Strong Roots Produce Good Fruits
An assembly for the start of the academic year
by Alexandra Palmer
Suitable for Whole School (Pri)
Aims
To consider that if we are rooted in ourselves, we can produce good fruits in life.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (Strong Roots Produce Good Fruits) and the means to display them.
- Optional: you may also wish to use the extension activity (Strong Roots Produce Good Fruits - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Ask the children, ‘What are the four main parts of a plant?’
Listen to a range of responses. - Show Slide 2.
Make sure that the children understand the purpose of each part of the plant.
- The flower enables the plant to reproduce by attracting insects.
- The leaves produce food for the plant through a process called photosynthesis.
- The stem holds the plant off the ground and enables movement of water around the plant.
- The roots anchor the plant in the ground and take up water and nutrients from the soil. - Show Slide 3.
Ask the children, ‘What happens to a tree when it doesn’t have strong roots?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Show Slide 4.
Explain that this tree has fallen over because its roots were not strong enough or deep enough for the height of the tree. - Show Slide 5.
Ask the children, ‘What has happened to this tree?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that the land below the tree has been washed away. - Show Slide 6.
Ask the children, ‘Does the tree have strong roots?’
Encourage the children to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down in response to the question.
Explain that even though the land underneath the tree has been washed away, the roots must be strong and deep because the tree is still standing. - Show Slide 7.
Ask the children, ‘What’s different about the banyan tree’s roots?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that the roots of the banyan tree start growing above ground when the banyan seed germinates on a host tree or a structure like a building. Eventually, the roots end up looking like a trunk and they grow into the ground, which helps the tree to survive for hundreds of years. It’s important for all tree roots to grow into the ground. - Show Slide 8.
Explain that as this academic year begins, we can compare ourselves to tree roots. All of the things that we have learnt in our previous year groups - how we have made friends, become involved in clubs and activities, and received advice from family members - are like tree roots that are already anchored in the ground.
What we need to do this year is to keep growing our roots and make sure that they become even stronger. - Show Slide 9.
Another function of a plant is to grow fruit, which helps the plant to spread its seeds and reproduce. The Bible talks about the fruits of the Spirit, which are fruits that people can show in their lives.
- Love. We can show love in how we care for our family, friends, pets and other people.
- Joy. We shouldn’t focus only on being happy and smiley on the outside; we should feel happy with ourselves on the inside too.
- Peace. When we feel peaceful, we feel calm inside and have something called peace of mind. Even if something goes wrong, we can feel peaceful. We can also bring peace to others through the way in which we behave and how we treat them.
- Patience. Being patient for things can be difficult, especially if we want to do something straightaway or we’re waiting for our birthday or Christmas. It can be hard to be patient with others when we feel annoyed or irritable.
- Kindness. It’s important for us to be kind not just to our friends, but to everyone, especially if they need our help.
- Goodness. We should try to behave in a good way and say sorry if we do something wrong. Being good means aiming to be kind and helping others in any way we can.
- Faithfulness. If we make a promise to clean our bedroom or do our homework, we should keep our promise.
- Gentleness. Being gentle is the opposite of being mean and unkind. We treat people how we would like to be treated - with respect.
- Self-control. Having self-control means that we are in control of the things that we do and say.
Time for reflection
Show Slide 10.
Ask the children, ‘What should we do if something goes wrong?’
Explain that there may be times when we have a fall-out with our friends, argue with a family member, do badly in a test, get things wrong, get angry or make a mistake. When we do these things, we might feel cross with ourselves, or embarrassed. If we return to the tree analogy, we might feel like we’ve been chopped down.
Show Slide 11.
Ask the children, ‘Can a tree that has been chopped down regrow?’
Encourage the children to give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down in response to the question.
Show Slide 12.
Explain that if the tree has strong roots, the answer is yes, the tree can regrow.
In the same way, if we make mistakes this year - whether they are big or small - we can still move forwards. If we have strong roots and know that we are a good friend, that we can do our work, that we can solve problems and that we can talk to the people who look after us and explain how we feel, we can overcome any problems.
One way in which a tree becomes stronger is by being blown by the wind, especially during a storm. So, let’s think of life’s problems as storms and remind ourselves that we can weather the storms and continue to grow.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you for our roots.
Thank you that our roots get stronger as we learn and overcome any problems.
Thank you that we can regrow again, especially when it feels like we’ve been chopped down.
Please help us with the problems that we might encounter this year.
Please give us the patience, faith and perseverance to overcome them and learn from them.
Please help us to produce good fruit in our lives.
Please help us to have people around us to support us as we grow.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Fruit of the Spirit children’s song’, available at: https://youtu.be/Rezg4jYFoj0 (2.44 minutes long)
‘Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5.22-23)’, available at: https://youtu.be/qG9SbXG9BaY (2.31 minutes long)
‘Fruit of the Spirit’ by Go Fish, available at: https://youtu.be/f-ejASqf1VE (3.10 minutes long)
Extension activities
- Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (Strong Roots Produce Good Fruits - Extension Activity). Ask them to draw or write about situations where they have shown the fruits of the Spirit, or experienced them at school or at home.
