Two Truths and a Lie

Playing Card Hierarchy

Soccer Tournament

Pepper Experiment

Construction Paper Heart

Trustworthiness:

Two Truths and a Lie:

Each person thinks of two true statements about themselves and one that is false. When ready, they turn to a partner and say the three statements in any order. The partner’s job is to guess the false statement. Then they switch places and the partner does the same.

Discussion:

• Was it easy to guess the lie? Why or why not?
• Was it easy to say a lie?
• Were the things we lied about important?
• What do we call those kinds of lies? (white lies or fibs)
• What if I told you one thing today and something different tomorrow? Even if it is an unimportant thing, it would break trust and make you wonder if anything else I had said was true.
• Draw analogy to kids and lies and how many lies it takes to be called a liar, etc.

Respect:

Card Game:

Set up:

Need a deck of cards with just enough cards taken out for the number in your group. I usually try to evenly distribute the numbers in the four groups.

Make four signs and tape them to four walls: JQKA, 8 9 10, 5 6 7, 2 3 4

Introduction:

Explain that the activity is designed to serve as an awareness to what it feels like to not be included and not wanted. It is not intentional that anyone’s feelings would be hurt by the activity – we are just trying to make others aware of how it feels to be left out.

Sometimes being left out happens in the lunchroom, in the hallway, on the bus, in class, or anywhere students are gathered. In society, people are left out because of their race, religion, etc. Throughout history, blacks were left out and made to not feel welcome. During the Holocaust, it was the Jews who were treated badly.

Directions:

• Everyone will get a card. DO NOT LOOK AT IT!
• You will put the card on your forehead so others can see it.
• Depending on what card you have – people may or may not want to be with you.
• If you have a J, Q, K, or A – you definitely have lots of friends and people want to be with you. If you have an 8, 9, or 10 most people would want to be with you. If you have a 5,6, or 7 not many would want to be with you. If you have a 2, 3 or 4, most people do not want to be with you.
• You will find this out by asking questions such as: Would you go to the game with me tonight? Want to sit by me at lunch? Want to be in my science group? Would you like to come to my house?
• Those who are asked the questions will use verbal and non-verbals to indicate the group in which the person belongs.
• As soon as you think you know your group, go stand by that sign.

Reflection:

• How many questions did you have to ask before you knew which group you were in?
• What kinds of responses did you get from people when you asked to hang with them?
• If you were in the 2,3,4 group – how did it feel? How would it feel if it wasn’t a game?
• How does it feel to be in the J, Q, K, and A group?
• What does it mean to be left out?
• What does respect mean?
• What would have been a more respectful way to answer someone that was a 2,3, 4 when they asked you to hang with them?
• If you really don’t feel like hanging with someone, what’s a respectful way to tell them that?

Fairness:

Soccer tournament

This is a scenario I use before the ‘Able’ activity to aid in understanding the six strategies of fairness. I suggest the participants imagine they are a soccer coach of seventh and eighth graders. They have three strings. String A is their best players, String B, then String C. All season long they have played their strings consecutively – String A played the first game, B the second game, C the third game and so on. But now it is tournament time and String C is up. What are you going to do? If you are using the Merit strategy, you will play String A. If you are using the Need strategy, you will pull players from all three strings who would really benefit and be encouraged by playing in the tournament. In a sense, they need this. If you are using the Might strategy, you will play the team that your boss’s son is on. If you are using the Equality strategy, you will play String C. If you are using the Seniority strategy, you will play all your 8^th graders. If you are using the Effort strategy, you will play all the kids from all three strings who never missed a practice all season. I then go through all six strategies again and ask participants to raise their hand for the one they would use. It is usually quite divided. We then talk about the problem being that there were not pre-established rules for the tournament. If I had said I would play all the 8^th graders at tournament time and then followed through or I would play all those who had never missed a practice, then followed through, most people would find that to be fair. We then discuss the definition of “Pre-established rules, consistently applied.”

Caring:

Pepper Experiment:
For preparation, put a small bowl half full of water on each table, a bag of pepper, a bag of sugar, and a piece of soap. Ask participants to sprinkle the pepper liberally on the water. The pepper represents all the people with whom you interact – family, friends, teachers, coworkers, etc. How we get along with these people depends on what we do and say when we are with them. Talk about the power of words and actions and how they can be respectful and kind or hurtful, rude, and unkind. The soap represents the hurtful, rude words. Ask participants to hold the soap in the middle of the pepper. The soap will repel the pepper and make it move to the sides of the bowl. Relate this illustration to what happens in life with people to whom we are hurtful or unkind. Next have participants pour the sugar in the center of the water. The pepper will move towards the sugar. Again, relate this to real life and how others react when we are kind and thoughtful.

Construction Paper Heart

Hold up a large red construction paper heart. Ask participants to share words they have heard said which are hurtful and unkind. As each word or phrase is shared, fold down a piece of the heart until it is folded into a small shape. This is how we feel when we have been hurt. Then ask participants to share words that might be said that are kind and encouraging. As each is shared, unfold a piece of the heart until it is back in shape. Reiterate that we can say encouraging things that make others feel better. Ask them what they still see on the heart – the wrinkles or scars are left. Even if we say we are sorry, we can still leave lasting scars with hurtful words.