Valentine's Day Kindness Project

I have this hanging in the classroom, right by the door. Every few days I change the message, highlighting something special that I notice about that student. They love to come into class and read the compliments! The sign is a fantastic idea from Jenna {here}. This act snowballed into a full-blown writing project that got the whole class involved...
...and when I saw {this} post by Tonya about a Valentine's Day writing project, I just know I had to incorporate it into my plans this year!

We began by talking about how, as a class, we are part of a special community. We come together each day to share, learn and grow.

Within our class community, we are unique individuals. God has created us with different interests and abilities.

Students were given cards with each of their classmate's names on them. They had to think of something special about that person, and write their sentence on the 'compliment card'. 

This was a FANTASTIC exercise to have students pause and reflect on every single member of the class. They soon realized that they could not just write the same sentence on every card--what may be true about one person would not apply to another person.

When the 'compliment cards' were completed, students cut out the names and put them in piles {by student name}.

I took the piles and randomly distributed them. The only thing I made sure of is that they did not get their own name...the rest was random!

Using materials donated by generous parents, students set to work decorating the posters. They all worked SO hard to make the posters look fantastic!

They were spread out in the classroom, hallway, and art room so that they were TOP SECRET. We did not want anyone to know who had their name!

 Earlier in the week, I asked students WHY are we doing this project?
Here are some of their responses:
...to be kind
...to show we love each other
...because we're friends
...to show respect
...to show how well we know each other

Today was the big reveal! They were excited to see their posters, and to read the affirming messages from every classmate about themselves!

What a great community-building project, that also highlights the uniqueness of each individual within it!