Overview
Key
Understanding:
Wisdom is
similar to knowledge and comprehension yet is it different.
Wisdom offers us guidance and understanding of the really
important things in life. Wisdom helps us to make good
choices. It is like a compass within us. Conscience is a part
of wisdom. We are born with wisdom but we learn how to listen
and use it better as we grow and age. Sometimes we gain a
deeper appreciation of wisdom and use it better as a result of
making mistakes and learning from them. An arrow is a symbol of
wisdom because wisdom gives us direction and points the way.
Objectives:
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To
recognize that each of us is born with this gift.
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To identify
ways we use this gift.
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To
understand at least a small aspect of this gift
experientially.
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To see how
applying this gift can enrich our lives.
Supplies:
Pre-K – Grade 1:
A copy of
The Twelve Gifts of Birth
Treasure Chests and Treasure Cards from Lesson 1, crayons
Grades 2 – 3:
A copy of
The Twelve Gifts of Birth
Treasure Chests
and Treasure Cards from Lesson 1, crayons or colored pencils
A short fable
to read to students
Wisdom Activity Sheet 1.
A compass and a
magnet.
Grades 4 – 6:
A copy of
The Twelve Gifts of Birth
Student
journals from Lesson 1
A short fable
to read to students
Wisdom Activity Sheet 1.
A compass and a
magnet.
Optional:
Materials for each student to make a compass
Wisdom Activity Sheet 2
OPEN LESSON
Set stage for
respect, trust, and discovery. Use cue.
ENGAGE THE LEARNER
Have students look at the 4-page
section on wisdom in The Twelve Gifts of Birth.
Read the text, “The tenth gift is Wisdom. Guiding your
way, wisdom will lead you through knowledge to understanding.
May you hear its soft voice.”
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Pre K – Grade 1
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Grades 2 – 3
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Grades 4 – 6
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Explain that today they
will be learning about wisdom. Focus children’s
attention on the photographs in the book. Point out that
the book the girl had been reading is set aside and now
she is quietly thinking.
Tell the children that we
all have the gift of wisdom within us. When we listen
quietly, wisdom will guide us and help us to come to
important answers to questions we might ask. Explain
that wisdom is like an arrow that points the way for us,
helping us know what is a good choice and what is right. |
Invite interpretations of
the photo and text. Ask: “What might the girl be
thinking about?” Ask students to recall how they
sometimes stop and listen for answers about what they
should do or what is right. Continue the discussion by
asking: “How do we hear the voice of wisdom? Where in
our bodies does it feel like it speaks to us? In our
heart? Our head? Our stomach? Or does wisdom speak to us
in each of these places at different times?” Point out
that our conscience is a part of the gift of wisdom
within us. |
Invite interpretations of
the photos and text. Ask: “What is wisdom? How do we
hear it in ourselves? Can mistakes help us better hear
wisdom? How might that happen?” Point out that our
conscience is an aspect of wisdom within us. Identify a
few situations in which wisdom may guide us.
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DEVELOP THE
IDEAS
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Pre K – Grade 1
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Grades 2 – 3
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Grades 4 – 6
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Explain that we must
listen quietly to the little voice inside us that guides
us and helps us understand things. Sometimes it is a
soft voice. Invite children to talk about where this
voice might be. Explain that sometimes we hear this
voice in our hearts, sometimes we hear it in our heads,
sometimes we feel it in our stomachs. Help them identify
times they may have listened to wisdom, such as stopping
before running into the street to go after a ball, or
telling the truth. Encourage them to always listen to
the voice of wisdom within them. |
Use a compass as an
example of wisdom. It points toward Earth’s magnetic
North. A magnet nearby causes the needle to spin. When
the magnet is removed, the needle points the way again.
Many people have used a compass to find their way as
they travel. Wisdom is like a built-in compass. It
points the way and gives us direction. When we feel
confused by things going on around us, we can become
still, (like removing the magnet) and we will feel or
hear how wisdom is guiding us. |
Use a compass as an
example of wisdom. It points toward Earth’s magnetic
North. A magnet nearby causes the needle to spin. When
the magnet is removed, the needle points the way again.
Many travelers and explorers have used a compass to find
their way. Explain that wisdom is like a built-in
compass. It points the way and gives us direction. When
we feel confused by things going on around us, we can
become still, (like removing the magnet) and we will
feel or hear how wisdom is guiding us.
