How We Bucket Fill and Compliment Starter Freebie!

I have found that Bucket Filling has been a great addition to my classroom!  

If you aren't familiar with Bucket Filling, let me give you a little low down of what it's about.  It is based on the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today by Carol McCloud.

It is all about how people have these invisible buckets above their head and most people never even realize it!  These buckets are kind of like our self-esteem. The buckets get filled by things like nice comments, compliments, acknowledgement, etc.  However, they can also get emptied this happens by put-downs, rude remarks, being ignored, or being treated badly.  I LOVE this book and the idea of it because it makes sense to kids...well, at least it has to my class.  It also fits in perfectly to the levels I teach (I use Marvin Marshall's Levels of Raising Responsibility...more about that in a later post.)

Each of my students have a little bucket and each month we learn a different way to compliment another person.  I use my Bucket Filling Compliment Starters: The Polka Dot Edition

Click on the link and then the Preview to get a few FREE in the cute polka dots! The original Polka Dot Edition is only $1.00 though! 

I use Bucket Fillers in my classroom not only to add more positivity to my classroom, but also as a tool to teach how to give compliments.  I teach a different way of beginning a compliment each month.  There are 11 different Bucket Filler Compliment Starters and 1 Blank one. I use the blank one in June, as they are pretty good now at knowing how to start a compliment. I switch them out each month, so students don’t just stick with the “You are” compliment.

I focus on teaching students that good positive compliments do not compliment things that people have, but rather who they are, what they choose to do, and what they work hard at and are good at.

I love it and so do my students.  I hope you find it helpful as well!

Enjoy!

-Jen Martin