I Can Make a Difference Lesson Plan

 

Tell One Small Bird – text available at  http://www.rosethestorylady.com

 

Discussion:

            In the wake of the World Trade Center destruction, many heroic people helped rescue others and save lives.  The effort continues.  The world will never be the same.  One storyteller said, “I am afraid that it will be the same.”  It is up to us to make sure that the world does not remain the same.  The world can only be changed one person at a time.  What can we do here and now to make a difference?  Answers may include be kind, do good deeds, light a candle, say a prayer, give blood, give money, write a letter, write a poem or story, smile at others, don’t be prejudiced, etc.

 

Project:  One Small Bird Mobile

 

 

Materials needed for each student:

 

4 birds -  pattern is provided (copy on white cardstock or make patterns and have students trace birds)

2 straws, 2 popsicle sticks or  a coat hanger for mobile framework

paper punch

string – 5 pieces  (each12-14” long)

 

  1. On each bird, the student writes one thing he/she feels he can do to make a difference.  (These can be small things.  They do not have to be “heroic” or large.)
  2. Add color and detail to the birds on both sides.
  3. Hold each straw flat and punch a hole halfway through the straw in the center (to make it easier to tie or tape the two straws together) and ¼ inch from each end (the string will be tied to this hole).
  4. Tie 2 straws together to form an x.  Do not cut extra string off.  This will be the string to hang the bird mobile.  (For Popsicle sticks, glue together with Elmer’s glue to make a cross and tie with one string, leaving a long end to hand.)
  5. Punch hole in each bird.
  6. Tie one end of  a string to each bird and the other end to the holes in the ends of the straws.

Optional:  The birds can be tied to coat hangers instead of using straws.

 

Other suggestions:  Place birds on a tree on the bulletin board and call it the Tree of Giving.  Punch holes in the top of the head and the top of the tail.  String birds on yarn to create a peace garland.  Punch a hole in the top of each bird and the breast.  Thread yarn through 4-5 birds and hang from the ceiling.  Mail completed birds (perhaps fastened together to form a peace garland) to someone who needs a gift of love and giving.

                                                                                                                                                Rose the Storylady

 

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