Preschool Purple Hands Assembly

Today we had assemblies at the preschool and kindergarten to learn the Purple Hands Pledge for the very first time. The Purple Hands Pledge is "I will not use my hands or my words for hurting myself or others". This is the most important rule we have here at our school!

At the assembly we talked about how a pledge is a promise, and a promise is a very serious thing!! Every time the students say the pledge, they are making a promise not to use their hands or words to hurt. This is our third year using the Purple Hands Pledge at our school, and it has helped us by providing a simple and common language to address student behavior and the way that we treat each other. Each student in our school says the Purple Hands Pledge right after the Pledge of Allegiance every day, as well as the CATS pledge (our PBIS behavior expectations). Everyone who has a relationship with our school, from teachers and students to parents and community members knows the pledge, and can easily reference this behavior expectaiton by using the common language introduced in the pledge.

Another important part of the program is the symbol of the Purple Hand with a red heart in the middle. This symbol is easily recognizable to the students, and is a visual reminder of what the pledge means, especially to those not reading yet.We have the symbol displayed in several areas of our school as a reminder to students to follow the purple hands pledge. The purple hands pledge is also on several of our PBIS behavior rubrics as a behavior expecation across several settings.

A 1st grade teacher at our school came up with some motions to help our little kiddos learn the pledge, even if they don't have it memorized yet. The words and motions are:

I will not use (Shake finger)
My hands or my words (Hold up hands, point to mouth)
For hurting myself (Hug arms around self)
Or others (Arms stretched, palms up)