There is nothing sweeter than when your class really feels and acts like a family. We all work so hard all year long to foster a sense of classroom community amongst our students. But the times where this comes out the most is when one of our students is sick or injured.
It’s so sweet to watch all of the other students rally together to help them feel better. Today I have a resource that will fit perfectly into your classroom community if you have a student with an extended absence for an injury or illness. They are called Feel Better Books!
Feel Better Books
Feel better books are class books that you can make for a student who is absent for an extended time. This may be because of a surgery, a major illness, an accident, or something else. There’s a variety of reasons why one student may suddenly have to be absent for a while. Please feel better books help those students know that you all still care by creating something that will lift their spirits!
Related Reading: Fun SEL Activities for Elementary Students
How to create a Feel Better Book
When you download the Feel Better Books, you get a variety of book covers and letter templates. Your students can each write a letter to the absent student wishing them well. This makes for a great writing lesson!
You can review friendly letter skills, and generate a word bank of words that they can pull from to inspire their writing. You also can work on peer editing and revising before publishing the letters in the book.
After students have written their letters, you choose the cover of your choice to put on the front. You can go as far as laminating the cover and spiral binding the book, or simply staple it together and you’re done! This book and then be mailed to the student, dropped off at a hospital, or delivered to a parent.
When your class makes a Feel Better Book, your classroom community will strengthen. Your students will be given the chance to show they care for someone in need. And your student who is sick or injured will feel like they are still part of the family, even when they aren’t there.
This is the sweetest gesture that makes a big emotional impact on your entire classroom! Grab your copy here!
