As always, you and a few of the students recite prayers to open the class. You can then help them start to memorize the following prayer, on which they will continue to focus their efforts over the next two lessons. You will review the entire prayer with them in Lesson 13.
“Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.”
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I Thank and Praise Thee Lord
I thank and praise Thee Lord
For the crown of mercy
Set upon my head
It will forever glow
The more gratitude I show
I thank and praise Thee Lord
I thank and praise Thee Lord
For the love and knowledge
Implanted in my heart
They will grow and grow
The more gratitude I show
I thank and praise Thee Lord
I thank and praise Thee Lord
For the light of truth
That illumines my eyes
I will see Thy bounties flow
The more gratitude I show
I thank and praise Thee Lord
I thank and praise Thee Lord
Alternative song - I always like the "we have come to sing Praises to Our Lord" song. Listen HERE.
The new quotation for memorization can be introduced to your students in the following way.
When we receive even the smallest of gifts, we thank the person who gave it to us. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá tells us that we should be thankful to God for having showered His bounties upon us and for having caused our hearts to overflow with His love. We must be thankful to God at all times, even in times of difficulty. Giving thanks to God enables us to receive more and more of His infinite bounties. Let us memorize the following quotation:
[Thankfulness is being grateful for what happens in your life and for everything around you. It is being open to receive God’s blessings and appreciating each as part of the gift of life. Being thankful helps you stay content and keep a sense of wonder as you go through life. It is realizing how much you have to be grateful for within yourself and for what happens to you. When we are grateful, we see challenges as opportunities for growth and do not take even little things for granted;
What does someone practising Thankfulness look like?
How can you show Thankfulness each day?
How do you feel when someone shows Thankfulness to you?
It's easy to be thankful when you're having fun with your friends and you're happy. How about at other times?]
[A big part of gratitude is saying thank you. When someone does something nice or gives you something, you say thanks. It’s also saying thank you to God for this amazing, beautiful world He has given us. Let’s think of some things—big or small— that we are grateful for that start with each of these letters: T-H-A-N-K-S (invite kids to respond).Gratitude is more than just saying thank you, though. It’s also looking at the good side of things, noticing the beauty around us, and expecting the best. And it’s about choosing to be happy about what we DO have or CAN do, rather than unhappy about what we DON’T have or CAN’T do.]
Put to music HERE.
Conduce
1. Nadia is always clean. She knows that cleanliness is important for spiritual growth. Cleanliness conduces to spirituality.
2. Seff’s family talks regularly about important family matters. Because they consult together, they live in harmony. Consultation conduces to harmony.
[Alternative quote: Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face...' Abdu'l-Baha]
There was once a girl called Maya, who lived in a place that was very cold in the winter. Maya had used the same coat every winter for many years, and it was worn out and too small. Everyone could see that Maya needed a new coat before the winter came again, but her family did not have enough money to buy one.
A farmer who lived down the road from Maya’s home told her she could have some wool from his sheep to make a new coat. He said she would have to wait until the spring when the wool would be thick and ready to shear. Maya wanted to show her thankfulness, so, as she waited for the spring, she helped the farmer by happily tending the sheep for a while each day. She fed them hay and fruits, patted them and even sang to them!
In the spring, the farmer sheared the wool and gave it to Maya. He showed her how to make it smooth and ready for spinning. Maya thanked him and began to walk home. An old woman who lived next door saw Maya with the wool and offered to spin it into thread for her. Maya was very grateful and wanted to find a way to thank the old woman. She could see many vegetables growing in the old woman’s garden, so all through the summer, she picked the vegetables and washed them and made them ready for the old woman to cook.
When the thread was ready, Maya picked some red berries and dyed it all red. Then she visited the weaver and explained that she needed help to make the thread into cloth. The kind weaver was happy to make the cloth. To show her thankfulness, while the weaver was busy making a lovely red cloth from the thread, each afternoon Maya cleaned and tidied the weaver’s workshop.
When the cloth was ready, Maya visited the tailor, and explained that winter was coming and she needed a new coat. She showed him the cloth, and he said he would make it into a coat for her. Maya wanted to thank him, so every day while he worked she swept the autumn leaves from the path to his shop. The tailor measured, cut, pinned and sewed until the coat was done. Maya was very pleased. She thanked the tailor and put on the coat – it was perfect!
When Maya arrived home, her family was as pleased as she was with her new coat. They decided to invite all the people who had helped to make it to share a simple meal with them. So the farmer, the old woman, the weaver and the tailor all came to Maya’s home. They were all happy to know that Maya had the new coat she needed for the winter.
But Maya’s ‘thank yous’ were still not finished. The next morning, Maya put on her coat and went to visit the sheep.
“Thank you, sheep!” she said, “Thank you, thank you, for this lovely warm coat!”
