Self-Management
Family Resources on Patience
Lesson Topic
Being Patient
Essential Questions
How do we show patience?
If this lesson was used in the classroom: Students learned the definition of patience and how to practice being patient. Patience involves goal setting as well as being motivated to follow through. During one of the class activities students played a game called “Yo” which required them to practice being patient.
Getting Ready for the Conversation
The video for this lesson features two students named Lane and Sarah. Sarah has been playing the violin for almost ten years whereas Lane is just starting. Learning to play a stringed instrument teaches both girls about being patient.
Conversation Starters and Practice at Home Activities
The first two items are for follow-up after viewing the lesson video.
What was the difference in skill between Lane and Sarah? Why do you think Sarah was a much more accomplished violinist than Lane?
What do you think motivates (or encourages) Lane and Sarah to practice their instruments?
Describe something you have had to be patient for? Do you think you do a good job of being patient? Why or why not?
Why is it important to develop goals? What is the connection between patience and goal setting?
School to Home Resources on Patience
Materials
- Paper and writing utensils
- A bean bag
- In a remote environment, the “Game of Yo” will need modification. Instead of tossing the beanbag, students will need to say, “I am virtually tossing the beanbag to __.”
Previewing Activity:
Tell students in class that you are about to pretend you are a student and your teacher has asked you to wait your turn. Ask them to watch everything you do and say.
Sit in a chair and pretend you are impatient; say things like:
- When is it my turn?
- Is it my turn now?
- I want to have a turn.
- Come on!
- She had a turn already.
- Fidget with your chair, jump up and down, stomp your feet – you know what it looks like.
When you are done, ask students to describe what you did.
Ask students to show you what you should have done to wait your turn.
Explain that they are going to see a video that shows a different kind of patience, one that lasts a very long time – not just waiting for a turn, but working hard for years to achieve something wonderful. Now that’s patience!
Activity 1:
Watch video: Patience [3 minutes]
Activity 2:
Discussion questions following the video.
- What is Sarah’s goal?
- What is Lane’s goal?
- Why and how do they need to be patient to achieve that goal?
- What kind of goals have you set? How will being patient help you reach those goals?
- How can having a role model like Sarah help Lane become a better musician?
- What are some ways we need to be patient in class? Why?
Activity 3:
The Game of “Yo”
Introduction:
- Talk with students about waiting and taking turns.
- How do we take turns?
- Is it easy or hard to take turns? Why?
- Explain that the class will play a game that requires everyone to be patient and wait our turn. The group will practice patience.
Direct Instruction:
- Show the bean bag/bean bag animal.
- Demonstrate the correct way to toss the bean bag to another person: a light, underhand toss.
- Ask: “Why don’t we throw it at the person?”
Guided Exploration (We do):
Explain that before tossing the bean bag, the holder must look at a person, say that person’s name, and wait for the person to reply, “Yo!”
Only when the person has replied “Yo!” is it okay to toss the bean bag. Be patient.
Practice with teacher calling a student’s name. The student replies, “Yo!” The teacher then tosses the bean bag gently to the student.
The student calls the teacher’s name; the teacher says, “Yo!” and the student tosses it back. Go around the circle tossing to a student who goes through the “Yo!” process and then tosses it back to the teacher.
When teacher has gone around the circle, ask students if it was easy or hard to be patient and wait to hear their names. What did they do to help themselves be patient?
Independent practice
Play the game again, but the students toss to each other; they do not have to toss back to the teacher.
Explain that each person may only “Yo!” once. If you have already caught and tossed the bean bag, cross your arms over your chest (or some other signal) to indicate you have had a turn.
Ask: “How did you need to use patience to play this round?”
Conclusion
Discuss with students: How did we show patience in our game? What are some other times during our school day where we need to be patient? What are some times at home that require patience? Why is patience important?
Vocabulary and Definitions
achieve (v.) to succeed in doing something good, or getting the result you wanted, after trying hard for a long time.
- Brad worked hard to achieve his goal of learning all of his multiplication tables so he could advance to the fourth grade.
patience (n.) calmly working and waiting; not complaining; the ability to wait calmly, accept delays or continue doing something difficult for a long time, without becoming angry or anxious.
- Learning to play the violin requires years of practice and an enormous amount of patience.
personal (adj.) emphasizing that something is done, known or experienced by oneself.
- One of Alvin’s personal goals is to climb Mount Everest when he is older.
