Patience for k-1

Home (Leave Private Section) Links to Resources Crowd Breakers Help

Who Needs Patience?
(Prepared for K-2)

Purpose: By the end of this lesson, I want my students to be motivated to be more patient.

Teacher Hints

#1: Think of how either patience or impatience has helped or hurt you. Reflect on how patience or impatience has helped/hurt your friends, family and associates. Would any of these personal examples make the lesson more personal for your students?
#2: Think of how to follow through in the coming days and weeks to help internalize this lesson. Perhaps when a student shows impatience by turning in a paper before looking it over, or scurrying to the front of the line to beat others, you could say, "Hold on Heather!" to remind them of this lesson. Consider repeating the story in the future as well. Studies of children watching Sesame Street and Blues Clues found that they loved the mastery gained by watching the same episodes over and over, with virtually no loss of attention.
#3: Some of your students may not know what surfing is. You may want to find a clip of surfers on www.youtube.com or a picture to let them see people surfing.

Introduction: Defining Patience

Today we want to talk about patience. Who can tell me what patience is? (Get several responses, putting the elements of patience on the board as they share them. Come up with a working definition, such as "waiting calmly.")

Story Time! Hyper Heather Learns Patience

Preparation: (Put students in a setting most conducive to story-telling and sharing. Write on one side of the board, "Hurry up, Heather!" and on the other side of the board, "Hold on, Heather!" Have them say each phrase together as a class. Even those who can't read will soon understand what to say when you point to each side. This should help to keep them involved with the story.)

Today I want to tell you the story of a girl named Heather. Heather lived near Malibu Beach in sunny California. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, lots of energy, but no patience at all.

I suppose it all started when Heather was young. You see, her parents were always in a hurry. They would say,

"Hurry Up Heather! Get dressed so we can go shopping!"

"Finish up your food! Come on, hurry up Heather! We don't have all day!"

"Walk faster! Hurry up, Heather! We can't miss the neighbor's party!"

"The waves are up! Hurry up Heather! Throw on your swim suit and get your surfboard!"

So Heather became good at doing things fast. She was first to turn in her homework. First in the lunch line. First to raise her hand with the right answer. And first in her neighborhood to catch the waves when the surf was up.

And Heather really liked being first. She liked the teacher's smile when she turned in an assignment early, her coach's pat on the back when she got to practice first, her parents' approval when she got ready before her sister.

And this seventh-grade year at Malibu Middle School, she desperately wanted her two biggest firsts ever - the "Best Writer Award" for the school newspaper and the "Top Athlete Award" for the Soccer Team.

But one day, two things made her wonder if she'd ever win.

It started when Barb, her newspaper editor, pulled Heather into her office and said, "Heather, you're great at turning in your articles ahead of schedule, but you need to be more patient and look them over first. Sometimes you forget to put your name on them. Other times you misspell words because you don't take time to look them up. It's like you're always thinking, 'Hurry up, Heather!' when you should be thinking, 'Hold on, Heather!'"

After school her soccer coach, Antonio, pulled her aside in practice and said, "Heather, it's great to be the first to get the ball. But you can't just kick it at the goal right when you get it. You've got to be patient and wait for the right shot."

The next day, Heather ate lunch alone in the courtyard. She didn't get it. All her life she thought that fast was best. Now fast was getting her into trouble. How could she ever get those awards if her coach and editor didn't think she was the best?

She said out loud, "How does anyone know when to go fast and when to be patient and take longer?"

"Heather, why don't you slow down enough to listen to others?" said a familiar voice. It was Amy, her best friend.

"What do you mean?" asked Heather.

"When I'm visiting you at home, all I ever hear your parents say is 'Hurry up, Heather!' Seems to me that you need people to remind you to slow down. What if you tell a couple of your friends and teachers to remind you when you need to be more patient. They could say...let's see...what about..."Hold on, Heather!"

"That's exactly what my newspaper editor said!"

Heather thought about that through about five tater tots and a fish stick. Then she said, "You know how much I want those awards. Will you help me Amy?"

"Sure! Isn't that what friends are for?"

So for the next month, Amy would say, "Hold on, Heather!" whenever she rushed too fast. Heather's teachers would say, "Hold on, Heather!" when she tried to beat people to the head of the line. She discovered that waiting her turn made people like her more.

Her newspaper editor would say, "Hold on, Heather!" when she needed to look over her work before turning it in.

At the end of the school year, Heather didn't receive first prize. But she did receive awards for second place in writing and third place in soccer. And that was fine with her. It was enough to know that she'd given her best and that she was learning and growing. And if she could just be patient, maybe she could get first place next year.

One summer day, Heather and Amy were walking on the beach with their surfboards, waiting for the waves to get bigger. Heather said, "You know Amy, life is a lot like surfboarding. You can't just take any old wave that comes along. Instead, you patiently wait for a good wave, or even a great wave, then you ride it with all you've got."

Discussion

1. What did Heather want more than anything?
2. What was keeping Heather from getting it?
3. Why is patience important?
4. How did Heather start to learn patience?
5. If I tell you this week, "Hold on Heather!" what do you think I will mean? (You could change it to "Hold on Harry!" for guys.)

Drawing Time

Draw a picture from the story. Maybe someone could draw Heather and Amy surfing, or Heather playing soccer or rushing to the front of a line. You can draw whatever you like from the story.

(As they draw, walk around and talk to students about their pictures. It's a good time to reflect with them upon what they learned from the story. If someone comes up with a really neat picture, consider scanning it, attaching it to an e-mail and sending to it webmaster@character-education.info . We might put it in the site with this lesson!)

Conclusion

Today and this week, let's think about patience and how it can help us. You may hear me say, "Hold on Heather!" or "Hold on Harry!" when you get in too big a hurry.