Lift the Weight: Elementary

Lift the Weight

Introduction

Lift The Weight

Key Concept: Living by laws and rules and developing self-discipline will Choice make you stronger, opening

the doors of opportunity for the Character Challenge “Hard” future. Resistance

“Easy” No Resistance

How do rules make me stronger?

Secondary Concepts: Vocabulary • Rules and laws, like all challenges, can make us stronger. • Rules • Giving up makes us weak and limits our opportunities. • Laws • Of all our muscles, the brain should be the one we exercise • Resistance the most. • Expectations • When we put our time and effort into positive activities, we • Easy choice will become stronger and more capable of reaching our goals. • Hard choice • Self-discipline Personalize your Lesson: • Society • When you were your students’ age, how did you perceive • Potential laws and rules? What made this perception change over time? • How has following laws and rules made you stronger? • What laws or rules are especially difficult for your students to follow? What elements of this lesson will help them change the way they view these rules?

Activity: To introduce this lesson, complete the attention activity “The Pa- per and the Book.” (See the “Learning Activities” section under “Lift the Weight.”) Lift the Weight Lesson Plan: Introducing Lift the Weight

Lifting weights makes you Background Information: become stronger, we must stronger because the resis- This visual analogy shows a have some resistance. A tance of the weights stresses weight lifter whose right side weight lifter’s muscles build the muscle cells which grow is strong from lifting a heavy up and become stronger be- back bigger and tougher. Lift- weight (rules, laws, self-dis- cause the weight (resistance) ing the weight of laws and cipline). The left side of the is pushing against the muscle. rules makes you stronger by weight lifter’s body is weak opening the doors of opportu- because this side is lifting The reality of life is that failure nity and building self-respect. only a balloon full of air, which to follow rules and laws and to gives no resistance. The bal- use self-discipline often leads If your current workout pro- loon represents the things that to more challenges. The goal gram is leaving you weak and get a person into trouble, or the of the visual analogy is to help flabby because you are break- rules and laws that one breaks. youth see that what feels like a ing society’s laws and rules, It also represents lack of self- burden or a restriction, if lifted, you need to come up with a discipline and giving up. helps produce a better life. new workout plan. Although lifting the weight is This visual analogy of the hard, the positive results are weight lifter teaches that to worth the effort.

Lift the Weight Lesson Plan: Visual Analogy Walkthrough

1. Poster Lift The Weight physics of weight lifting. Stress that the weight pushes down on the muscle and the muscle Question: Choice grows stronger as it works to

Character Show the “Lift the Weight” Challenge “Hard” push the weight up. It takes Resistance

“Easy” poster and ask, “What is No Resistance effort and energy to make wrong with this picture?” muscles stronger. If muscles don’t have resistance pushing Answers may include, “One on them, they become weaker arm is bigger and stronger;” How do rules make me stronger? (examples: arm in a cast, the © WhyTry LLC 2013 www.whytry.org “The other arm looks smaller Next ask, “Why does lifting legs of a wheelchair-bound and weaker;” “One side of his weights make us stronger?” person). chest is bigger than the other side;” “One leg is bigger than Then ask, “Why do we need re- Background: the other leg;” or “One side of sistance to become stronger?” Show examples of athletes and the bar has a balloon on the weight lifters and look at mus- end.” Discussion: cles. Explain that the weight Discuss with students the pushes down on the muscle and the muscle grows stronger into space, their muscles can the other will lift balloons. as it works to push the weight become weaker because there Discuss who will gain the most up. It takes effort and energy is no gravity or resistance for from lifting the two weights. to work muscles and make the muscles to push against. them stronger. If muscles don’t have resistance pushing on Activity: them, they become weaker. For Have two students come up. example, when astronauts go One will lift real weights and Lift The Weight

2. Resistance in the long run! For example, going to school can seem like a ton of resistance pushing Discussion: down on you, but if lifted it will Choice Explain how the resistance we give you a lot of opportunities face in life makes us stronger. in life. Some people look at resistance (rules and laws) as being bad, Character Challenge “Hard” You can also use the following difficult, or repressive. Help the Resistance analogy of “the kite and string youth see that in reality, resis- principle.”“Easy” On a really windy No Resistance tance is one of the best tools to day, the resistance on the kite becoming stronger. If needed, from the string keeps the kite go into greater detail defin- Stress to the students the in the air. If the string was ing resistance. Help the youth importance of identifying posi- not giving the kite some resis- identify the resistance they tive resistance in their lives. tance, the kite would quickly need in life to become stronger. Remind them that your defini- blow out of control and crash tion of resistance is not some- into the ground. With just the Write: thing that limits you or holds right amount of resistance, List examples of resistance you down, but it is something How do rules make methe stronger? kite can blow safely in the (rules and laws) next to weight that opens doors and gives you wind for hours. on the poster. © WhyTry LLC 2013 moreLift control andThe opportunity Weight www.whytry.org

