LOVE SURROUNDS US
A Tapestry of Faith Program for Children
SESSION 11: HEAR OUR VOICES
BY LYNN KERR AND CHRISTY OLSON
© Copyright 2010 Unitarian Universalist Association.
Published to the Web on 11/8/2014 5:41:47 AM PST.
This program and additional resources are available on the UUA.org web site at
www.uua.org/religiouseducation/curricula/tapestryfaith.
SESSION OVERVIEW
INTRODUCTION
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. — Anne Frank, in her diary, published in 1952
The theme of this session is "Making our voices heard can show love." Whether it is letter-writing campaigns, marches, or calls to our congressional representatives, every time we speak to support those with too little power, we are living our Unitarian Universalist Principles. The story in this session is a true story about Ruby Bridges who, at six years old, became a hero of the Civil Rights movement. Ruby was the first African American child to integrate an all-white school in Louisiana. The session focuses on helping participants discover what gifts or talents they have to offer to others to build a loving community.
Unitarian Universalists strongly believe in speaking up for and with those who are not being heard. In many congregations, it is just not adults who speak up but children, too. By encouraging our children to speak for those whose voices are not being heard, we help them understand that just one voice can make a difference and we should never feel that what little we can do is not valuable.
GOALS
This session will:
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Participants will:
SESSION-AT-A-GLANCE
Activity | Minutes |
Welcoming and Entering | 0 |
Opening | 5 |
Activity 1: Story — Ruby Bridges, Surrounded by Love | 10 |
Activity 2: What's in Your Bucket? | 15 |
Activity 3: Song — I'm Unique and Unrepeatable | 5 |
Activity 4: Giving Machine | 20 |
Faith in Action: Service Fair | |
Closing | 5 |
Alternate Activity 1: Greeting Cards | 15 |
Alternate Activity 2: Charm Bracelet | 20 |
Alternate Activity 3: Poster — Fifth Principle | 10 |
SPIRITUAL PREPARATION
In our very busy lives, it can be difficult to believe that even a small gesture can make a difference in someone's life. We may even believe that we don't have any talents to offer. Think about small gestures you have made in the past that really did have an impact. How did you feel? Have you ever felt that you simply don't have any time or money to help another person? What volunteer activities do you hope to participate in, in the future? How can you make it happen? How can you teach children that they have their own gifts that can be used to help others?
Have you ever been on the receiving end of a kind gesture? Reflect on how you felt. You may choose to share this story with the group to demonstrate how simple a gesture can be and still make a difference. In what ways can you help participants understand that even young children can really make an impact in the world? Relax and make yourself ready to help participants discover their own gifts to share.
SESSION PLAN
WELCOMING AND ENTERING
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Use this activity when children arrive individually—that is, straggle in—before the session begins. Welcome each child as they enter. Invite them to take their ribbon stick from the container by the door and move to the large group area. Invite them to find the blue ribbon on their ribbon stick.
Including All Participants
Give a ribbon stick to any new child or visitor and write their name on it.
Provide wrist ribbons for children who are physically unable to wave a ribbon stick. Help attach wrist ribbons to wrists, legs, or fingers according to the mobility of the child.
Provide a space at a work table for any child who is unable to sit at a chair.
OPENING (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Invite children to find their ribbon sticks and then come sit together. Welcome the children.
Optional: Lead the group to sing the song "Love Surrounds Me."
Have each child say their name and wave their ribbon stick above their head. Remind them that they will learn all the UU Principles and that each Principle will have a different color. Tell them blue represents the fifth Principle. Have them find the blue ribbon and say the Principle together: "Everyone deserves a say about the things that concern them."
Ask participants if anyone can remember the first Principle (Each and every person is important). Ask if they remember what color we assigned to the first Principle (red). Ask if they remember the second Principle (We believe all people should be treated fairly) and its color (orange). Ask if they remember the third Principle (We accept all people and we learn together) and its color (yellow) and the fourth Principle (Each person is free to search for what is true and right in life) and its color (green).
Lead the opening chant:
Group chants "Love surrounds us everyday. The Principles show us the way."
Leader says "______ please, put your ribbons away." (Child named returns their ribbon stick.)
Guide children, as they are named, to return their ribbon stick to the container and then return to the circle. This is a way to acknowledge the presence of each participant. If the group is large, say only several names, then direct the others to put away their ribbon sticks all together and come back to the circle.
When all the children have returned to the circle, say "Now we will light the chalice, the symbol of our Unitarian Universalist faith." Light the chalice. Lead the group to say together:
Love surrounds the chalice and we are included by the light of the chalice.
Including All Participants
Help attach wrist ribbons (Session 1, Opening) to children's wrists, legs, or fingers, and later, help remove them, if any children are physically unable to use a ribbon stick.
