This is a comprehensive lesson plan to encourage the development and practice of patience in the life of your students.
Use the table of contents on the right to jump to appopriate sections.
Required Material
TBD
Definitions
Humility is is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances.
Vocabulary: patience, waiting, calmness, self-control, frustration, coping
Attention Grabbers
“He that can have patience, can have what he will.” – Ben Franklin
“All things come round to him who will but wait” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
The Vegetable Garden
“Don’t pluck the apple while it is green :when it is ripe it will fall of itself ,” – Russian Proverb
This proverb teaches us a lot about patience . Sometimes it is difficult to wait calmly for something to happen. But in the long run , having patience can often make tasks much easier and life experienced much more enjoyable. The end result can be worth the patience required to let the process unfold in due time.
The students at a school in Ohio learned this lesson of patience first- hand in the spring of the year , with the help and supervision of their Science teacher they planted a vegetable garden . The planting took a great deal of organization and effort, but they felt a wonderful sense of deal of organization and effort , but they felt a wonderful sense of accomplishment when it was completed . Then the waiting began.
The spring rains came and the warm days of summer soon followed. Slowly the “crops” began to grow , tender shoots gradually peeking above the soil. Throughout the summer students rotated turns caring for and tending the garden. There was much work to be done – watering, hoeing and chopping weeds , staking vines, etc. with each passing week the rewards of their work became more visible.
The end of summer beckoned the students back to school . And the full rewards of their labor were not far behind . Now as fourth graders ,the students were eager to harvest their crops. In a very short time they gathered several bushels of tasty ripe vegetables – corn , beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and zucchini. Together with the help of volunteering moms they celebrated a harvest feast of salad , bread and vegetable stew. All agreed the reward was worth the waiting . But the bonus of their effort was a lesson in patience – calmly waiting for something to happen.
The Boy and the Gem Master
A young man presented himself to the local expert on gems and said he wanted to become a gemologist. The expert brushed him off because he feared that the youth would not have the patience to learn . The young man Pleaded for a chance. Finally the expert consented and told the young man, “be here tomorrow”.
The next morning the expert put jade stone in the boys hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work – cutting, weighing, and setting gems. The boy sat quietly and waited.
The following morning the expert again placed the jade stone in the boys hand and told him to hold it . On the third , fourth, and fifth days the expert repeated the exercise and the same instructions. On the sixth day the boy held the jade stone , but could no longer stand the silence, “Master,” he asked “when am I going to learn something?” “You’ll learn,” the expert replied and went about his business. Several more days went by and the youths frustration mounted. One morning as the expert approached and beckoned for him to hold out his hand , the young man was about to blurt out that he could go on no longer. But as the master placed the stone in his hand. The young man exclaimed without even looking at his hand , “this is not the same jade stone!” “you have begun to learn,” said the master.
Establish Relevance
Tafseer of Surah Asr
Story of Prophet Job
Name some things you look forward to with excitement: birthdays, holidays, vacations, grandparents’ visits, springtime, recess. Waiting helps you learn to be patient.
Recall Prior Learning
- Name some time when you need to be patient – taking turns in a game, talking in class, waiting in line, waiting for Mom or Dad to come, waiting to be served, etc. How does it make you feel when someone is rushing you to do something (mad, angry, frustrated, etc.)? Do you want them to be patient with you?
- Discuss the ways in which other people are patient with you. How does it make you feel when someone is patient with you?
Objectives & Expectations
Upon completing this lesson, you will be able to:
- Define Patience
- Demonstrate patience
- Take steps to practicing patience in your every day life
Lay the learning environment’s ground rules and ask for commitment.
Present Information
- Discuss the meaning of patience. Include words or phrases such as
- Waiting Calmly
- Taking Turns
- Hurrying
- Self-Control
- Read a story about a person who practiced the virtue of patience
- Talk about table manners. Why is patience an important virtue to have at mealtime?
- Learn to name the days of the week in order. Learn to say the months of the year and the seasons of the year. (Gaining perspective about the passage of time is necessary to the developmental process of learning patience.) Introduce the concept of telling time on an analog clock.
- Talk about ways you show patience with younger siblings.
Conduct Demonstrations
Play a game that requires taking turns.
Watch the second hand on a large wall clock. Watch it until it goes from 12 all the way around and back to 12 – that is one minute.