3. Choice Write: Write “Positive Self-talk” next Discussion to the brain on the poster. Your brain needs to be your Your self-talk can be positive strongest muscle because it is and motivate you to keep try- where you decide whether or Choice ing, or negative and make you not to lift the weight. give up and not try to lift the weight. You can decide that Question: you will keep trying to lift the How can you make your brain weight until you do. strong? CharacterCharacter Challenge you have a choice to either lift “Hard”the weight or give up. When you have a weight to lift, Resistance

“Easy” No Resistance

How do rules make me stronger?

4. Character and Heart you. You keep trying anyway. Give 100 percent in everything Choice you do. Discussion: When your brain (muscles) get Write: tired of lifting, you must tap Next to the heart on the poster into your heart. In the WhyTry write, “Out of respect for your- Program, the heart represents CharacterCharacter self and others.” Challengeyour character, or what you like about yourself, and“Hard” what Resistance Story: you do to help yourself and Share an example from your others. Character represents life. life, the“Easy” life of someone you your positive values and your know,No orResistance of a well-known motivation to do good out of When you are tired and frus- figure, such as Rulon Gardner respect for people who care trated and can’t answer the (see story in box below), to il- about you. Your character also question, “Why try?” you keep lustrate character of heart. represents who you are and trying out of respect for your- what you want to do with your self and those who care about

STORY: RULON GARDNER’S CHARACTER AND HEART

Rulon Gardner is an Olympic Greco Roman heavyweight wrestler who won the gold medal as a huge underdog after defeating the reigning champion, Alexander Karelin, from Siberia. Karelin had dominated the sport for more than a decade and was considered a shoo-in to win the gold again. Gardner took advantage of a mistake early on in the match, then fought hard to hang on for the win. WhenHow asked do where rules he summoned make me the strengthstronger? to beat Karelin, he said that he kept thinking of all his family members that had come to Sydney to support him. He wanted to keep trying because of his love and respect for them. © WhyTry LLC 2013 www.whytry.org

5. Conclusion On the bottom half, have them write, “Me in 10 years if I don’t Lift The Weight follow the rules.”Tell them to Write: try and imagine what they will On the bottom of the poster, be doing in 10 years if they write: story in box below), to illus- break rules at home, school or CHALLENGE OR RESISTANCE trate howChoice overcoming chal- in the community. Then ask + POSITIVE CHOICE AND lenges can make us stronger. them to imagine what they USE POSITIVE SELF TALK + will be doing in 10 years if they CHARACTER OF HEART = Character follow those same rules. Have Challenge “Hard”Activity STRONG BRAIN ResistanceHave students turn to the in- them draw a picture or write “Easy” about themselves in each situ- troductory activity page inNo the Resistance Story: Lift the Weight chapter of their ation under each heading. Help Share an example from your WhyTry Journals.. Have them them think about the conse- life, the life of someone you divide it in half. On the top quences that might occur for know, or of a well-known fig- half, have them write, “Me in following or breaking certain ure, such as Jim Abbott (see 10 years if I follow the rules.” rules or laws.

How do rules make me stronger?

Baseball player Jim Abbott was an Olympic gold medal winner; a great pitcher who threw a no-hitter for the Yankees. His obstacle? Abbott was born without a right hand.

6. Review Lesson Visual analogy In their WhyTry Journals, Lift The Weight Vocabulary For the review lesson, have students have a copy of the students define the vocabulary visual analogy. Have students Choice words listed in the introducto- use this to do a review/walk-

Character through of the analogy. Have Challenge “Hard” ry page of this chapter in their Resistance

“Easy” them make notes, answer No Resistance WhyTry Journals. This will help increase understanding questions, or use a personal of the analogy and give you an example to explain the con- opportunity to assess compre- cept. How do rules make me stronger? hension and retention from the © WhyTry LLC 2013 www.whytry.org overview lesson.

7. Reflection Question Lift The Weight

Until the next WhyTry class, ask

students to consider the Lift the Choice Weight reflection question:

Character Challenge “Hard” Resistance

“Easy” How do rules make me stron- No Resistance ger?

How do rules make me stronger?