True friends care for each other. They enjoy spending time together, and each wants what is best for the other. If we see our friends are sad, we do what we can to bring joy to their hearts. If a friend is sick, we want to make sure he or she is well cared for. Because we want what is best for our friends, we listen to them and always try to pay attention to their wishes. It is a joy to give something up when we know it will make our friend happy or help him or her to progress. In friendship, we give of our time and our possessions and share our happiness and our learning. What a blessing to have many true friends.
Of course, sometimes friends (and we) make mistakes. and we may feel sadness in our hearts – but we can be forgiving. When our hearts are filled with generosity and we remember our love for our friend, we can forgive and the sadness goes away.
For lessons 8 and 9 we will continue to memorize the prayer below
O Lord! Unto Thee I repair for refuge, and toward all Thy signs I set my heart. O Lord! Whether traveling or at home, and in my occupation or in my work, I place my whole trust in Thee. Grant me then Thy sufficing help so as to make me independent of all things, O Thou Who art unsurpassed in Thy mercy! Bestow upon me my portion, O Lord, as Thou pleasest, and cause me to be satisfied with whatsoever thou hast ordained for me. Thine is the absolute authority to command.
The Báb
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The following ideas will assist you in presenting the quotation that the children are expected to memorize today:
True friends care for each other. They enjoy spending time together, and each wants what is best for the other. If we see our friends are sad, we do what we can to bring joy to their hearts. If a friend is sick, we want to make sure he or she is well cared for. Because we want what is best for our friends, we listen to them and always try to pay attention to their
wishes. It is a joy to give something up when we know it will make our friend happy or help him or her to progress. In friendship, we give of our time and our possessions and share our happiness and our learning.
What a blessing to have many true friends. Of course, sometimes a friend makes a mistake, and we may feel sadness in our hearts, but
we remember that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was always forgiving, and so we are forgiving too. And when our hearts are filled with generosity and we remember our love for our friend, the sadness goes away. You know there are times when you make mistakes, and your friend is forgiving to you. What is important is that you both know neither would ever want to bring sadness to the heart of the other. It was the wish of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that no soul should ever be hurt or grieved. There is no greater gift, He told us, than bringing joy to another heart. “I beg of God,” He prayed, “that ye will be bringers of joy, even as are the angels in Heaven.” That we may form such loving bonds of friendship with many souls, let us memorize the following quotation:
….strive ye with all your might to create, through the power of the Word of God, genuine love, spiritual communion and durable bonds among individuals
‘Abdu’l-Bahá
MEANING OF WORDS
Genuine
The bag looked like it was made of leather, but it was really made of a plastic material. The bag was not made of genuine leather.
Some rings only look like they are gold, but the king’s ring is genuine. It is gold with a beautiful red stone.
Durable
When choosing a fabric to make her children’s clothes, Mrs. Singh looked for one that would not tear easily. She chose a durable fabric that would last a long time.
The wheels on a tractor are big and thick so that they can go over rocks and dirt easily and still work fine. The wheels on a tractor are durable.
Bond
A dog often feels an attachment to its master. There is a special bond between a dog and its master.
There is a strong bond between a mother whale and her young calf, and they stay close together for long distances in the ocean, with the mother feeding the calf and protecting it from enemies.
MEMORIZATION AID FOR QUOTE
PICTURES TO REMEMBER THE QUOTE HERE
STRIVE
waves of one sea
A STORY ABOUT THE NATURE OF FRIENDSHIP
Here is a folktale about a mountain and a meadow that will help the children to think about the nature of friendship.
Once there was a mountain whose peak was so high that it might have been the tallest mountain in the world. It was so tall that the clouds were its only company. But the mountain enjoyed playing with its big billowing friends! And the clouds, too, were happy to gather around the mountain’s snowy peak. Sometimes they would laugh so heartily that they would cry, raining tears on the earth below.
Then one hot summer the mountain found itself alone for many days. Not a single cloud could be seen in the sky, and the mountain felt very sad, missing its blustering friends. “Why don’t the clouds run and play in your big bright blueness anymore?” it asked the wide sky.
“They have all gone to the kingdom of winter, very far from here,”
the sky replied.
