You can either make one giant paper heart or doll or give each student their own individual paper heart or doll. You will read a story and you or your students will manipulate the doll/heart as you go along. Those actions are in bold.
Story
Our story starts on a school day, when Susie’s mother wakes her up for school. Well, Susie was kind of slow to get up that morning, and her mother said “Quit being lazy and get up. I wish you were more like your sister, she’s never lazy in the morning.” And that hurt Susie’s feelings. (crumple part of the doll/heart)
Well, Susie got up and got dressed, and went downstairs for breakfast. Her older sister was already eating breakfast, and she looked up when Susie came in. She made a disapproving face and said “Are you really going to wear that shirt with those pants? You look really stupid in that outfit.” And that hurt Susie’s feelings. (crumple part of the doll/heart)
After Susie ate her breakfast, she went outside to wait for the school bus. When it came, she got on and started to sit down next to her best friend Jane. But Jane said, “You can’t sit here. I’m saving this seat for Polly.” And that hurt Susie’s feelings. (crumple part of the doll/heart)
At school that morning, Susie couldn’t find her homework to turn in. She looked in her book-bag and her desk, but she couldn’t find it. Her teacher was standing by her desk, waiting for her to find it, and in front of the whole class, her teacher said, “You are so disorganized and messy. I think you’d lose your head if it wasn’t attached to your neck.” The whole class started laughing. (crumple part of the doll/heart)
Finally, it was time for recess. Susie loved recess. She was hopeful her day would get better outside. On the playground, some of her friends were playing a game of kickball. Susie wanted to play, but the captain of the first team said “I don’t want you on my team. You run too slow.” (crumple part of the doll/heart)
The captain of the other team said, “I don’t want her either. She can’t even kick.” (crumple part of the doll/heart)
And another kid said, “Why don’t you go play with somebody else?” (crumple part of the doll/heart)
And the other kids laughed and ran off to play kickball. (crumple part of the doll/heart)
Discussion
- What has happened to the doll/heart?
- What happened to Susie? (At this point, the paper doll/heart should be completely balled up.)
Story continued…
Well, Susie had had a rough day, so she just sat on the playground and cried. After a few minutes, the other kids noticed how sad she was, and they said, “Oh, no! Look what we’ve done!” So they tried to make Susie feel better. “It’s OK, Susie, you can be on my team,” said the captain of the first team. And that made Susie feel a little bit better. (smooth out part of the doll/heart)
“You can be on my team if you want,” said the captain of the second team. (smooth out part of the doll/heart)
“We want you to play with us,” said another kid. (smooth out part of the doll/heart) “I’m sorry I laughed at you,” said another. (smooth out part of the doll/heart)
Back in the classroom that afternoon, Susie’s teacher complimented her on her artwork for a project the class was working on. “You’re so creative,” she said. “I’m proud of you.” (smooth out part of the doll/heart.
On the bus that afternoon, Jane and Polly asked Susie to sit with them. So she sat with both of her friends, and they talked and giggled all the way home. (smooth out part of the doll/heart)
Later that afternoon, Susie’s sister asked if Susie wanted to go to the mall with her. Of course, she said yes, and they had a great time trying on clothes and giggling with each other. (smooth out part of the doll/heart)
And that night, when Susie went to bed, her mother gave her a hug and a kiss and said, “I’m sorry I was so grouchy with you this morning. I love you so much!” (smooth out part of the doll/heart)
And so Susie went to bed. (The entire doll/heart should be smoothed out by now.)
Discussion
- What does the doll/heart look like now?
- Even though the paper doll/heart is flattened out again, it will never be the same. No matter how hard I rub and flatten the doll/heart, the wrinkles will never totally go away. When you say hurtful things and give people put-downs, you may come back and say you’re sorry. And the person may forgive you. But the put downs and mean things will never totally go away from their mind just like the wrinkles will not totally go away on the doll/heart.
- Let’s promise to keep each other flat with no wrinkles. Say kind words instead of mean words or put downs. Treat each other with kindness by being friendly and nice to everyone. Remember, once a wrinkle happens, it is nearly impossible to smooth it all the way out.
(This lesson is also really great with Kevin Henke’s Chrysanthemum. This year, when we pledged to keep each other’s hearts smooth, we did so by signing our name to band-aids and putting the band-aids over the tears and deep wrinkles in the heart.
LESSON PLANS 