Have students create a list of 20 little things to treasure about: _________. You can choose the topic. Here is an example using the fall season:

20 Little Things To Treasure in Autumn

1. Quiet dinners by the fire
2. Reading mystery novels in darkened rooms
3. Flannel sheets at the end of a long day
4. Candles Flickering
5. Smelling cinnamon, oranges & cloves
6. Pumpkins
7. Roasts, Potatoes & Carrots
8. Fluffy feather beds on a cold night
9. Watching movies snuggled in soft blankets
10. Cozy socks
11. Pie in the oven
12. Warm crackling wood stoves
13. Squash with buttered brown sugar
14. Chili and corn bread smothered in honey
15. Wind blowing through leaves
16. Glow of lamps through windows
17. Laughter filling a room
18. Scrabble and popcorn
19. Caramel apples
20. Family

Use this printable sheet and copy it onto fall colored paper. Have students create thankful leaves by writing directly on the leaves. You can choose to do this activity in a general way or have students focus on what they are thankful for from each other as we did with the bucket drops.
Additional leaf shapes can be found here:
Ash
Maple

Students are often asked at this time of year to recall all for which they are thankful. It may involve one lesson or a week’s worth of lessons and/or a culminating activity on the last day before the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead of making Thanksgiving break the stopping point for thankfulness, why not make it the starting point? Students can start a gratitude journal over Thanksgiving break and maintain it until winter break. This way, middle school students can truly see the many people, places, and things for which they should give thanks.