Have You Filled A Bucket Today?

Author: Carol McCloud
Illustrator: David Messing
Key Skills: Kindness, Social Awareness, Empathy, Respect, Perspective, Responsible Decision-Making, Responsibility, Reflection, Self-Evaluation, Bullying

This book is one-of-a-kind! While I might not read it at the beginning of the year (because, priorities), I will always read it once our class community has developed and strengthened.

The premise of this book shares that we all have an invisible bucket. We can choose to fill someone’s bucket (which, in turn, fills our own bucket) or we can dip into someone’s bucket (which does NOT fill our bucket). This book shares the consequences (both positive and negative) of the choices you make with the buckets of the people around you.

This analogy is easily understood by kids of all ages. Not only can they name and compliment someone when they’re being a bucket-filler, they also get to recognize and call out bucket-dipping behavior.

This book focuses on social awareness: developing empathy, showing respect, and practicing with perspective, which lays the groundwork for building positive and effective relationship skills. Students also get to practice social responsibility here.

This book has SO MANY EXTRAS that I’ve been using for years! Check out the website bucketfillers101.com and see ALL the amazing resources and learning materials you can use with your class! (This is another reason why I don’t use this book right away… There are so many things that you can do with it that I like having time to make it a focus, especially if we’re focusing on kindness and respect as a monthly trait!

CLICK HERE to check out this book on AbeBooks! (I’m not an affiliate, I just want to provide teachers with a cheaper alternative to Amazon.)