“I am Thankful” Ukulele Song & Activities

When Thanksgiving time rolls around in my elementary music classroom, I am often knee-deep in preparing my students for a Winter Program. So sometimes I just power through the winter performance prep and skip over the turkey tunes. But a couple of years ago, I decided that the concept of gratefulness was important enough for me to spend some time teaching to my students. I want to help my student’s cultivate a sense of gratitude, and research shows the positive effects of doing so. “I am Thankful” is a simple song I created to help student’s learn the concept of gratitude through music. It’s a great song for a quick circle time at the beginning/end of class, OR you expand it to make a full lesson with the activities in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. Let’s dive in.

Circle Time:

After I gather student’s into a circle, I explain that Thanksgiving is a time to remember what we’re thankful for. Being thankful means that we are glad something is in our life. Then we sing the simple “I’m Thankful” song. You can have them keep the steady beat on their laps, with instruments, or just sing along:

“I’m thankful for my friends x3….. And I’m thankful for YOU” When I sing “YOU”, I point to a student in the circle and they tell me what they’re thankful for. If they said they’re thankful for shoes, we would sing: “I’m thankful for my shoes x3…… and I’m thankful for YOU”

I’d point to another student and ask what they’re thankful for then the class would sing their response. And so on and so forth!

Below is a demonstration video of “I am Thankful”!

If you’d like to expand on this lesson, I created a bundle of activities including: a “Thankful Rhythms” worksheet/activity, Ukulele Chord Sheet/worksheet, lesson plan ideas, and 4 Leaf cut-outs. These lesson ideas and resources are meant to be flexible in order to suit the needs of your students. Some lesson ideas include a circle time for K-2 (as mentioned above), rhythm lesson for 3rd-5th, ukulele lesson for 3rd-5th, and the “I am Thankful” leaf craft.

Hopefully this song will help you and your students cultivate a deep sense of gratitude this holiday season. If you’re looking for a few other Thanksgiving music lesson ideas, check out this blog post. I’d love to connect through e-mail or instagram! If you’d like to be a part of my e-mail list, where I send out updates and freebies, you can sign up here. Or you can find me on Instagram here. If you end up using this song or resource, please let me know how it goes! Best wishes to you and thank you for your dedication in teaching your kiddos!

Keepin’ it Simple,

Paige