
• Projector & Screen
• List of Card Making Supplies (PDF)

Activities

• Since thank you notes still matter, teach students how to write an actual “thank you” note or card. I found this TPT freebie on How To Write a Thank You Note helpful.
• Before introducing the Cards of Kindness project to your students, be sure you have all of your supplies ready to go!
• Once students understand how to write a thank you note, introduce the Cards of Kindness Project. A sample of a few handmade cards can be found below.
• Students will…choose their card base, create the cardboard button, fold their hearts and create their thank you strip before writing their actual note.
• Once the cards are made, students will…
  • Choose a person from the school to write their thank you note to. This could be an administrator, secretary, teacher, aide, school nurse, coach, custodian or cafeteria worker. You may want to have students sign up for people to spread around and avoid too many duplications.
  • Students write a rough draft of their thank you note and conference with you or set up peer editing with your students. Once rough drafts are approved, students write the actual message on their thank you card they just created
  • Collect and place these notes in appropriate school mailboxes for recipients to receive. Note: If making cards out of card stock, there will be no envelopes unless your school has extra ones that will fit.
• To wrap up, ask students how they felt about sending a thank you card to their selected person. Hopefully, you get feedback from the recipients reinforcing how nice it is to receive and read an actual thank you card!

Attachments

• NYT Article (PDF)
• Cards of Kindness Project (PDF)
• Sample Cards (PDF)