Optimism and Joy 

 Year 2: I can choose to look on the bright side, which helps me to persevere.

Core Story

Reach for the Stars by Serge Bloch. This uplifting book follows the characters on their journey through life, using a series of well known idioms such as ‘fork in the road’ ‘uphill battle’ and ‘reach for the stars’ to encourage them to look on the bright side of life, even when they face challenges.

Drawing out the virtue

This story explains that although things might not always go to plan for us, we should be optimistic and ‘reach for the stars’.  This unit is designed to teach children that they can choose to look at things in a cheerful way. The idiomatic language such as ‘in over your head’ and ‘in the doghouse’ helps to communicate this message because despite the situations they describe, the phrases are still cheerful or humorous. By reminding us that everyone gets into difficult situations and

faces challenges, they also encourage us to gain some perspective, and not worry unduly. 

Activity 1:  Poem

Read this poem to the children. See the poem in Y2 Optimism and Joy. Talk about how the author feels. Remind pupils that optimism is about the way you choose to look at things. Now read the poem backwards, starting from the bottom line working up to the top to reveal a message of hope and optimism.  None of the words have changed, just the way you are looking at them.  Ask pupils to think about their day, and remind them they can choose to focus on the good things.

Activity 2:  Tinted Glasses

Get some plastic glasses and put yellow tissue over one pair and black or grey tissue paper over the other. Let children look through them.  The yellow paper and the black paper give a different view of the same thing.  Which one makes them feel happier?  You could make the same point by editing photos – and seeing the different ‘effects’ – how one photo can be made to look different.  In the same way, we can all look at the same experience but with a different attitude.

Library books

Augustus and His Smile by Catherine Rayner

The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson

Petar’s Song by Pratima Mitchell and Caroline Birch

Twinkle Twinkle Squiglet Pig by Joyce Dunbar

The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers