Story Name: The superpowers of gratitude and kindness
Teacher’s Notes:
a. Key topic
Through this story we explain the concepts of gratitude and kindness and we present a number of strategies to help kids experience and express gratitude and kindness. Kids find out that gratitude is a skill and that when they practice gratitude and kindness, both their level of happiness and their sense of wellbeing increases.
b. Concepts Introduced to the kids through the Story
- Learn what gratitude is
- Realize that an attitude of gratitude is a positive way of looking at life
- Understand that kindness has a ripple effect
c. Learning objectives for the Kids
- Recognize the things that they have to be grateful for
- Realize that being grateful makes them feel good which makes them kind and generous
- Understand that gratitude is a skill that can be acquired with practice
d. Tips for Teaching through Storytelling
When teaching youngsters we need to use a slightly different approach than when teaching adults, meaning that youngsters relate better to visuals, examples and stories (real life examples/stories are even better) and interactive technology. Also, young kids do not need a lot of jargon, they need a much simpler vocabulary that they can understand. In addition, the teacher has to figure out a way to relate to the kids and there are a number of things that can be done in this direction from the type of clothes the teachers wear, to the language they use, the way they move about in the class, etc.
Storytelling is more than just reading the words of a story out loud. It takes other skills as well. It is important for teachers to use different tones in their voice when they are telling a story. If the teacher’s voice stays at the same level it becomes boring! The teacher will want their voice to go higher and lower, louder and softer. Teachers should try to use different voices for different characters and make sure that they speak loud enough so that everyone hears them, and say the words clearly so that everyone can understand them.
Teachers should also have in mind that storytelling is not just words; it is motion as well. They will have to move around when they tell their story; they should use their arms, legs, hands and their face to tell the story. In addition, they have to make sure to maintain eye contact with their audience. Eye contract is one of the most important non-verbal ways to connect with other people. It helps keep the attention of the audience and it also conveys a sense of confidence and truthfulness. It is best that teachers always look directly into the kids’ eyes; they will connect with them and keep their attention longer.
e. In-class discussion after the storytelling
- Define kindness and ask the kids for some examples from their daily life. Follow with a discussion of their examples.
- Explain how kindness leads to gratitude which in turn leads to more kindness and ask the kids for some examples from their daily life. Follow with a discussion of their examples.
- Ask the kids the following questions and discuss their answers. Usually there is time to take and discuss the answers of 2 to 3 kids.
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- What kind of feelings did Fiducius have after experiencing the kindness shown by his neighbor?
- How did Fiducius plan to express his gratitude to his neighbor?
The Story
It is an unusually cloudy and rainy day in Soccertopia which is usually a very sunny place. The Soccertopia Eagles kids could only practice outside for about 15 minutes because it started raining hard. The kids were rather disappointed, they did not really like being confined inside. Mr. Soccerball felt the kids’ disappointment and took immediate action.
-Come on kids, let’s all gather round, said Mr. Soccerball. I think it is a good opportunity to have one of our interesting chats today. We have plenty of time and there are so many things that we can talk about.
The kids gathered round, took their usual places and they all looked at Mr. Soccerball.
-So, what are we going to talk about sir? asked Fiducius.
-Well, replied Mr. Soccerball, today we are going to talk about gratitude and kindness. Do you kids know what gratitude is?
-Is it a superpower sir? asked Lucius.
-Oh, yes Lucius it sure is, replied Mr. Soccerball, and it is a powerful one too. But do you know what it is?
-I know what it is, my mother talks about it often, said Madya. Gratitude is when we are thankful for all the good things in our lives like the things we have, the kindness others show to us, and all the fun things we get to do.
-This is very good Madya, said Mr. Soccerball. This is exactly what gratitude is; being thankful for whatever we have and for receiving kindness; What is very important about gratitude though is that it has a ripple effect, it makes us want to return the favor and be kind to others.
-My mom says that kindness has magic in it, it is something like a magic superpower, said Madya. It is as if you are spreading a super magic dust everywhere, and that magic dust makes people kind to each other and so much happier.
-Your mom is so right, said the coach. So, kids, can anyone tell us something that happened to you when someone did something nice for you and made you feel very thankful?
Fiducius smiled as he thought about what happened to him earlier in the day.
-Sir, this morning my neighbor did something really nice for me and my mother.
-Great, said Mr. Soccerball. Would you like to share with us what that was?
-Well, I was running late this morning and I missed the school bus said Fiducius. My dad had already left for work so my mother was going to drive me to school before going to work. But my mom’s car refused to jump start and we were both already late so taking the city bus was out of the question. Our neighbor saw what was going on as we were both outside our house trying to figure out what to do, and she offered a ride to both me and my mom. She first dropped me off at school and then she dropped off my mom at work. So, I made it to school on time and my mom was not late for work.
-This is very nice of your neighbor, said Mr. Soccerball.
-But sir, this is not all, said Fiducius, there is more to it. With my mom’s car at the garage, it would have been difficult for me to come to soccer practice this afternoon since my dad is working late today. But you know what? My neighbor offered to drive me to and from practice too. And the best part was that she prepared a little snack for me to have in the car while driving me to soccer practice so that I have enough energy! She knows I love banana bread and she had a slice of freshly baked banana bread for me which I had in the car before getting here! I thought that it was so nice and so kind of her to go out of her way to drive me here and also, to think of giving me my favorite snack before practice!
-That is indeed extremely kind of her my boy, said Mr. Soccerball. Would you like to tell us how that made you feel?
-I really feel very grateful sir, said Fiducius, and I also feel like I want to do something nice for her as well. I am thinking of offering to clean her yard and garden this weekend. She is really into gardening and loves her garden so I think she would like that. But it is not just that, I also feel happy at the thought of doing something nice for other people too. Because if I do that it will make other people feel as happy and grateful as I feel right now!
-Wow, said Lucius, so kindness and gratitude do have a ripple effect.
-Yes, said Fiducius, this is true, I know it first-hand.
-So kids, can you imagine what will happen if we are all nice and kind to each other? asked Mr. Soccerball.
-Of course, sir, replied Madya, the world would be such a better place if all of us were kind to each other and thankful for each other’s kindness.
-Yes Madya, it most certainly would, said the coach. Being nice and thoughtful of each other brings out the best in us and makes us better people. This is how we develop an attitude of gratitude, which is just a positive way of looking at things.
All the kids got very excited, with their heads spinning about what they could do to show kindness and appreciation to other people. And of course Madya could not resist and after thinking for a moment or two, she started singing:
Let’s all be kind to each other
And do something nice for one another
Let’s warm each other’s heart
By giving a helping hand
-Guys, I know what we should do to remind ourselves to be grateful for what we have, and to be kind to people, said Lucius. My sister was talking about gratitude and kindness jars the other day. Once a week you write something that you are grateful for on a piece of paper and drop it into the gratitude jar and you also write about something nice and kind you did for someone else and drop that in the kindness jar. We should do that here, once a week and then every couple of months we can draw a few pieces of paper out of both jars and read them out loud. This will remind us how good it feels to be thankful and kind.
-A great idea Lucius, said Mr. Soccerball. So we have a new project kids. Let’s create our very own gratitude and kindness jars to keep us in check with both feeling grateful and being kind. I don’t know about you kids, but I feel that we are already changing our world to be such a better place!