Kindergarten SEL Lesson 3
By: Rebecca Altman
Lesson: How to Fill a Bucket
Objective: Students will be able to understand ways to make people happy.
Students will learn about how they impact other people.
Alignment with Standards: Identify and manage one’s feelings (emotions) and behavior
Six Seconds EQ competencies: 1. Enhance emotional literacy
2. Recognize Patterns
3. Exercise Optimism
4. Increase Empathy
Length of session: Break the lesson into 10+ minutes during circle time, each day, for a
week
Materials Needed: Photographs showing emotions, list of scenarios to read, Have You Filled
Your Bucket Today? By Carol McCloud.
Engage: Explain that we all have imaginary buckets. They can be filled up with kind words
or actions. When you smile at someone or help them when they need something you are
filling their bucket. If you are a bucket dipper you are taking away from someone’s happy
emotions. This week we will learn about what it means to fill a bucket. Our goal is to
become excellent bucket fillers!
Activate:
Monday: Read the story, Have You Filled Your Bucket Today?, and discuss it. How were the
characters bucket fillers? How were they bucket dippers?
Tuesday: What does it mean to be kind? Students will practice saying kind words. How does
hearing something kind make you feel? How does saying something kind make you feel?
Wednesday: Every student will be given a card to write kind words on about someone else in
the class. All of the cards will be placed in a bucket and read tomorrow.
Thursday: Read cards from the class bucket. Discuss the class bucket and how it made
everyone feel.
Friday: Share with students a nice thank you card that you are going to give someone. Tell
them that it is kind to show someone that you appreciate them and are thankful for them.
This is a way to fill someone’s bucket. Students will make thank you cards for someone they
love. They can choose a teacher, parent, friend, neighbor, or relative to write to. Ask
students how they felt making the cards and how they think the person will feel when they
read it.
Reflect: Conclude each day with a time for students to share what they will do today to fill a
bucket. They can also share how someone filled their bucket.
Homework/Parent Extensions: Tell parents that students were learning about imaginary
buckets that we all carry with us. Ask parents to discuss what a bucket filler and bucket
dipper are with their children. Remind the child that they should find at least one way to fill
someone’s bucket after school.