-Forgiveness-
-Forgiveness-
Embedded Files
HOW TO USE THIS LESSON: The webpage below is intended to be projected for students to follow along. It includes basic instructions, definitions, etc. to guide students. Depending on your technology, you can have a student in charge of scrolling through the site, on your cues. Just have them try not to scroll past the thin purple dividers or thick colored banners until you are ready to start that next section!
You will also need to download and/or print this facilitator's guide. This document contains extra instructions, facilitator's notes, and other behind-the-scenes content necessary for the lesson.
Grade 10 - Forgiveness (45 minutes)Objective: You will learn about the complex nature of forgiveness, and will be able to create a personal definition of what forgiveness means in your lives.
You will need a paper and markers.
Introduction
Introduction
When you think about forgiveness, what comes to mind?
Using a notecard or half-sheet of paper, take a moment and write your own personal definition of "forgiveness" on one side of the notecard.
This definition can stay private - we'll discuss forgiveness a lot today, but you won't need to share what you wrote.
When you're done, set your definition aside. We'll come back to it at the end of our lesson.
Next, let's take a look at what some other wise people have had to say about forgiveness:
"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." - Gandhi
"A rattlesnake, if cornered, will sometimes become so angry it will bite itself. That is exactly what the harboring of hate and resentment against others is - a biting of oneself. We think that we are harming others by holding these spites and hates, but the deeper harm is to ourselves." - E. Stanley Jones
"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." - Paul Boese
"It's one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody." - Maya Angelou
"Forgiveness is above all a personal choice, a decision of the heart to go against natural instinct to pay back evil with evil." - Pope John Paul II
"Forgiving isn't something you do for someone else. It's something you do for yourself. It's saying, 'You're not important enough to have a stranglehold on me.' It's saying, 'You don't get to trap me in the past. I am worthy of a future.'" - Jodi Picoult
After reading through each quote, take a moment and talk with someone near you:
Which quote speaks to you the most?
What parts of these quotes make you hesitate, or present a challenge for you?
Can you relate any of these to your own life?
Main Activities
Main Activities
You will divide into four groups and explore a few different facets of forgiveness more deeply. Each group will have 5-7 minutes to discuss their assigned topic, and a poster to fill with their ideas. After 7 minutes, come back as a whole and present your posters and your thoughts for the other groups.
Group 1: The Role of an Apology
What role does apologizing or receiving an apology play in the process of forgiveness? Does forgiveness happen immediately after an apology? Can forgiveness only happen when there has been an apology? Do we need to tell the offender whether or not we have forgiven them?
Group 2: Learning About Forgiveness
How, when, and where do we learn about forgiveness? Who teaches us about it? Are the definitions of forgiveness we grow up with perfect? What misconceptions might we have about forgiveness? How is forgiveness portrayed in different contexts, like the media, TV, religious communities, etc.?
Group 3: Barriers to Forgiveness
What gets in the way of finding forgiveness? What kinds of things in your life are particularly hard to forgive? What kinds of things happen when we haven't forgiven yet?
Group 4: Requirements for Forgiveness
Are there things that need to be present or true before forgiveness can occur? What kinds of character traits or attitudes are helpful in deciding to forgive? Is forgiveness conditional? What purpose does forgiveness serve? What benefits does it offer? Is there a timeline or sequence of events that forgiveness needs to follow?
Discussion
Discussion
As each group shares, take time to add to each poster if other classmates have thoughts to share.
When you reflect on the discussions you just had, what personal thoughts about forgiveness were affirmed by the other responses you saw and heard?
What new ideas did you learn about?
What things did you hear that challenged your thinking on this topic?
Closing
Closing
Let's go back to the notecards we started this activity with. Think about everything you've heard and discussed today, and how your understanding of forgiveness might have changed since writing that first definition. We'll take two or three minutes to reflect. If it has changed, take a moment to write a new definition on the other side of your notecard.
Consider keeping this notecard in your backpack, locker, at home, or somewhere else where you'll be able to look back on it in the future. As your life journey deepens your understanding of forgiveness, it may be helpful to reflect on how this definition grows and evolves with your experiences.
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