“They will not return until the end of summer. “
“But I miss them so much!” cried the mountain with a sigh. “Maybe I should go to the winter kingdom as well and visit my friends. “
“You are a mountain,” the sky said firmly. “Mountains are heavy and cannot fly as the clouds can. You must remain in the same place. “
Now the mountain became very sad indeed and started to cry. Huge tears ran down its face, and soon streams and rivers were flowing from its snowy peak. Then something wonderful happened. The dried, cracked soil in the plain far below began to drink up the mountain’s tears. Before long, the plain was covered in fresh green growth.
The grateful plain called up to the mountain. “Kind mountain!” it said, “Thank you for saving me from a terrible fate! Your pure water has healed all my wounds. Look at how it has helped me!”
The mountain was so surprised that it stopped crying. Until then nobody had ever spoken to the mountain from below. It looked down and gasped when it saw the flourishing green meadow, shining and fresh. To see its beauty made the mountain content. How happy it was to have found a new friend in the meadow.
Draw any part of the story
DRAMA / GAMES
To help the children continue developing the skills and abilities of creative drama, you may have them carry out the following activities:
Begin by having the students stretch as usual in their imaginary squares. Ask them to remain in their squares and pretend to do the following, first with a sad look on their faces: sweeping the floor, building a table, helping someone to find something he or she has lost on the floor, climbing a ladder to pick some fruit from a tree, washing dishes, making soup. Next, ask them to go through the same movements, but this time with happy expressions.
Ask the children to act out the following to show how they would be a good friend:
A young boy learns that one of his friends is not feeling well
A little girl notices her friend is sad
One child in the class sees that another is afraid of the dark
A young girl learns that her friend has done something wrong
The next set of activities is again related to the theme of today’s lesson, that true friends care for each other. Divide the students into groups of three and explain to them that they are going to improvise a story based on the following situation:
Naw-Ruz, the Bahai new year, is a few weeks away, and the community is planning to have a special celebration. Sarah, Marion and Marco have been working especially hard to prepare a children’s program. One day Marion and Marco wait for Sarah so that they can continue their work, but she does not arrive. Later they inquire after her and find out that she has fallen down and hurt her ankle, and the doctor has told her to stay off of it for a while. At first Marion and Marco are worried about the children’s program. How will they finalize everything without Sarah’s help? But then they think of Sarah and realize how sad she will be if her ankle does not heal fast enough for her to participate in the program. They remember the words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha that the best way to help those who are not well is to bring joy to their hearts. So Marion and Marco decide to visit Sarah every day to cheer her up. By the time Naw-Ruz arrives, Sarah’s ankle is fine and the three friends together carry out the program for which they have worked so hard.
To help the children begin their improvisations, ask them what they think Marion and Marco did when they visited Sarah. How did they bring joy to her heart? Did they continue, for example, to plan the program with her during their visits?
ALTERNATIVE
Sit in a big circle and pass around various every-day items (a ball, remote control, pen, piece of fabric, etc) – each child, in turn, has to pretend this object to be of a certain use (fabric – this is my hanky, my blanket, my apron, my turban, etc).
To add to the lapbook for this set we created a mini book with the scene from the story drawn in. The children stuck the extra pieces in
How to Make The Mini Book
I made my book a little big and needed to attach pieces, a simple but slightly smaller version :
You will need 2 colors of Cardstock. 8.5 inches x 11 inches
I used blue for the base and White for the drawing.
Glue, markers, stickers, pen
Friendship Bracelet:
I am sure most of you have made lots of friendship bracelets. maybe, you can help others in your class make one?
If you have not made friendship bracelets in the past. Here is one link you can visit. This one is another
Friendship House
Foam Heart
Make a foam heart necklace here
Send a Postcard
Send a postcard to a senior, the Canadian Troops, a fireman, or a refugee. The list is endless
Easy craft ideas
This website has so many ideas: rock painting, bracelets and more
DRAW SCENES FROM THE STORY
Brilliant Star Magazine
Review the quotation from today’s lesson, and then remind the children of the qualities of trustworthiness and radiance and the quotations they memorized in Grade 1:
To give and to be generous are attributes of Mine; well is it with him that adorneth himself with My virtues
Baha’u’llah
Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love
Baha’u’llah
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