Jerome is looking forward to collecting words this holiday season! Words of hope, love, and joy to share with his loved ones. But as he begins his search, he discovers that inspirational words are hard to come by. In the end, Jerome finds a way to connect with his community and join together in sharing the greatest gift of all: the gift of words.

Bring calm and connection to your holidays with Secret Gratitude Givers — a joyful family game that teaches children to show kindness, gratitude, and appreciation. Perfect for Thanksgiving, vacations, or anytime your family needs a reset.

Bring gratitude and community to your classroom with these JOYcabulary lesson plans for Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora and Gather Grateful by Megan Litwin. Students explore kindness, sharing, and thankfulness through rich Tier 2 vocabulary, guided reading prompts, and creative writing extensions. These paired texts make it easy to teach gratitude and empathy while building vocabulary and comprehension in the elementary classroom—perfect for fall literacy units or Thanksgiving-themed lessons.

This post shows Grades 3-5 teachers how to elevate a K-2 vocabulary lesson by choosing more precise, descriptive words about a text rather than simply lifting words from it. A simple shift in word selection leads to stronger character analysis and more meaningful conversations.

Vocabulary Matters! This post gives you 3 quick tips for learning new words and ways you can build vocabulary text sets at home around topics your family loves (like an upcoming trip to Boston!).