“Baa!” answered the sheep, and it seemed as if they were smiling back at her.
Ask the students to form a circle holding hands. The children must send a pulse signal through the group. One child begins by quickly squeezing the hand of the child to his or her side, who passes on the signal to the next child, and so on, until it returns to the first child. The children should be timed and challenged to go faster and faster. Once the children have learned the basic game, you can ask them to send the pulse in the opposite direction or to increase the number of squeezes per pulse.
[Alternative games:
1. The Grateful Game: List everyone and everything you are thankful in your life. Take turns saying, “I am grateful for” and try to find as many things as you can to be grateful for.
2. Learning to say thankyou in other languages
3. Given scenarios of hardship - what are the fruits from those hardships, and what do we have to be thankful for?]
Game/Activity: Grumbles to Gratitude Role Play/Puppet Play
Give examples of a grumbling response vs. a grateful response using puppets (I usually use two puppets and name them Grumbly Gertrude and Grateful Gabby). If you don’t have puppets, you can just role-play it with kids in the class. Give kids a scenario and show a grumbling response with one puppet. Then ask kids to give examples of grateful responses and act them out with the other puppet:
- I don’t like what’s for dinner: “I don’t want that!” or “Yuck!”
- I’m at the store and I want something: “But ____ has one!”
- I’m leaving a friend’s house: “I didn’t get to stay very long!”
- I can’t do something as well as someone else: “I can’t do it as well as _____!”
- Someone else gets to do something that I want to do: “___’s mom lets her do it!”
Make sunny or rose-coloured glasses as a reminder to look at the good things in life, and that you can find things to be thankful for when you look for them.
- Have kids cut out the glasses templates (or cut them out yourself beforehand—cutting out the lens part can be tricky).
- Have kids colour or decorate them with markers or crayons.
- Cut out two cellophane pieces (yellow for “sunny” glasses, pink for “rose-coloured” glasses) and glue them onto back of glasses as lenses.
- Remind students to look at the world through glasses of gratitude!
There are many people who perform thankless jobs that make your child's life easier. This could be a teacher, janitor, librarian or someone who organizes a community event. Start by helping your child identify these selfless people in his life. Next, provide materials for your child to create thank you cards to give to these people. Helping your child see how he benefits from others humility, can help him become more humble too.
lesson10thanksgiving.pdf |
"What is to come is better for you than what has gone before: for your Lord will certainly give you, and you will be content... Keep recounting the favours of your Lord." - Al-Qur'an 93
What Is Thankfulness?
Thankfulness is being grateful for what you have. It is an attitude of gratitude for learning, loving and being. Thankfulness is being glad for the special things which come along. It is also being grateful for the little things which happen around you and within you every day. It is an openness and willingness to receive each of God's bounties.
To be thankful is to have a sense of wonder about the beauty of this world and to welcome all of life as a gift. Thankfulness is a path to contentment.
Thankfulness is a way to get perspective when things don't look good and you start to lose hope. It is a way to grow when painful things happen, by looking at the gifts which are always there, even when they seem hidden.
Why Practice Thankfulness?
Without thankfulness people would stay focused on negativity. They would do nothing but whine and complain. They would miss the beauty of life and the power of learning, especially during the difficult times.
No matter how difficult or dark things become, there is always light. There is something to learn in every painful situation. In fact, sometimes when you look back at a really hard test in your life and realize what you learned, that is when you feel the most grateful of all.
Thanksgiving is conducive to bounty. When you open your heart by giving thanks to the Creator, you create more room for the flow of good things to come. Thankfulness leads to optimism. And when you expect the best, you often find it.
How Do You Practice It?
You practice thankfulness by noticing the beauty around you and within you. Then let yourself feel the gratitude in your heart.
Count your blessings often, especially when you are having a hard time. Find the lessons in all things, for they are the true gifts of this life. Avoid envy because it can destroy your trust. The moment you envy someone else, you are rejecting the gifts that are yours.
If you want to practice thankfulness, learn to receive. It is blessed to give, and it is blessed to receive. Everyone needs to have the opportunity to give, including people who care for you. Be optimistic by being receptive to life rather than allowing fear or worry to control you.
To practice thankfulness, appreciate little things - a flower by the road, the stars at night, a challenge met, a laugh with a friend, a sorrow shared. To be truly thankful, don't wait for a dream to be fulfilled. Celebrate the moment.
What would thankfulness look like if...
- You feel sad and defeated because of many problems?
- You wish you were more like the popular person you know?
- You go for walk in a place of beauty?
- You have a painful experience and wonder why God allowed it to happen?
- Someone gives you a gift?
Signs of Success
Congratulations! You are practising thankfulness when you...
| Keep trying! You need more practice when you...
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I am thankful for the many gifts within me and around me today. I celebrate each moment by opening myself to beauty and to learning. I expect the best.