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EXPERIENCE AND APPLY THE LEARNING
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Pre K – Grade 1
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Grades 2 – 3
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Grades 4 – 6
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Have the children gather
into a circle and play a version of the telephone game.
Ask everyone to remain quiet and listen carefully as one
word or short sentence is passed around the circle in a
whisper. It might be “The tenth gift is wisdom, I
have wisdom, or You have wisdom.”
Have children find the
wisdom card in their treasure chest and, using the color
that best represents wisdom, make the wisdom symbol. If
time allows, have them draw a picture of a time they
used wisdom on the back of the card. Then have them
place their card back in the chest. |
Read a short, simple
wisdom tale with a clear moral lesson on the
Wisdom Activity Sheet
1. “What is the lesson? What is wisdom telling you?
Explain that the gift of wisdom within them recognized
the wisdom in the story and they were able to connect
their own experiences with it. Explain that this is an
example and an experience of wisdom.
If
possible, give each student a simple compass as a
reminder of wisdom within them.
Finally, have students
make the wisdom symbol and write “I have” on the wisdom
card in their treasure chest. |
Read a wisdom tale or
fable with a clear moral lesson,
Wisdom Activity Sheet 1.
Ask students to explain the lesson it offers. Explain
that wisdom within them recognized the wisdom in the
story and they were able to connect their own
experiences with it. Explain that this is an example of
and an experience of wisdom.
Have each student make their own simple compass, using the
Wisdom Activity
Sheet 2 as a reminder of their built-in compass:
Wisdom. Encourage them to—throughout their lives—take
quiet time for reflection and listen to the guiding
voice within them.
Have students write about
wisdom in their journals. |
SUMMARY AND
EVALUATION
Review what
was learned about
wisdom.
If time allows, have students share understandings. Acknowledge
that they have already been using wisdom and that they will use
it in many ways in the future. Remind them they will continue to
explore the use of other gifts in upcoming lessons.
CLOSE LESSON
Create a
ceremonial sense of having completed an important discovery. Use
cue to end the lesson.
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Wisdom Activity
Sheet 1
Fable
Wisdom tales are
folk tales, fairy tales, fables and parables that
contain an important life lesson. Within a few
minutes, upon hearing a short, simple story, the
listener understands a moral along with being
entertained. A truth resonates within the listener,
whether the listener is a young child or an adult.
Good Fortune, Bad Fortune (Hope Activity
Sheet) is one such story. The Twelve Gifts of
Birth may also be considered a wisdom tale.
You may wish to
regularly read such stories, among them Aesops’s
Fables, and discuss the story lessons with your
students.
Here’s one to start:
The
Tree that Was Different
Long ago in a
faraway land there was a beautiful thick grove of
trees covering a hill. Among the trees was one
crooked tree with a twisted trunk. For many years,
whenever woodcutters came to select trees to make
furniture and build houses, they always passed the
crooked tree. Some woodcutters called it a
worthless tree. Others called it a useless
tree. Some just said it was, well, different.
The woodcutters admired only tall, straight trees
that could be cut into straight logs and boards. In
time all the tall, straight trees were cut down.
The tree that was different continued to grow
spreading its limbs toward the sky and its roots
into the Earth.
Now, on that hill in
the faraway land, there stands a very old tree with
a beautiful and graceful twisted trunk that bends
this way and that. The magnificent old tree has
many, many branches. After hundreds of years, it
still produces beautiful leaves each spring.
Children love to play on and under the tree. Many
families enjoy picnics under the tree.
Encourage students
to discuss what wisdom lessons they hear in this
story. This story contains many truths. Remember
that all contributions are valid.
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Wisdom Activity Sheet 2
Make
a Compass
Supplies:
One sewing needle (one inch size)
One small magnet (bar type)
One small circle piece of cork
about 1Ú4 inch thick
One small glass of water
Run the magnet over
the needle about 50 times (going in the same
direction each time).
Push the needle
through the cork (going through the thin, flat
surface, from one end of circle to the other so that
the needle is in the same plane as the cork,
parallel).
Place the needle-cork
in a cup of water so that the needle is on the
surface of the water.
Or, Instead of
driving the needle through the cork, you may also
try just placing the cork on top of the floating
circle of cork.
Either way, you have
made a compass.
Set this compass on a
flat, still surface. The needle should point in the
Earth’s Magnetic North-South direction.
Gently spin the
floating cork. When it stops, the needle should
return to the North-South direction.
NOTE: You may wish
to make just one compass as a classroom
demonstration; or, if time, funds, and situations
permit, have each student make their own.
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