Practice learning to tie a bow, zip your jacket, open and close an umbrella, etc. Thank about the patience necessary to do these things correctly.
Team Sports
Team sports are a way of learning patience as well as cooperation. Organize and play a game of Kickball. Divide the class into two teams with a balanced level of experience and acapability. Decide how many innings are to be played or a given time period of play.
After the game is over, talk about times when you needed to be patient: waiting for your turn at bat, waiting for your team to git three outs while in the field , waiting for a ball to come your way so you could make the play, handling your frustration when you make a mistake or someone else did etc. Think about how all team sports requite patience . In what ways can you improve your ability to remain callm and patienct with yourself and others in these types of situation?
Native American Jewelry
Purchase a book of pattens and instructions for making different types of native American jewelry. If possible, visit a local museum or bead shop and view some of the beautiful pieced of artwork of this type. Think about the patience and precision required for creating very intricate designs and patternds with beads.
At a local craft store, purchase the materials needed for creating some of your own beaded items – belts , necklaces , bracelets, headbands, etc. learn how to thread your needle and think about the patience you need to accomplish this simple task. Read the instructions carefully. Begin your work and follow through carefully and patiently until you have completed the project.
Create a display of your crafted items and invite others in the school to view them. Write a brief description of each item on a folede card and place beside the item to explain to design, use of the object and any special techniques used in creating the item..
Talk about the importance of being able to take turns and wait patiently. [Children should be ready to tell classmates the name of the game they learned to play.
Lessons from a Butterfly
At a local toy store, nature store or garden store , purchase a kit for a butterfly Garden. Directions inside will assist you in ordering a package of larvae for continuing the process of cultivation your butterflies. Follow the directions very carefully to create the optimum environmental conditions for development of the larvae into each of the Stages::larvae, caterpillars, cocoons, butterflies. Observe the process daily. Make note of the changes you observe, count the number of days involved in the full process. Read the story of “the butterfly” at the appropriate time in the process. Think about the Necessary steps for the butterfly to develop its full potential.
On the day when the butterflies emerge from the cocoons, plan an outdoor event to set them free. Write a poem to say as you grant these beautiful creatures their rightful place in nature’s landscape. Consider the patience that exists in nature as well as in Human beings.
Facilitate Practice, Manage Discussion
Listening is an important way to show patience. Practice being a good listener. Play the game Simon Says and practice listening carefully.
Name an event that will take place in your classroom in several days. Name the days of the week. Name the day of the special event. Count the days as they go by. Talk about being patient and looking forward to something happening.
Stand in a circle. Pass a large ball around the circle with each person taking a turn to bounce it five times. Talk about being able to practice patience while waiting for your turn and patience in taking care to control the ball when it is your turn to do the bouncing.
Cooking with Patience
Purchase a batch of yeast dough at the grocery or bakery. Discuss the process of patience in waiting for bread to rise – a practice we are unaccustomed to today in our society of convenience. Prepare the dough according to the directions and place it in a when the bread is risen and ready for baking, pour a carton of whipped cream in a jar and place the lid on tightly. While the bread is baking, have the children sit in a circle. Demonstrate holding the jar carefully and shaking vigorously. pass the jar around the circle , each child having a turn to shake vigorously as the group chants the following poem together:
- Come, butter, come! Come , butter , come !
- Pilgrims at the garden gate,
- Waiting for his butter vale.
- Come , butter , come! Come , butter , come !
At the completion of each verse the child passes the jar to the next child and the verse is said again. Continue saying the poem and passing the jar around the circle and shaking color, if desired, to look like butter, although the natural color is characteristic of real butter instead of margarine.
Pour the small amount of liquid off and place the clump of butter on a plate enjoy eating the butter on the warm fresh bread that has been baking . Discuss the rewards of patience and ways in which our modern society is less practiced in the virtue of patience than people were in times past.
Bingo
Bingo is a game that requires patience. Waiting calmly for a certain number to be called in order to win can be a challenge of ones patience. Purchase the game of Bingo to include enough cards and markers to supply the total number of students in the class. Divide the students into teams of 4-5 in a team , let each team choose a team name , explain directions in case some children have not played this game before Explain the system of points for games won by a team . To make the game a little more exciting, extra points can be given if a round is won during the first 5 calls, 10calls, 12calls, etc.
