"Cultivating Thoughts" With Your Scouts

My sixth grader and her classmates had to complete a special assignment modeled after Chipotle's "Cultivating Thoughts" essay contest.  In Language Arts, they read Fue Xiong's essay "Two Minutes About Sardines" and were asked to write a narrative story about a time when food created a lasting memory.  The stories and a snack donated by Chipotle will be shared by the students at school tomorrow.  A more detailed description of the assignment can be found on my website.

I love this idea, and I brainstormed ways to incorporate it with Girl Scouts.  As you continue reading this post, I encourage you to consider how these ideas could work within your individual troop, for troops at your school, and for troops in your Service Unit. 

1. Read Xiong's essay to the girls.
2. Choose an idea from the list below.
3. Girls write narratives.  Details can be found here.
4. Print the essays on brown paper bags (or use a glue stick to adhere printer paper to the bag).
5. Distribute bags to the girls.
6. Share a snack.

Thinking Day
After the Thinking Day ceremony, have girls write a narrative about the state or country they chose to represent.  They could choose to write the story from a local person's point of view or from the point of view of a visitor.

Or have them write a narrative as a Girl Scout in the chosen state or country.

Juliette Gordon Low and Girl Scout Birthday
To celebrate the founder of Girl Scouts or organization's birthday, girls could:

• listen to leaders present facts about Juliette Gordon Low's life
• read a story about her
• research the founder of Girl Scouts on their own

Write a narrative.  Consider:

• writing from Juliette's point of view
• How has her work with early scouting impacted your life?

Juniors Scribe badge--satisfy a step or two for this badge, depending on your interpretations of the steps.

Service Projects
Ask the girls to choose their favorite service project.  They may wish to consider the following when making a decision:

• A service project completed this school year
• Favorite service project completed as a Girl Scout
• The most enjoyable service project
• The service project that made the biggest impact (on her or on those served)

Write a narrative about the project.  Again, they can write from a personal point of view or from the point of view of those being served.

These thoughts are the product of a quick brainstorm.  If you have additional ideas, please comment below, and I can update the post.  Thank you for reading!