This Makes No Sense!
Mistakes can be corrected
by Alexandra Palmer
Suitable for Key Stage 2
Aims
To consider that mistakes can be corrected and good can come out of them.
Preparation and materials
- You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (This Makes No Sense!) and the means to display them.
- Have available the YouTube video ‘Joseph forgives (Genesis 42-45)’ and the means to show it during the assembly. It is 3.44 minutes long and is available at: https://youtu.be/ndETu4bzwAY
- Optional: you may also wish to use the extension activity (This Makes No Sense! - Extension Activity) that accompanies this assembly.
Assembly
- Show Slide 1.
Introduce the assembly by asking the children, ‘Do we ever make mistakes at school?’
Ask them to show their answer by giving a thumbs-up for yes and a thumbs-down for no.
Point out that all of us make mistakes at school and in many other places! - Show Slide 2.
Ask the children, ‘What sort of mistakes might we make?’
Listen to a range of responses. - Show Slide 3.
Outline some of the typical mistakes that we might make at school:
- falling out with friends
- not spelling words correctly
- not doing our homework
- losing our drinks bottle
- not adding numbers correctly
- upsetting a friend - Introduce the video that you are going to show to the children.
This story is from the Old Testament part of the Bible, and it is the last part of Joseph’s story. The story started when Joseph’s dad gave him a coat of many colours because Joseph was his favourite of his 12 sons. This made Joseph’s brothers jealous, and things got worse when Joseph told them about some dreams he’d had in which they and their dad bowed down and worshipped him. Joseph’s brothers hated him so much, they sold him into slavery and he was taken to Egypt.
Show the YouTube video ‘Joseph forgives (Genesis 42-45)’ (3.44 minutes long). - Show Slide 4.
Tell the children that Joseph became boastful when he was given his coat of many colours and told his brothers and dad about his dreams where they bowed down and worshipped him.
Ask the children, ‘Why is it a mistake to be boastful?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Suggest that if we are boastful, we can become overconfident and cause others to feel insignificant and jealous. We can also be seen in a negative way as a show-off, rather than as positive and kind. - Show Slide 5.
Ask the children, ‘How should Joseph’s brothers have reacted?’
Explain that Joseph’s brothers reacted with anger and hate because they were jealous and fed up with him for being boastful. They should have taken time to calm down and then discussed the problems with Joseph and their dad. - Show Slide 6.
Ask the children, ‘How were the mistakes corrected?’
Tell the children that Joseph corrected the mistakes through his ability to interpret dreams. He was able to explain the meaning behind the pharaoh’s dreams, predicting that there would be seven years of abundance followed by seven years of famine. The pharaoh trusted Joseph, and made him second-in-command of all Egypt so that he could take responsibility for the collection of grain, ready for the coming famine.
Time for reflection
Show Slide 7.
Ask the children, ‘Why did Joseph forgive his brothers?’
Suggest that Joseph believed that God had used the mistakes of him being boastful and his brothers selling him into slavery for the good of Joseph and others. Joseph was sold into slavery at the age of 17, but he didn’t become the pharaoh’s second-in-command until he was 30. His time in prison transformed him from a boastful, annoying teenager to a mature person who could make wise decisions. He was able to save the lives of his family and many others by storing grain during the seven years of abundance.
Show Slide 8 and read out the quotations.
- We learn from our mistakes.
- Your best teacher is your last mistake.
Ask the children, ‘What do these quotations mean?’
Listen to a range of responses.
Explain that when we know that we’ve made a mistake, it’s important to reflect on what went wrong and why. We can then learn from our mistake and try not to repeat it.
Encourage the children to think about mistakes that they’ve made that they should do something about. Perhaps they’ve been unkind to a friend, and they need to say sorry. Or perhaps someone has done something hurtful to them, and they need to forgive them.
Encourage the children to speak to someone if they are worried about a mistake that they have made.
Prayer
Dear God,
Thank you that we can learn from our mistakes.
Thank you that our mistakes often help us to become better people and better friends.
Thank you for the times when we have learnt from our mistakes.
We pray that good will come out of any mistakes that we have made.
Please help us to own up when we get things wrong and to say sorry when we need to.
Please help us to forgive people when they are sorry for hurting us.
Amen.
Song/music
‘Joseph’s coat (the coat of many colours)’ from the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, available at: https://youtu.be/xp4Fym1KImY (4.02 minutes long)
Extension activity
Give each child a copy of the sheet that accompanies this assembly (This Makes No Sense! - Extension Activity). Ask them to think of a mistake that they’ve made in the classroom and in the playground, and then draw or write about it and explain what they learnt from it.
