Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Each year I read this story to my 2nd graders. It's one of my favorites because I always get some interesting commentary and parents also tell me about how bucket dipping arguments have ensued in their household, and obviously its sends a lovely message. The story is about how every person in the whole world has an invisible bucket that they carry with them all the time and how what you do and say to people can either fill their bucket (positive thoughts and feelings), or dip into their bucket (negative thoughts and feelings). As a class the students then have to fill their class' bucket (which you can kinda see in the background above).

This year I had one of my little groups of 2nd graders make their own buckets. They LOVED it! I have never seen people so thrilled about tin foil and construction paper. First we made little buckets by wrapping plastic cups in tin foil and then each student decorated theirs. Then I hot glued some pipe cleaners on as a handle. Each student then wrote a bucket filling comment for every other member of the group. It was a lot of fun. So friends, I ask you, have you filled a bucket today?