Play a session of several rounds of bingo each day, keeping a record of the points won by each team, at the end of the week have a bingo party to celebrate the enjoyment of a game practicing with numbers and practicing patience while playing . (for further challenge and skill development, the game of Ouixmo is a version of bingo that uses number facts instead of individual numbers these can be purchased at school Supply stores and some game stories).
Assess
- Make a booklet of pictures of times when patience is needed
- Practice taking turns doing things and waiting for attention
- Practice saying, “I can wait a little longer”
Coach Transfer to Home
Letter to Parents
Dear Parents,
The module focus for this month will be the virtue of Patience. It is our hope that through this emphasis the children will understand and practice the important balance between gaining self-confidence and recognizing and honoring the dignity of all people. A lifetime commitment to service toward others and our world is a habit begun in childhood. Fostering that perspective will also be our goal during this unit.
As this virtue of patince becomes a feature of our daily classroom interactions and activities, we hope you will extend and supplement that focus through your reinforcement of its importance at home as well. The following ideas will provide assistance with that effort.
We welcome your feedback and input regarding this important part of your child’s daily life and education. We appreciate your continued support of our mission to encourage the development and practice of high moral standards in the life of your child.
Vocabulary: patience, waiting, calmness, self-control, frustration, coping
Suggested Topics for Discussion:
- Reasons for and benefits of being patient
- Ways to learn to wait for attention
- Situations that call for practice of patience
- Patience as related to fairness and consideration of others
- Determining when it is appropriate to interrupt and doing so in the proper way
Suggest Family Activities:
- Read a story that requires more than one sitting to complete
- Bake cookies and wait to eat them until they are cool
- Wait for everyone to be served before beginning to eat at mealtime
- Take turns having special privileges such as choosing where to sit, staying up later, being first in a game, etc.
Family Activity One
Spend time together in the kitchen. Plan a favorite treat to cook together. Make a list of the ingredients needed and go shopping together to get them.
Before beginning think about ways in which each person can have a part in the cooking process. Children can often help with measuring, pouring or stirring at an appropriate stage. Take turns doing each part of the job of preparing the recipe.
Place the treat in the oven to bake. Set the time and discuss where the hands on the clock will be when the cooking is finished. After cooking time is done, remove from the oven and wait for the finished dish to cool before sharing. Talk together about the time it takes to complete a cooking task and ther eward that is gained in the end if it is done correctly.
Think about the different results that might happen if steps are left out or the process is rushed and not done correctly. Talk about the patience that is a necessary part of any cooking activity.
Family Activity Two
Choose a story you would like to read that is about the virtue of Patience. Plan a time for reading when everyone in the family can be present.
Before beginning the story, discuss the meaning of patience. Think about some times when each of you need to practice being patient. Is patience sometimes difficult? What are ways in which you can learn to be patient?
Read the story together. When you have finished reading, discuss who was patient in the story and how that character showed patience. What was gained by being patient?
Decide together on a way in which your family can begin to practice the virtue of patience on a regular basis, perhaps at mealtime, bedtime, early morning, etc. Put your plans into action.
Family Activity Three
Plan a family mystery adventure trip. One parent gets to decide where the adventure will lead, but keeps it a secret. It doesn’t have to be a long trip – perhaps to a park, campground, nearby town, ice cream parlor, zoo, relative’s or friend’s house – but the destination should remain unknown until arrival.
Plan some activities you can take along for entertainment during the ride.
Decide before leaving that everyone will be patient and remember not to ask when you will be there until you arrive and the parent announces the arrival at the mystery location.
When you have completed your Mystery Adventure draw a picture about it. Did you think the wait seemed long? Did you feel anxious to know the secret of where you were going? Were you able to wait calmly and not ask when you would get there? Was it fun to anticipate the surprise of the adventure? Plan another mystery event in the future and talk about how you are developing patience as you wait and anticipate the outcome.
Family Activity Four
Learn to play a game together that requires taking turns. Suggestions for games for pre-school and kindergarten age children might be Candyland, Hi-ho! Cherrio!, Go Fish, etc. These can be purchased at a local toy or game store.
Plan a time to sit together and play the game. Explain the rules. Begin the game and take truns waiting patiently until each person has had their turn. Continue the game in this way to completion. If several children are available to play, the adults can serve as helpers instead of players and assist the children until they understand how to play their turn independently.
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