ACTIVITY 1: STORY, RUBY BRIDGES, SURROUNDED BY LOVE (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Gather the children. Ask them how they felt when they first went to a new school or a new place. Affirm that even when they are new, they can make a difference. Tell them you will share a true story about a little girl who went someplace new, even when she was not sure others wanted her there. She was brave and went to a new school to stand up for herself and for other people who needed to be heard.
Read or tell the story of Ruby Bridges.
When you are done, process the story with these questions:
Affirm for the group that Unitarian Universalists work toward social justice and support people who are not treated fairly. Ruby acted to stand up for herself and to give others a voice and a choice about which schools they would attend. Ruby's action showed courage and bravery. Her teacher, Barbara, also showed courage in standing by Ruby.
ACTIVITY 2: WHAT'S IN YOUR BUCKET? (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This activity gives participants an opportunity to think about what they have to offer to the world. Show participants the bucket you have brought and ask them what they think might be inside. Allow some guesses. Then, tell them it is a bucket of gifts but not the kind you open. Tell them a few of your gifts as examples: loving children, playing the piano, making people smile. You might mime putting your gifts in the bucket.
Ask the following discussion questions:
Affirm for participants the gifts they have to offer. Tell them they fill their buckets and each others', when we come together as Unitarian Universalists.
Including All Participants
Suggest examples of gifts to participants if they have trouble thinking of their own.
ACTIVITY 3: SONG, I'M UNIQUE AND UNREPEATABLE (5 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
This song reminds us we are all unique.
Ask participants to stand and tell them you are going to teach them a song about being special. It is called "I'm Unique and Unrepeatable." Ask participants if they know the song "Ten Little Children" (one little, two little, three little children... ). Sing a portion of the song to remind them what the tune sounds like. Tell participants that the music is the same in this new song, but they will use new words.
Sing through the song once for them. Then invite participants to join you. Call out the first word of each verse to help them remember the song (e.g. "I'm," "You're," "We're").
Verse 1
I'm unique and unrepeatable, I'm unique and unrepeatable, I'm unique and unrepeatable, I'm glad to be me!
Verse 2
You're unique and unrepeatable, You're unique and unrepeatable, You're unique and unrepeatable, I'm glad that you're you!
Verse 3
We're unique and unrepeatable; we're unique and unrepeatable,
We're unique and unrepeatable, we're glad to be us!
Note: This song was introduced by Jan Evans-Tiller in the curriculum We Believe, 2nd ed. (Unitarian Universalist Association, 1998).
Including All Participants
If any children cannot stand and sing, include them in a seated circle.
ACTIVITY 4: GIVING MACHINE (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants work as a team to make a picture about their gifts.
Form small groups at work tables or on the floor. Give each group a sheet of newsprint, a set of markers, and collage materials. Explain that each group will make a gift machine. Ask them, as a group to draw a machine in the middle of the newsprint. On one side, ask the participants to show themselves going into the machine. On the other side of the machine, tell participants to show what gifts they would like to have. For instance, one participant may wish they could play the guitar for people; they might draw a guitar or find a picture of one to paste coming out of the machine. When every group is finished, gather the entire group together and have each small group explain their machines.
Process the activity with these questions:
Including All Participants
Leaders may need to help tie knots or bows on the sticks. For younger participants or participants with physical limitations, ask other participants or leaders help make a talking stick.
CLOSING (5 MINUTES)
Description of Activity
Invite everyone to gather in a circle and hold hands. Start by squeezing the hand to your right and saying: "Today I found love, today I gave love." Lead the group to move the hand squeeze around the circle until everyone has had a chance to say the words.
Then, invite the group to unclasp hands lead them to say the closing words in unison:
Be good to yourself.
Be excellent to others.
Do everything with love.
Including All Participants
If participants do not want to hold hands, invite them to just say the words to the person to their right. If needed, repeat the words aloud with each child.
FAITH IN ACTION: SERVICE FAIR
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants volunteer themselves, and have the opportunity to encourage others in your congregation to become volunteers.
Explain that the fair can help match people with particular gifts with an organization or group that needs help. Consider offering refreshments and having participants set up and serve. Business cards, flyers, brochures, and/or sign-up sheets should all be part of the display. Remember, that this may be an ideal opportunity for getting volunteers for various needs in your congregation, such as helping with mailings or child care.
At the close of your fair, facilitate organizations to follow up with interested volunteers. Publicly thank the organizations that were present; you might report in your congregational newsletter or on your website how many organizations attended the service fair and how many people signed up to volunteer with a service organization.
Including All Participants
If participants have limited mobility or abilities, pair them with an adult at a table. If some participants are unavailable for the fair day, consider asking them to sign "thank you" notes after the fair to send to organizations and groups that were present.
