Here's to a Happy Heart

"Bullying Is Heartbreaking"

 

This lesson starts off with a sweet story called, Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum is a little mouse who loves her name and she loves the way it sounds until she gets to school and the other kids begin to make fun of it. Each time they tease her, her heart crumbles and she feels terrible; however, her mom and dad are always there every afternoon after school to welcome Chrysanthemum home with hugs and kisses and a game of Parcheesi. Although their hugs and kisses make her feel better, the boys and girls at school have left "scars" on Chrysanthemum's heart. 

 

And, so... that is where this lesson begins.

 

 

This heart that I cut out represented Chrysanthemum's heart. Each time the boys and girls in the book made fun of Chrysanthemum's name, I crumbled the heart in my hand and wadded it up into a ball. When Chrysanthemum returned home each day to receive love and affection from her family, I would open up the heart and flatten it to show that Chrysanthemum's parents were trying to heal her broken heart.

 

The class and I discussed the way the heart looked when I opened it back up, and even though Chrysanthemum's heart had been healed with her family's love and affection, the children who made fun of Chrysanthemum left scars on her heart.

 

After we finished the book  I used the Words are Like a Tube of Toothpaste Lesson. that I found on Pinterest to illustrate how words can not be put back in our mouth once we say them, just like we can not get the toothpaste back in the tube once it has been squeezed out; therefore, we should be careful with our words.

 





 



 

The final activity for this lesson was a "Happy Heart" worksheet that I created. In the middle of the heart, it said, "Before you speak, think and be smart. It's hard to fix a wrinkled heart." The children colored, crumbled and then "healed" the heart with a Band-Aid. The Band-Aid represented apologetic words we would use to mend the scars.