Submitted by Jaime Schrock, Davison, Michigan

Idea posted January 8, 2003

Thought I'd share what the 4th graders did with You Gave Me Your Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie (from Music K-8, Vol. 10, No. 5) this past week.

I introduced the song by reading the story in the Music K-8 magazine (in the back where they give descriptions and teaching ideas for each song). It describes how Teresa Jennings' friend gave her the last cookie on a day when she was so busy working that she skipped lunch.

Next, I pulled out five peanut butter chocolate cookies that I made (ooh, aah, they were so excited to see them). I made the cookies twice as big as normal. I gave one cookie (put it on a napkin) to only ONE STUDENT in each group of 5-6 students and told them not to eat it, but to listen to the song and decide what they might do with that cookie. Without fail, we didn't even get halfway through the song, all of the classes were breaking the cookies into smaller pieces to share with their group.

In one class, I laughed as one of the students who had the cookie came up to me with his hands empty, except for lots of crumbs. I complimented him in front of the class, "Wow, Tyler, you gave EVERYTHING you had. There's nothing left for you. How awesome of you. How does it feel to give everything to others?" Okay, I was hoping for the right answer, like, "Wonderful." Instead, he said, "Bad!" Well, everything is a teaching moment. So we turned it around to say that sometimes giving EVERYTHING or making a sacrifice is not for YOU. Life isn't always about YOU, but making sacrifices for others. Oh, and then we made a joke: When he had given all of his cookie away, he felt "crummy!" :)

In another class, I was taken back by the generosity. One boy stood up during the song and walked in front of the entire class to give his share to me. Before I knew it, I had seven more.

More and more I am convinced that children WANT to have positive influence. I have found that simple things like ASKING/TEACHING the students to tell someone "good job" or "nice try" or clapping for someone's answer can completely alter the dynamics of a group. They want to be held to a standard of generosity, compassion, cooperation, etc. Some just need to be taught the simplest character skills and praised big time for showing it! Just like when a parent says, "What do you say?" "Please and thank you." It's definitely teachable. And the more it is practiced, the more habitual it becomes.