In early November, we start our book of gratitudes. Each day we add a page or two or three. We collect the loose pages right before Thanksgiving. And we have a lovely read aloud for our family celebration. In my classroom, the pages became an activity center. At home, we write spend time together creating a child and adult version. Children appreciate hearing about adult gratitudes too.

A guideline that I gave myself was to not give children ideas. Beyond a vague, “family, pets, etc.” Some would go big with “air, earth, water.” Others went more detailed. Eventually, the obvious answers (in their mind) were written down. And then resistance, “I’m out of ideas.” And then the real opportunity- “I’m going to remember grapes to write, they’re so good.” Or, “I’m thankful for goodnight stories.” They took their authorship away from the table to open their mind to ideas away from the table. Which, for me, is the real goal all along. To recognize the many gifts in our day.

Autumn Fairy in Magical Forest Fairy Crafts Through the Seasons

I created book pages that you can download to use with children in your life. *Not for sale or resale. When you download, you’ll notice the book has 4 pages. Why would I do that? This way, each family or child gets to create their own number of pages. Save them as loose leaves until the day before Thanksgiving. That way, an author won’t run out of pages, or face a pile of empty pages on the last night before binding. Customize your book.

For older authors (6 and above), I use the smaller version which fits two pages on one piece of paper. I recommend cutting in half before binding, or you will have blank pages. Since writing instructions don’t often come easy for authors, here is my ladder of support. A conversation with authors that they understand is that the audience matters. Is this for Grandma and Grandpa to admire? Or is it just for the author? Because one way, the spelling may be more important that the other. And the main goal for a young author is to feel proud of their work. Not for us adults to judge or micromanage to the point that writing feels like a chore, but simply for the author to celebrate what they created. You may choose different styles of support based on the audience for the book.

Also, many supports may be appropriate for different learning challenges. I let my dyslexic daughter dictate while I typed well into high school. She’s in college now and doesn’t ask me to type any of her papers anymore. So give writers the support they need to express their ideas. Which may change from day-to-day.

You can mix and match within the same day/on the same page. They can write until they’re turned and then an adult can finish. Choose a ladder plan, then adjust as needed.

Step 1- writing for the author, letting the author dictate. This is the way to catch all the thoughts and details. This can happen alongside scribbles or attempts at “sounding out” words so that they can be read and understood later.
Step 2- writing and tracing. Use a highlighter or light handwriting that the student can trace with their own pencil. If used, the dictation from above with a step for authors to explore writing it themselves.
Step 3- Write what you hear. This may look incoherent to adults. As long as the child can read it late, then it accomplished the purpose of writing to remember your words later. It doesn’t really accomplish the write-and-share idea, but I can’t read books in other languages, so, for this stage, I let the author reading their own work be enough
Step 4- Write to share. This time, another person needs to be able to understand your words. They don’t seem to be spelled perfectly or have all the right spaces, but another person may want to read them one day. This can be supported with verbal spelling help and room to make spelling mistakes.
Step 5- Write to impress. By this time, sight words should be pretty intuitive. Writing shouldn’t be so much work by this time. Now, spelling corrections and punctuation are involved in the process.

Autumn fairies in Magical Forest Fairy Crafts Through the Seasons

Realistically, think about how long this book will be around. This was created as a process-project meant to help authors notice the world with a spirit of gratitude. Many of these books will go into recycling. You may want to keep them. But then they’ll be a time capsule of where your author’s writing skills were at that point in time. I want young authors to enjoy writing. This project is close to my heart for inspiring young authors.

Feel free to print for personal or small-group use. Print pages 2-3 (large) or 2 (small) for as many middle pages as you may like. Usage rights do not include other teaching sites or third-party websites or sales. I appreciate sharing resources with you.

Add the last page as a bookend, because we are thankful for each and every author.

And of course, Autumn Fairies love to help write these books or hear these books read aloud. They’re always up for an adventure to find more things to appreciate!

Thankful Book Large Print

Thankful Book Small Print

We are thankful for you!

Thankful Book for Fall