Assembly Objective:
- What can we learn from the life of St. David, the patron saint of Wales? This assembly explores the Bible’s teaching about how little things can make a big difference. This assembly is particularly suitable for use on St. David’s Day (1 March).
Film:
- WALL-E (Disney Pixar, 2008) certificate U. Click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
- Philippians 4:8-9 (Contemporary English Version)
Supporting Values Education:
- The value of Individual Liberty affirms each person’s right to self-determination, but the values of Democracy, Respect and Tolerance call us to live as part of a community. This assembly encourages pupils to consider how little things they can choose to do will make a big difference for the common good.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Create the Atmosphere (mood-setter)
- Decorate the room with Welsh flags and play the Welsh National Anthem or some Welsh choral music.
Welsh Phrases (learning)
- Teach the children some Welsh phrases.
- Helo [pronounced ‘Hel-o’] means Hello.
- Hwyl [pronounced ‘Who-il’] means Goodbye.
- Sut dach chi [pronounced ‘Sid-arCH-ee’] means How are you?
- Lawn [pronounced ‘Yown’] means OK.
- Da iawn [pronounced ‘Dar-yown’] means Very well.
- Diolch [pronounced ‘Dee-all’CH’] means Thank you.
The Littlest Things (illustration)
- Ask for a volunteer to come to the front. Under the pretence of a simple game (such as Snap or Eye Spy), demonstrate David’s phrase and do little nice things to help the volunteer.
- Examples of the little things you could do:
- Welcome the volunteer up and shake their hand.
- Ask if they’re having a good day so far.
- Give them a chair.
- Ask if they are comfortable.
- If it’s a cold day, give them a shawl or woolly hat.
- If it’s a hot day, fan them or give them a pair of sunglasses.
- Whenever they do something well, give them a high-five, a sticker or a sweet.
- Whenever they get things wrong, tell them not to worry.
- Ask everyone to give them a round of applause once they’ve finished.
- After you’ve sent them back to their seat, ask the group if they noticed anything special about the way you were treating the volunteer. Ask them to name some of the nice things you did for the volunteer. Ask the group to suggest some other little things you could have done to make the volunteer feel even better.
FILM CLIP
- Play the film clip from WALL-E (Disney Pixar, 2008) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:28:41 (chapter 10 – lightning strikes WALL-E’s umbrella)
- End time: 00:29:47 (WALL-E tries desperately to free his hand, after getting it stuck in EVE’s hand)
- Clip length: 1 minute and 6 seconds
- Alternative description:
- WALL-E’s new friend EVE has mysteriously deactivated, and there is nothing WALL-E can do to wake her up. So WALL-E starts to find little ways to look after her. He holds an umbrella over her during a rain storm – and gets hit by lightning repeatedly. He covers her during a sand storm – and gets buried in the sand himself. He tries to give her a jump start – but only succeeds in electrocuting himself. WALL-E even takes her for a walk and a boat ride, so that she can watch the sun set with him – and, you’ve guessed it, this too doesn’t end terribly well for WALL-E!
TALK
Download the It’s The Little Things Assembly PowerPoint for use with this talk.
Scripted Talk
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Dydd Gwŷl Dewi hapus! [pronounced ‘deethe goil dow-ee happus!’] Does anyone know what I just said? Can anyone guess which language I was speaking in? I said, ‘Happy St. David’s Day!’ in Welsh.
- 1st March is the day when people celebrate the patron saint of Wales, a man called St. David.
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Historians believe that David or Dewi [pronounced ‘Dow-ee’] was born in the year 500 (or thereabouts) and that he died in 589 – that’s 500 years after Jesus’ birth and around 1500 years before yours. David was a monk, which means that he devoted himself to a very simple way of life. He spent much of his time praying and preaching. He drank only water, and he ate only bread, leeks and watercress – in fact the leek is David’s symbol, and some people still wear and eat a leek on St. David’s Day.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- David’s last words were:
- ‘Be joyful and keep your faith and creed. Do the little things that you have seen me do and heard about.’
- ‘Do the little things’ or ‘Gwnewch y pethau bychain’ [pronounced ‘goo-nayuch ur pair-thy bir-chine’] remains a well-known phrase in Wales – even though thousands of years have passed since the day David said it.
- David didn’t do anything spectacular, but he did little things every day to please his God, and in the end they had a big impact. David’s last words are very similar to some other last words by the apostle Paul, recorded in the Bible. Paul was alive in the first century, at the same time as Jesus.
- Read Philippians 4:8-9 (CEV) [PowerPoint slide 4-5]
- Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise. You know the teachings I gave you, and you know what you heard me say and saw me do. So follow my example. And God, who gives peace, will be with you.