LEADER REFLECTION AND PLANNING
Think about participants who participated in the session today. Did they understand what a gift is? Were participants able to identify gifts they have? Was this a positive experience for all of the participants? Are there ways you can encourage participants to remember that we all have gifts which can make a difference in the world, no matter how small our gifts may seem? Does anyone need more assistance in crafts? Are there participants who could help others? Reflect on your effectiveness in presenting this week.
TAKING IT HOME
How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. — Anne Frank, in her diary, published in 1952
IN TODAY'S SESSION... the participants learned about the Unitarian Universalist Principle about being able to vote about things (have a say in) that concern them, in the context of making our voices heard in support of people who are not being heard. We shared a true story about Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old African American girl who became the first to integrate a previously all-white school in Louisiana during the Civil Rights era.
EXPLORE THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Talk about... the gifts members of your family have to offer one another. Make sure everyone in the family has at least one gift identified by the family. How can your family work together to share your gifts with one another?
EXTEND THE TOPIC TOGETHER. Participants were asked to think about what they have to offer to their congregational community. Think about how the gifts they identified could be put to work in the congregation. Help family members to find a way they can contribute as a congregational volunteer.
Family Adventure. Find a local agency that accepts families volunteering together and arrange a time to volunteer. If members of the family have special talents, such as playing an instrument, artistic abilities, or flower arranging, find an agency where you can share these gifts, for example, by performing a concert for clients. Afterward, discuss what the experience was like. Did everyone feel they made a difference during their volunteer time? Did anyone learn they could do something they had not known they could do? Did they learn something new? Were they proud of what they had to offer? Are there other gifts they would like to share in the community?
A Family Game. Name It! All participants get a paper and writing utensil. Ask everyone in the family to think of all the things they do well and list them on their paper. Have older children or parents help younger children as needed. Allow about five minutes for everyone to think of as many things as possible. Then, every person reads their list. If other family members think of other things to add to someone else's list, make sure they get added to the list. This game will help everyone remember they have a lot of things to offer and remind them of things that they perhaps don't realize they can do. Encourage everyone to keep their list and read it when they are feeling particularly low or discouraged.
A Family Ritual. Start a mealtime ritual in which each family member acknowledges something nice the person to their left did that day. For instance, "John said 'Good morning' to the bus driver." If possible, switch seats or go in different directions periodically so each family member isn't always speaking about the same person.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 1: GREETING CARDS (15 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Sometimes a simple hello in a card can make a huge difference to someone who is lonely or hurting.
Ask each participant to make a card that would make someone smile. The cards should be very general so any card can be sent to any of the people on your list. Make sure that if children write any words, their messages are "thinking of you," or "hello," or something else general. Flowers, colorful balloons, or the sun are all easy objects to draw and make colorful. Some children may have time to make more than one card.
Have each participant sign their cards. Below the child's name, write "Made by the K-1 Love Surrounds Us religious education group."
As children finish, address and stamp the envelopes and explain to the participants that their cards will be sent to people in the congregation who need a smile. Process this activity by talking about why it is important that we reach out to those who may be hurting, even if we don't know them.
Including All Participants
Be prepared to help participants draw or write on their cards. Encourage participants to draw very simple pictures. Help participants who may need it think of a design for their card.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 2: CHARM BRACELET (20 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Participants make charm bracelets to wear that represent their gifts and talents.
Invite participants to link clips together to make a bracelet around their wrist that is not tight, but will not fall off their hand. They can use one color or a combination of colors. Then, ask them to find and cut out pictures and words in magazines that describe their gifts and talents. The pictures need to be small enough to fit on the index card "charms." Help the children glue their pictures and words to the shapes, with a different picture or word on each side. They may choose to put a picture on one side and a word on the other side. Show them how to attach a paper clip to a finished charm and then attach the charm to the bracelet.
If you have time, gather the group and invite volunteers to share what is on their charm bracelets and how it describes them.
Including All Participants
Be ready to help participants with the paper clips and/or cutting and gluing the pictures.
When you share, allow participants to pass.
ALTERNATE ACTIVITY 3: POSTER, FIFTH PRINCIPLE (10 MINUTES)
Materials for Activity
Preparation for Activity
Description of Activity
Distribute the handout. Invite children to think about an example they can draw of the fifth Principle. Say the fifth Principle together: "We believe everyone deserves a vote about the things that concern them."
LOVE SURROUNDS US: SESSION 11:
STORY: RUBY BRIDGES, SURROUNDED BY LOVE
By Janeen Grohsmeyer.
When Ruby Bridges was six years old and in the first grade, just like many other children, she went to a new school. Ruby's school was called William Frantz Elementary School. It was in the City of New Orleans in the state of Louisiana.
