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Pencil People

To illustrate how we can all have a variety of skills and talents.

by Gordon and Ronni Lamont

Suitable for Key Stage 1

Aims

To illustrate how we all have a variety of skills and talents.

Preparation and materials

  • You will need a pencil - a large novelty one would be good for visibility.

Assembly

  1. Hold up the pencil and ask the children what it is. Then ask what it is used for.

  2. As you get specific responses, invite individual children to mime those uses. You could end up with mimes including writing, drawing, colouring, joining the dots, doing word searches, drawing round things ... and so on. Place the children doing the mimes where they can be seen - they don't all have to be at the front. Depending on the space, they could stand round the sides or do their mime within the body of the assembly.

  3. Ask a few children to tell you about their favourite or best achievements using a pencil - a particular poem or piece of prose, a puzzle they enjoy, for example.

  4. Ask them to listen carefully to this poem.

My pencil lies in my pencil case,
It's quiet and dark in there.
It's in my bag when I go to school.
You may think that's not fair.

But I know my pencil needs its rest,
And it needs the quiet too.
For as soon as the busy day begins,
There's so much for my pencil to do.

It does ... drawing, writing, ticking things off,
Working all the day.
Puzzles and tests and diagrams too,
It's busy at work and play.

My pencil does so many things,
It's multi-use you see.
And since it can do so many jobs,
My pencil is a little like me!

  1. Ask the mimers to return to their places. Ask the children what they think the last verse means. Repeat if necessary. Explain that, just like a pencil, we too are all 'multi-use'. Explain that when talking about people, we say that we are multi-talented. Ask what different things the children will be doing today and use this to lead into the reflection.

Time for reflection

My pencil can do lots of jobs
It's one of the cleverest things invented
A pencil we call 'multi-use'
And I am multi-talented.

Dear God,
Thank you for all the skills and talents we each have.
Thank you that you made us to enjoy doing all sorts of different things.
Amen.

Song/music

'All around' (Come and Praise Beginning, 27)

Publication date: February 2001   (Vol.3 No.2)    Published by SPCK, London, UK.
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