- Telling the truth, doing what’s right and being friendly are just little things. But if you are the person on the receiving end of the truth, the right thing or the friendliness, it can mean a lot.
- We’re going to watch a clip about a robot named WALL-E, who also lived a simple life. When his only friend, EVE, suddenly deactivates, WALL-E makes it his mission to do little things to please her.
- Play the film clip from WALL-E (Disney Pixar, 2008) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:28:41 (chapter 10 – lightning strikes WALL-E’s umbrella)
- End time: 00:29:47 (WALL-E tries desperately to free his hand, after getting it stuck in EVE’s hand)
- Clip length: 1 minute and 6 seconds
- Alternative description:
- WALL-E’s new friend EVE has mysteriously deactivated, and there is nothing WALL-E can do to wake her up. So WALL-E starts to find little ways to look after her. He holds an umbrella over her during a rain storm – and gets hit by lightning repeatedly. He covers her during a sand storm – and gets buried in the sand himself. He tries to give her a jump start – but only succeeds in electrocuting himself. WALL-E even takes her for a walk and a boat ride, so that she can watch the sun set with him – and, you’ve guessed it, this too doesn’t end terribly well for WALL-E!
- What are some of the things that WALL-E did for his friend EVE? [Take suggestions.] WALL-E practised David’s advice: he did the little things. I bet EVE appreciated them when she found out.
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- I wonder if we could take up David’s advice – it is his day after all. What little things could you do to please others today?
Headings and Bullets
- Welsh Welcome [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Happy St. David’s Day (in Welsh).
- On 1st March people celebrate the patron saint of Wales.
- St. David [PowerPoint slide 2]
- David was a monk.
- He lived a very simple life.
- Read St. David’s last words [PowerPoint slide 3]
- It’s the Little Things.
- ‘Do the little things’ remains a well-known phrase in Wales.
- The little things he did every day to please his God had a big impact.
- David’s last words are very similar to some other last words by the apostle Paul.
- It’s the Little Things.
- Read Philippians 4:8-9 (CEV) [PowerPoint slide 4-5]
- Telling the truth, doing what’s right and being friendly are just little things.
- But they can mean a lot.
- Introduce the film clip:
- Play the film clip from WALL-E (Disney Pixar, 2008) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:28:41 (chapter 10 – lightning strikes WALL-E’s umbrella)
- End time: 00:29:47 (WALL-E tries desperately to free his hand, after getting it stuck in EVE’s hand)
- Clip length: 1 minute and 6 seconds
- WALL-E
- What are some of the things that WALL-E did for his friend EVE?
- WALL-E practised David’s advice: he did the little things.
- Do a David [PowerPoint slide 6]
- I wonder if we could take up David’s advice.
- What little things could you do to please others today?
Photo Copyright for It’s the Little Things Assembly PowerPoint: Slides 1-6 St David’s flag with Welsh Dragon by Redkloud / Slide 1 Disney/PIXAR / Slide 2 Wolfgang Sauber / Slide 3 Disney/PIXAR / Slide 6 Tzohr Disney/PIXAR
RESPOND
Reflection
- Think about the people you’re likely to see today. What little things might you be able to do for them?
Prayer
- Dear God, thank you for St. David and the apostle Paul. Thank you for the wonderful things they did. Please help us to follow in their footsteps, and do the little things that please you and please other people. Amen.
Respond Later
Eisteddfodau (performance)
- St. David’s Day is often celebrated in Wales with an Eisteddfodau, in which people take it in turns to play music or recite poetry. You could encourage the children to prepare something to perform to the class. To make this less intimidating, you could put people in groups, or give some the option of working ‘backstage’ to help the various acts.
Daffs and Doves (craft)
- Encourage each child to make a St. David’s Day picture. They can use any of the national emblems: a leek, daffodil or dove. They could paint or draw these, but they might enjoy making collage (a fairy-cake case or a cup cut out of an egg box works well for the centre of a daffodil, and crepe paper makes excellent leeks).
YOU WILL NEED:
- WALL-E (Disney Pixar, 2008) certificate U. Click here to buy the DVD online.
- It’s The Little Things Assembly PowerPoint.
- The means to play some Welsh music, and the Welsh flag for Create the Atmosphere.
- A deck of cards, chair, shawl, woolly hat, fan, sunglasses, sticker, sweet (all optional) for The Littlest Things Opening Activity.
- Collage materials, paints or colouring pens for the Daffs and Doves Respond Later craft.
Ethos Education 