Perseverance
Year 2: Believing I can do something helps me to persevere, even when it is difficult for me.
Core story
The Hare and the Tortoise – Aesop’s Fable. The hare bragged about how fast he could run and challenged the other animals to a race, certain he would easily win. None of the animals dared to race against him, except the tortoise who agreed to race on the condition he could have a week to train. The hare agreed, laughing at the thought of racing against the slowest creature in the world. He was so sure he could outrun the tortoise that he decided to stop to have a snooze in the sun. While he was sleeping, the slow and steady tortoise crossed the finishing line and won the race.
Drawing out the virtue
The focus for this unit is to teach pupils that believing in their ability to reach a goal through hard work can help them to achieve great things.
Why don’t any of the other animals offer to race against the hare? They are all intimidated by how fast he is, they don’t believe they could ever win against him.
Why does the tortoise insist on racing the next week instead of straight away? He wants a week to prepare – he knows the hare is very fast and that he will have to practise a lot before competing against him.
How does the tortoise respond when the other animals laugh when they see him training?He tells them this is his first attempt (he will keep going) and he keeps going.
Discuss the fact the hare arrived for the race running and wearing a brand new tracksuit. How do you think the tortoise must have felt when he saw this? Intimidated, and worried that he would never win. He might have wanted to give up.
Discuss the fact that sometimes things that we find hard might seem easy to other people. This can make us feel like we will never be as good as them - but like the tortoise it is important to keep trying and not be put-off by how good other people seem to be.
Activity 1: Establishing yourself as a role model for perseverance
Take this opportunity to tell your class about something with which you have persevered. It might be something you’re currently learning, or that you mastered as a child.
Ideas include: playing a musical instrument, learning a language, driving, learning to play a sport, knitting, cooking, reading harder books, keeping a diary, reading when you’d rather watch TV.
Particularly emphasize how difficult this was for you at first, and how it felt when others seemed to be able to do it effortlessly while it took you hours of concentration and practise.
Talk about the things that helped you to stick at it – having a teacher who showed you how to improve, asking for help, doing it together with a friend, setting aside half an hour every day, taking it with you everywhere so you could practise, setting small goals along the way, showing other people along the way so they could give encouragement.
Don’t forget to talk about the rewards your perseverance has brought as well as the challenges and how you dealt with them.
Activity 2: Long term Needlework Project
Refer to the Service Learning Project on the Floreat Character Programme website for details of how to run a significant needlework project that gives children a genuine experience of perseverance and the sense of accomplishment it can bring.
Library books
The Fox and the Grapes – Aesop’s Fable
The Velveteen Rabbit by Marjorie Williams