Common Good
Lower Primary
Why is sharing with others important?
Inquiry Question: Why is sharing with others important?
By the end of this unit, students will understand the importance of sharing what we have with other people to ensure they feel welcome and a sense of belonging.
Before you start:
- Watch the Catholic Social Teaching (CST) film, The Common Good for your own background knowledge.
- Download the various resources referenced at the bottom of this page (worksheets, slides etc.) Print student handouts and have weblinks ready to go on your computer/interactive whiteboard.
- Read/watch the stories and videos linked in this learning sequence to determine if they are appropriate for your class.
- Locate any Scripture passages and copies of Church texts hyperlinked within the learning sequence below.
See-Judge-Act-Pray Process
This learning sequence has been created using the ‘See, Judge and Act’ model.
This reflection–action process was first used by a Belgian Catholic priest, Joseph Cardijn (who later became a Cardinal) with Young Christian workers prior to the first World War.
This approach was also recommended in the 1961 encyclical letter written by Pope John XXIII called Mater et Magistra (Mother and Teacher).
Definition
- something "belonging to all and meant for all", e.g. the climate (Pope Francis, Laudato Si' n23)
- an idea that ensures people reach their full potential as individuals and communities
- what happens when individual rights to personal possessions and community resources are balanced with our collective responsibility to meet the needs of others
Student-friendly explanation:
- We should always try to think about what is good for everyone, not just ourselves.
- It’s about living together in a community.
Learning intention
We are learning:
- the meaning of the term ‘sharing’
- that by displaying kindness to others, you are displaying kindness to God
- to explore Jesus’s teaching on sharing by looking at Matthew 25:35–45
- how to include others
- to celebrate people who are inclusive
SEE
Ask students what they understand the term ‘share’ to mean? Why do we share with people?
Read or watch The Rainbow Fish. Discuss what the Rainbow Fish did throughout the story and what eventually led the other fish to play with him. The object is to have the students understand that he needed to share what he had and not keep everything to himself. Explore the feelings being expressed in the story when sharing was and wasn’t happening. Have students consider their own feelings in similar situations.
Provide students a selection of recycled art supplies. In pairs, students work together to create something to reflect the meaning of the story. Conduct a Gallery Walk to enable students the opportunity to show one another their creative piece. Students use the I Like, I Wonder, Next Steps technique to reflect on the artwork and provide feedback using the ‘I Like, I wonder, Next Time’ worksheet.
Students either draw, write, record or roleplay about a time when they shared with someone and how it made them feel. Have students share their story with the class or a small group of students. Celebrate the students’ efforts in practicing sharing and inclusivity.
Explore a Caritas Australia Case Study. Explain to students Caritas Australia is an organisation that shares resources worldwide with communities who are needing extra support. Read Anatercia storybook. As a class, discuss:
- What challenges did Anatercia and her family experience?
- What resources were shared to help Anatercia and her family?
- How did sharing these resources change Anatercia and her family’s lives?
- How did Anatercia and her family feel before and after the resources were shared?
To learn more about the work of Caritas Australia, go through Introduction to Caritas Australia presentation with students.
JUDGE
Play Matthew 25:35 song. Explain to students this is the beginning of a reading in the Bible we’re going to explore. Ask them what they think the reading is going to teach them. What does ‘whatever you did for these, Jesus said “You did for me” mean? Who are they referring to when they say ‘these’?
Read Matthew 25:35-40. Revisit the previous discussion, were you correct about what the reading was going to teach you? Are there any new ideas or thoughts students would like to share?
Explain to students that by sharing with others, we are sharing with God. God teachers us that we are made in God’s image; therefore, each and every one of us reflect God. Explain that if we are mean to someone, we are mean to God; if we are nice to someone, we are nice to God. In this Scripture, God reminds us that by feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, or taking care of the sick, we are doing all this to God.
Have students in pairs or 3s, create a ‘still’ to display the following statements:
- I was hungry and you gave me food
- I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink
- I was a stranger and you welcomed me
- I was naked and you gave me clothing
- I was sick and you took care of me
- I was in prison and you visited me
- Anything you did for any of my people here, you also did for me.
Provide props for students to be able to utilise. Take photos of the stills and create a storyboard of the story to be displayed in the classroom.
Using T-Chart, create list of inclusive and exclusive behaviors. Explain to students that sharing is a way we can include people and make them feel welcomed and loved. Invite students to observe inclusive and exclusive behaviours in the playground. Students choose one and report back to the class. Discuss and explain if these choices model Jesus’s example, and how to change the behaviours to be more Christ-like.
Display the following statements from the Common Good presentation:
- We should always try to think about what is good for everyone, not just ourselves.
- It’s about living together in a community.
Students choose one statement and then Think, Pair, Share how the statement relates to what they have been learning about sharing.
To consolidate learning, use the Turn and Talk strategy to explore the question: Why is it important to share with others?
Act
Over the course of a week, invite students to observe students in the classroom or school who are sharing with others or trying to include others.
As a class, decide on two or three people who the class believe are strong examples of living like Christ.
Give an Act of Inclusion and Kindness award to those students at a classroom celebration or whole school assembly to celebrate their actions.
Pray
Song: These Hands by Andrew Chinn, Ubuntu by Andrew Chinn
Reading: Matthew 25:35-40
Students write or say a prayer about sharing with others.