And, just like other children, Ruby was nervous about the first day of school. She knew everything was going to be different: a new building, new teachers, new rules, new things to learn, new children to play with, and (she hoped) new friends.
But, unlike other children, Ruby didn't go to school by walking or riding in her parents' car or in a school bus. Ruby went to school in a police car, followed by people from her neighborhood to help keep her safe. Ruby walked to the front door of her school surrounded by four tall men who had guns and wore armbands with the words "U.S. Marshal" on their sleeves.
Because Ruby wasn't just like the other children at William Frantz Elementary School. She was the only African American child in the entire school, and some people didn't think she should be there.
You see, Ruby started first grade in 1960, about fifty years ago. Back then, in some parts of the United States, children with different skin colors went to different schools. There were schools for children with dark skin, and there with schools for children with light skin. That was called segregation.
Some people liked segregation, but other people knew it wasn't fair. Our government had made a law that said all children—no matter what their skin color—should be able to go to the same school. That is called integration.
The parents at William Frantz Elementary School who liked segregation did not like integration. Because Ruby had dark skin, they thought she didn't belong at the school. They kept their children home from school, away from her. Ruby was the only student in her class. She didn't have anyone to play with or to talk to, except for her teacher, all day long.
And every day, those people who didn't like integration would go to Ruby's school, and they would yell horrible, mean things at her. Some called her names. One woman threatened to poison her. Sometimes they would even throw rocks or eggs or tomatoes, trying to keep her away from the school.
Yet every day, Ruby Bridges would go to that school. She would get dressed and eat breakfast and get ready for school, and then her mother would say, "I'm proud of you," and her father would say, "You're my brave little girl," and they would all say, "I love you" to each other.
Every day, her neighbors would surround the police car that Ruby was riding in, and the four U.S. Marshals would surround her as she walked through that crowd of angry people, to help keep her safe.
And every day, Ruby would say a prayer—but not for herself. Ruby prayed for the angry people who yelled at her, asking God to forgive them and to change their minds. When Ruby Bridges was surrounded by hate, she surrounded everyone with love.
After a while, it worked.
The next year, when Ruby Bridges was seven years old and starting the second grade, the angry crowd of people wasn't there anymore. She didn't have to ride in a police car. There were no U.S. Marshals surrounding her. People let their children go to William Frantz Elementary School, even though Ruby was there.
When Ruby went to her classroom on that first day of second grade, there were twenty other children. Some of them had dark skin, like her. Some of them would be her friends. Integration had happened, and William Frantz Elementary School was a school for all children, no matter what color skin they had.
Fifty years ago, Ruby Bridges helped to integrate a school, and integration helped make our country more fair for everyone. Today, Ruby Bridges is all grown-up, and she travels to schools all over the country, telling her story and teaching people to respect and appreciate each other.
Each of us can be like Ruby. We can all surround each other with love.
LOVE SURROUNDS US: SESSION 11:
HANDOUT 1: POSTER, FIFTH PRINCIPLE
Unitarian Universalist Fifth Principle
We believe everyone deserves a say about the things that concern them.
FIND OUT MORE
Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges finished at William Frantz and went to an integrated high school. For fifteen years she worked as a travel agent in New Orleans. She married Malcolm Hall, and they have four sons. In the early 1990s she became a volunteer at the William Frantz Elementary School, helping the students there. The picture book The Story of Ruby Bridges was published in 1995, and Ruby began giving speeches around the country. Contact the Ruby Bridges Foundation (at www.rubybridges.com/) for more information, or explore these books:
Bridges, Ruby. Ruby Bridges Goes to School: My True Story (Scholastic, 2003). Illustrations include black and white photographs and the Norman Rockwell painting "The Problem We All Live With."
Bridges, Ruby. Through My Eyes (Scholastic Press, 1999. Contains contemporary newspaper articles, many photographs, and comments from Ruby, Mrs. Henry, Ruby's mother, and others. Good for older children and adults who want to learn more.
Coles, Robert. The Story of Ruby Bridges (Scholastic Inc. 1995. Large enough to share in a story-telling circle.
"Interview with Ruby Bridges" (at www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/race_relations/jan-june97/bridges_2-18.html) on Newshour (PBS, 1997); watch it online.
"Ruby's Shoes," a song by Lori McKenna, can be heard online (at www.myspace.com/lorimckenna) or downloaded for free (at www.rubybridges.com/).
Ruby Bridges, 1998 Disney movie. Contains depictions of harassment and name-calling as Ruby goes to school.
Picture Books on Social Action
Somewhere Today: A Book of Peace by Shelley Moore Thomas (Morton Grove, Illinois: Albert Whitman, 1998)
The Other Side, by Jacqueline Woodson (New York, Putnam, 2001).