A Silent Message
Unspoken messages
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider how the unspoken messages that we give out can affect other people.
Preparation and materials
- You will need an envelope that contains a letter with a list of people in the room who are celebrating a birthday today or this week.
- You will also need:
- a volunteer to deliver the envelope at the start of the assembly.
- some volunteers, arranged prior to the assembly, who will convey silent messages through non-verbal signs in the ‘Assembly’, Step 5. These signs could include shrugging, having their arms open in welcome, turning their back, shaking hands, waving goodbye, holding their head in their hands, putting their nose in the air and so on.
Assembly
- The volunteer delivers the envelope to the leader of the assembly.
The leader should take the letter, open it and read it out loud: ‘Dear . . . I thought you’d like to know that the following people have a birthday today/this week . . .’
Read out the list. - Invite the children who are named on the list to the front and sing ‘Happy birthday’ to them. Explain that you are glad that you received the message because it told you something important that you might never have known if it had not been sent.
- Point out that there are many ways to send a message. Ask the children to think of some examples.
Listen to a range of responses.
Remind the children that messages do not always have to be written: they can also be spoken, sung or recorded. - Ask the children whether they think that there can ever be such a thing as a silent message. Some may suggest sign language. Agree that this is one very special way of sending a silent message, but explain that we can all send silent messages more generally through our actions.
- Invite the pre-arranged volunteers to come forward and carry out their actions one at a time.
After each action, ask the children what message the action conveys. Are these good messages or bad ones?
Time for reflection
Ask the children to be quiet for a moment to consider what messages they may send out each day without thinking. Sometimes, the messages that we send can make people feel happy and cheerful. However, sometimes, we can send messages that make people feel sad. Encourage the children to send out good messages that make other people feel happy.
Prayer
Dear God,
When people come to our school, help us to send a message of welcome.
When we meet someone for the first time, help us to smile and be friendly.
When someone is sad and upset, help us to send a message of kindness and comfort.
Please help us in everything that we say and do to think about the kinds of messages that we want to send.
Amen.
Extension activities
Ask the children to create some images that convey particular messages, such as ‘Cheer up’, ‘Take care’, ‘Be kind to others’, ‘Make someone happy’ and ‘Eat healthily’.
