It is amazing to me that the topics I sometimes need to cover even have to be covered at this level ..... but they do!!
Today I shared a lesson in some of the classrooms on judging things (or others) by what they look like on the outside. So by the picture below you can see that I have packages wrapped and presented in two very different ways, as far as appearance goes.
I showed the students the two packages and allowed them to process in their brains for a few moments which one they would want to choose as a gift. Some students then volunteered to share which one they'd want and why. After some class discussion, we let the teacher choose which gift to open first. The newspaper one had some candy & gum inside, while the beautifully wrapped gift with the big shiny bow may have had a broken crayon, pencil or even pieces of styrofoam in it.
Very meaningful and genuine conversations then occurred as to why they thought I did this with them, as well as why it's important to give people a chance before we decide whether or not they can be a good friend, or play with them, or even sit by them.
I always tell the kids that I do not expect them to be friends with everyone, but I do expect them to be respectful to everyone.
Some of the comments from the classes today are as follows (it took everything I had NOT to break down in tears during these visits upon hearing their answers!!):
"You wanted to teach us a valuable lesson that what is on the outside isn't as important as what is on the inside."
"Just because something is pretty on the outside doesn't mean it is pretty on the inside"
"It is important to remember that what matters is the person cared enough to get you a present, not that it isn't wrapped nicely"
"Not everyone is the same on the outside, but hopefully they can be on the inside"
"Sometimes the prettiest on the outside isn't the prettiest on the inside"
"We need to learn to appreciate what we already have"
"We need to learn how to be kind to others, no matter what they look like"
"Someone might be really good at soccer and if I don't give them a chance to play with me, then I may lose out on knowing someone who could be on my team"
"Sometimes the prettiest on the outside isn't the prettiest on the inside"
"We need to learn to appreciate what we already have"
"We need to learn how to be kind to others, no matter what they look like"
"Someone might be really good at soccer and if I don't give them a chance to play with me, then I may lose out on knowing someone who could be on my team"
