Week Eight - The Pig

Classroom Grades 4 - 6

OPTIONAL Week Eight Lesson Plan PDF

Subject: Positive Thoughts - The Pig

Requirements: You will need internet access and a laptop, tablet or smartphone for accessing this content. You will need a wired or Bluetooth connection to a speaker to amplify the audio into the classroom. You DO NOT need a screen or projector as each lesson is audio only from your device and requires students to close their eyes and/or focus on their Belly Buddy.

Step One: The DIY Belly Buddy Crafting Project - The Pig

As with last week, it is recommended that the children start this week’s lesson with the activity of making their own “Pig” Belly Buddy. For the Classroom version of this program it is recommended that students draw their belly buddy animal on a sheet of paper. The finished drawing can be placed on the student’s desk and used as a focal point during the meditation. Teachers may choose to tie this drawing activity to Art Education Curriculum Expectations. Drawings can be placed in a duo tang and stored in students’ desks. A favourite tool to assist students with their artwork is Art For Kids Hub

Art for Kids Hub - Art Lessons - How to Draw for Kids

Pig - Young Artists

Pig Face

As an alternative to drawing a picture, teachers may choose to have students create the toilet paper roll animal that is used during the bedtime version of the program. Click here for toilet paper animal template.

Step Two: Soundcheck - 30 seconds

Before beginning The Pig Lesson and Meditation, play the Sound Check file below to ensure your speakers are working correctly and that all students can hear the audio effectively. This also serves as a way to get the students to settle down, be still, and prepare to listen.

Step Three: Discuss Last Week’s Mindful Challenge

Discuss with students their success and challenges with last week’s Mindful Challenge

Last Week’s Mindful Challenge: Each morning choose three small things you are thankful for and say thank you for these special things with your thinking mind. Notice how this gratitude practice feels in your mind and body.

The following questions may help you prompt the discussion:

  1. Did any one remember to practice saying thank you with their thinking mind?

  2. Does anyone want to share some of the things they practiced saying thank you for?

  3. Did you notice any changes in your mind and body when you practiced being thankful (sensations, thinking)?

Step Four: Play The Pig Lesson & Meditation - 7 minutes

Now that the Sound Check is complete, you will play the Lesson below. Listen and learn with your students!

Step Five: Meditation Reflection - 5+ minutes

Here are some questions to drive follow up discussion. There are no wrong answers!

  1. Put up your hand if you were able to remember a funny time?

  2. If yes, how did it feel in your body when you remembered this funny moment?

  3. Was there a spot in your body where you could notice more feelings/sensations when you practiced filling your mind with happy thoughts (for example, a smile on your face, taking a deep breath, tingling in my body)?

    IMPORTANT NOTE FOR STUDENTS: If you had trouble remembering a funny moment, take some time to think about funny movies, videos or experiences you have had.  Have this funny experience ready to help you out with this week’s Mindful Challenge.

Step Six: Mindful Challenge

Remind students of this week’s Mindful Challenge: Notice grumpy/negative thoughts and after spotting the negative thought do your best to send your thinking into a happier direction by remembering a funny moment.

Step Seven: Daily Meditation - 6 minutes - Various Times During the Week

With the audio lesson complete, you are encouraged to take time during the balance of the week to practice with students the guided meditation/s below (the Pig Belly Buddy craft is not required for these practices). The ‘Daily Meditations’ are in support of each week’s lesson, but you can come back to them as often as you like. Typically they are 3 - 6 minutes each. These meditations are also included as a part of the Bedtime Program (accessed through the Bedtime Program students sign up for with their FREE Promo Code) and students are encouraged to practice one per night at bedtime. It is recommended that Parents/Guardians practice along with their child and then build onto this practice by participating in the Parent program.

This meditation is a useful tool to help settle students after a recess, lunch break, or physical activity.

Step Eight - Additional Activities (Optional)

JOURNAL

If you were to create your own POSITIVITY PACKAGE….a box filled with all of the things/activities you need to help rescue you from a negative mood or thinking pattern, what would it include?  Make a list of the things/experiences you would pack into your POSITIVITY PACKAGE.  These are the things that help you to lift your mood from a negative to a more positive one.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

How Neurons Communicate BrainFacts.org

GRATITUDE PING PONG

If the mood of the class needs a lift, try practicing gratitude ping pong.  Use a ping pong ball to toss from one person to another.  The person catching the ball identifies one thing he or she is grateful for, beginning with “I’m grateful for…”, and then tosses the ball to another person.  The person who catches the ball gets the next turn to say “I’m grateful for…”   Continue the game until a shift to a more positive mood is noticed.

DEEP DIVE LEARNING QUESTIONS (BASED ON YOUR STUDENTS’ READINESS, PLEASE SELECT FROM THE QUESTIONS BELOW TO PROMPT A MORE IN-DEPTH BRAIN SCIENCE CLASS DISCUSSION)

Q: Have you ever noticed that it is easier to think negative thoughts than it is to have positive thoughts?

A: For most of us, the answer to this question is yes.

Q: Why do you think this is true, and I’ll give you a hint, it has to do with how our brain evolved (developed) over thousands of years to help to keep us safe?

A: The negative is more powerful than the positive because for thousands of years we lived in very dangerous environments, and the brain developed in such a way to be very sensitive to anything negative or threatening.  This is because being aware of any threats around us was important to our safety and survival.  For example it was important that we always remembered seeing that saber tooth tiger when we went to fetch water at a certain time of day, so that we would remember to never go and fetch water at that time of day again.  So the negative sticks.  Our brain is on a constant lookout for anything negative, anything threatening.  However, this negativity bias can limit our ability to access the higher level thinking regions of the brain, because it places us in a threat mode (fight, flight, freeze) rather than a reward mode.

Q: Can we lessen the negative bias or the brain’s habit to look for what is negative rather than what is positive?

A: Yes

Q: How is this possible?

A: Neuroplasticity allows us to create new neural pathways in our brain. By changing what we pay attention to and practicing positive thinking instead of negative, we can create new, more positive thinking neural pathways in our brain. This will make it easier for us in the future to think more positively.

Q: If it is not easy for us to think positively, is there anything that can help us to switch from a negative to a positive  thinking pattern when we feel as though we are in the grasp of negative thought?

A: Yes, we can use strategies that help to lessen the hold the negative thinking has on our brain.  Once we have lessened the hold the negative thinking has on our brain, we are in a better position to switch our thinking into a more positive direction.

Q: Can you think of some strategies that we have learned or discussed during this  program which could help you to shake off the negative and allow you to feel more positive?

A: Meditation, exercise (mindful movement), gratitude, loving kindness and remembering a happy or funny moment.

Congratulations! You and your class have completed Week Eight - the Entire Belly Buddy Program!

Many teachers choose to review with students the eight week Mindful Parents and Kids Belly Buddy Program more than once. Teachers are encouraged to go back and visit the guided meditations every day. After completing the program, and as a student award or incentive, each week you may ask a student to take a turn and choose an animal Lesson and Meditation for the class to listen to and practice.

If you haven’t done so, you may want to review the Lesson Plan’s Background Information section for your own benefit, and engage students in the Optional Additional Activities (Journal..).

We are always keen to hear from our teachers, so don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your support of Mindful Parents and Kids.