Duration: 10 – 15 minutes
SPIRIT Skills:
- Connectedness
- Emotional awareness/communication
- Empathy
Brief Description:
Students share in pairs/small group, reflect on caring for people and Earth, and name one action they will take next.
How does this develop particular SPIRIT skills
- Strengthens connectedness by sharing work, listening respectfully, and celebrating each other’s effort
- Develops emotional awareness and communication through reflecting on feelings, intention, and word choice
- Deepens empathy by hearing what others created and recognizing different ways of expressing care
- Reinforces valuing people & nature by naming how the gift helps both a person and the planet
What do we want to achieve regarding SPIRIT skill development (student understanding and/or behaviour)?
As a result of this activity, students (will be able to/understand/do …):
- Connectedness: share their work with a partner/small group and respond kindly to someone else’s sharing.
- Emotional awareness/communication: name one feeling they hope their card creates and one feeling they had while making it.
- Empathy: speak about the recipient with respect and care.
- Valuing people and nature: state one action they will take to reduce waste or show care at home.
Academic/Curriculum Objective connection
Oral expression + reflection + consolidation of environmental science and literacy learning.
Materials and tools needed for implementation
Reflection prompts, finished cards, envelopes/wraps, sentence stems.
Preparation notes
Use think–pair–share before group sharing to keep it safe and inclusive.
Guided Questions
- “What did you put inside your card and why?”
- “How did making paper change how you think about waste?”
- “What is one caring action you want to do next for a person or for Earth?”
Stage Debriefing Questions (Optional)
- “What is one thing you are grateful for today?”
Tips and Tricks for dealing with stage challenges
- Challenge: Students feel shy about sharing personal gratitude.
Tip: Pair-sharing only; allow “pass” in whole-group. - Challenge: Mixed-age voices dominate.
Tip: Structured turn-taking and a “younger-first” sharing rule.