That time has come…the time for my final lesson of the year in my classes. My 3rd grade homerooms are pretty tight knit and family like, with many students feeling sadness and anxiety about leaving their homerooms for the great unknown of 4th grade. Enter: The Invisible String
I kicked off the lesson with a quick snowball fight, asking the students to list something they remembered learning from me/something I taught them for each round. It’s a fun way to gather a little bit of data about “what stuck” with them. I also find activities like this to be enlightening because I get to see myself and my teaching through their eyes. For example, I’m not sure if I ever used the word “patience” in my lessons this year with them, but two of them wrote that I taught them patience. I was also really surprised by how many recalled the conflict escalator lesson – the visual seems to have been really meaningful for them.
In some rooms, I used the carousel activity instead, posting reflection questions around the room for them to respond to. Many of the students wrote about remembering and enjoying our lessons about Kelso’s Choices and being an upstander – hurray! Note one kiddo’s hope to go to “high school” – they’re still working on their appropriate use of quotation marks!
Then came time for The Invisible String
The yarn gets passed to the next person, looped around their finger, and continues until everyone has had a turn and it goes back to the first person again. If the teacher isn’t already sitting with us, I suggest a student pass it to him/her. We continue until the last person passes it to the first person. After we’re done, we take a moment and marvel in the web of connection that we’ve created, and then I offer to cut the string so that each student can keep a piece for themselves. It is ‘cheesy’ but in the best way possible and truly brings out both positive feelings about the school year as well as some closure.
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9 Responses
Sara,
Thank you for sharing this activity! I have a student who experienced a significant loss and is now moving to a new school. This will be a great activity to help lead the teacher and class through to encourage sharing and closure.
Great lesson! Can’t wait to use it at the end of this year!
Glad it will be helpful for you!
I love these creative options for bringing closure. Thanks so much!
You’re welcome!
I used this lesson last year and it was great! Plan to use it again in a few months! Thank you for all of your wonderful lessons!
You’re welcome, I’m so glad this was a great fit for your students!
Genuine question. How do you keep students from only answering for theirs friends or preferred classmates? Or help students who start to breakdown if they are not chosen within the first couple of individuals? So many compliment or kindness activities I have tried to run sour, have minimal involvement, or become more popularity competitions. I set ground rules, give examples, and encourage involvement. However, far too many crash and burn.
I would appreciate any ideas or wisdom about improving my odds for these types of lessons. Thanks.
Hi! I think the key is that I’ve done this primarily in classrooms where the teachers have already fostered a really positive and cohesive classroom community. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve done this, but if I remember correctly, all I needed to do was a brief spiel along the lines of “this activity only works if we make sure that every single student is part of it – you have opportunities to say these things to your closest friends every day at lunch and recess, so consider choosing someone else for this.” The teacher and I also participated in the circle and we usually tried to choose kiddos that others may not.
I know not all teachers/classrooms have this – it might not be the best fit for all of them.
Best,
Sara