Monday Lesson 1122009

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Monday Lesson 1/12/2009

• The Torn Heart

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Today we will focus on

• Developing empathy
• Building awareness of actions that constitute
  name calling and put-downs.
• Developing commitment to positive interactions.

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You will need

• 1 8x11 size paper heart
• 1 copy of the story The Torn Heart
• Tape
• One volunteer to read the story
• One volunteer to hold the heart.

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Directions

• Teacher or student, please read the story to the
  rest of the class.
• Teacher or student, please rip a small piece
  (about an inch) of the heart each time you hear a
  put-down or a negative comment made to Pedro.
  (Do not throw the pieces away, keep them near you
  on the desk).

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The Torn Heart

• One Tuesday morning, when the alarm clock rang,
  Pedro did not get out of bed. Twenty minutes
  later, his older brother Carlos pounded loudly on
  his door. Youre such a lazy lump, he said.
  Get up. Youll be late for school again.
• But Im sick, Pedro said.
• Why do you always act like a baby? Carlos said.
  Get out of bed! The bus will be here any
  moment.
• Pedro quickly put on his clothes-reaching for the
  first thing he could find and went to the
  kitchen to grab something to eat. Grab an apple
  and go, his mother said. If you werent so
  lazy you could have had a decent breakfast.
  Sometimes I think your father is right youre
  never going to amount to anything.
• Carlos stormed out the door, leaving it to slam
  in Pedros face.
• You wait for Pedro, their mother said.

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• That loser, Carlos said. I dont want to even
  be seen with him. Do you see what hes
  wearing?
• The boys made it to the bus just in time, with
  Pedro following behind his older brother. But as
  the doors of the bus closed and it started
  rolling, Pedro remembered he had left his
  homework in his bedroom.
• Pedro asked the bus driver if he would wait while
  he went back to get his homework. What are you,
  kid, crazy? This isnt a taxi. Anyway, thats
  what you get for being late.
• When Pedro got to school, he told his English
  teacher that he had left his homework at home.
  She said, Thats the fourth time this month,
  Pedro. Have you really been doing your work? Im
  beginning to think youre lying. You know, I had
  your sister and she was such a better kid than
  you are.

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• Pedro liked to play sports but he hated gym
  class, where he was the smallest of all the boys.
  And to make it worse, in his rush in the morning
  he had forgotten his gym clothes and had to wear
  something from the lost and found box. That
  day, they were supposed to play basketball,
  which was Pedros very worst sport of all. The
  teacher asked the kids to divide themselves into
  two teams, the Lions and the Tigers. Within a
  few minutes, there were ten boys on each team,
  with only Pedro left.
• The captain of the Lions team said We dont
  want himhes no good.
• Hes no Tiger. Hes more like a scaredy cat,
  said the captain of the Tigers. And the other
  boys laughed and meowed. Look, he doesnt even
  have real gym clothes, another boy said. Yeah
  (sarcastically), youre looking mighty fine,
  Pedro. NOT. And everyone laughed again.
• Finally, the teacher assigned Pedro to a team,
  the Lions. But he sat on the bench for the whole
  time because the captain never put him in the
  game.

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Discussion Questions

• How do you think Pedro is feeling right now?
  Why?
• What might be the effect on him being treated
  this way day after day?
• Take the pieces of the heart that were torn. Use
  tape or glue and try to piece the heart back
  together again.
• Does it look the same as when you started the
  lesson?
• Is there anything you could do right now to make
  it look exactly the same as when you started?
• The words we use with each other matter. When
  we choose to put someone down, we leave a lasting
  impression on their heart. When a student is
  treated this way day after day, their heart will
  be forever damaged.

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Discussion Continued

• Reread the story and replace the put-downs with
  drops.
• How do you think Pedro would feel now, after
  hearing all of these drops?
• Commitment Now lets all commit to say one nice
  thing to someone today. (Choose someone that you
  would have normally said a put-down to or not
  spoken to at all.