Assembly Objective:
- Is it ever right to get angry? This assembly explores what the Bible teaches about anger.
Film:
- The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures, 2016) certificate U, click here to buy the DVD online.
Bible:
- Ephesians 4: 26 (The Living Bible)
Supporting Values Education:
- The Rule of Law. The Angry Birds Movie depicts the total disregard of one island’s rule of law by the inhabitants of another island. Chaos and destruction ensue. The island’s judiciary look to Red to mobilise the community in the recovery of its stolen property. At the end of the film, the rule of law is restored. In the assembly, children are challenged to use their anger to make a positive change in their community and beyond.
OPENING ACTIVITY
Red’s Anger Scale (challenge)
- Volunteers position themselves in a line (from 0 – 100) according to the degree of anger they feel in different situations. Indicate an imaginary line running from one side of the hall / classroom to another. Tell the children that this line represents a scale from zero at one end to one hundred at the other end. This scale is known as Red’s Anger Scale and it indicates the degree of anger a person feels in different situations. A measurement of zero means that a person feels no anger at all, whilst a measurement of 100 means that a person is boiling mad! Ask for a number of volunteers to position themselves (from 0 – 100) according to the degree of anger they feel in the different situations listed on the Getting Angry PowerPoint.
FILM CLIP 1
- Play the clip from The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:09:56 (Red bursts through the gates of the court.)
- End time: 00:13:40 (Red climbs the stairs to his anger management class.)
- Clip length: 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, say instead, ‘Red is ordered by the court to attend an anger management class. Angrily, he sets off for the class. Along the way, he is very unfriendly to his fellow islanders. Everything they do appears to annoy him and, to them, he is a figure of ridicule. When he eventually arrives at the house where the anger management class is taking place, he is greeted by a large animated bird. All the anger he has been feeling on his way to the class is taken out on the animated bird. Red walks up the stairs to the class’.
FILM CLIP 2
- Play the second clip from The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:59:05 (The island is devastated.)
- End time: 01:02:42 (The raft sets sail for Piggy Island.)
- Clip length: 3 minutes and 37 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, instead say, ‘The pigs have now destroyed the island and stolen all of the eggs. They have taken the eggs to their own island. All the bird parents are sad that their eggs have gone. The community is gathered on the beach. Judge Peckinpah apologises to Red for not heeding his warnings about the pigs. He asks Red what they should do next. The rest of the community also looks to Red for leadership. Red says that now is the time to get angry. He mobilises the community to build a boat in which to pursue the pigs. The boat sets off with the whole community on board.’
TALK
Download the Getting Angry PowerPoint for use with this talk.
Scripted Talk
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome, everyone, to this assembly. Our theme this morning is Getting Angry. It is based on The Angry Birds Movie. The main character in the film is a bird called Red. Everything in life seems to make him angry. But what makes you angry?
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Let’s find out by using Red’s Anger Scale to measure the things that make you angry. The scale starts at 0 degrees, which means that you are totally calm, and goes all the way up to 100 degrees, which would indicate that you are boiling mad.
- Invite volunteers to position themselves along a line, running from one side of the hall / class to the other, according to the level of anger each situation normally elicits in them.
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- When your team loses?
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- When someone pushes ahead of you in a food queue?
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- When your computer shuts down before you have saved your work / place in a game?
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- When it’s only raining a bit outside and it’s declared as ‘wet play’?
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- When you are told to go to bed even though you’re not tired?
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- When a sibling goes into your room and messes with all your stuff?
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- [Comment upon the general level of anger expressed by the volunteers before sending them back to their seats.] In The Angry Birds Movie, Red’s anger leads to him being taken to court by one family. He is ordered to take part in anger management classes. But can he get to the class without getting angry?
- Play the first clip from The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:09:56 (Red bursts through the gates of the court.)
- End time: 00:13:40 (Red climbs the stairs to his anger management class.)
- Clip length: 3 minutes and 44 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, say instead, ‘Red is ordered by the court to attend an anger management class. Angrily, he sets off for the class. Along the way, he is very unfriendly to his fellow islanders. Everything they do appears to annoy him and, to them, he is a figure of ridicule. When he eventually arrives at the house where the anger management class is taking place, he is greeted by a large animated bird. All the anger he has been feeling on his way to the class is taken out on the animated bird. Red walks up the stairs to the class’.
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- In the clip that we have just seen, the outcome of Red’s anger is damage to Billy, the animated bird. Even more seriously, the film shows how Red’s anger has isolated him from the rest of his community. He lives alone in a house on the beach rather than in the village like everyone else. [Ask the volunteers to share with the group the usual outcome of their anger, use the slide to prompt responses.] In the Bible, anger is very common. It is seen as part of everyday life. However, in several places, the Bible teaches that while anger is normal, holding onto your anger is to be avoided.
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- [Share with the group Ephesians 4: 26]. Holding onto one’s anger, overnight for example, causes grudges to form and that, in turn, according to the Bible, leads to sin or harmful, negative behaviour. Instead it is better to let go of your anger and to use it to do something positive. In The Angry Birds Movie, Red learns to use his anger more positively than causing damage.
- [PowerPoint slide 12]
- One day, some pigs arrive on the island. At first, they appear very friendly and kind but it soon becomes clear that their intentions are far from honourable. The pigs destroy the islanders’ homes and steal all of their eggs. Only Red had been suspicious of the pigs from the start and so, in a time of crisis, the community turns to him.
- Play the second clip from The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures, 2016) certificate U.
- Start time: 00:59:05 (The island is devastated.)
- End time: 01:02:42 (The raft sets sail for Piggy Island.)
- Clip length: 3 minutes and 37 seconds.
- If you cannot play this clip from the DVD, instead say, ‘The pigs have now destroyed the island and stolen all of the eggs. They have taken the eggs to their own island. All the bird parents are sad that their eggs have gone. The community is gathered on the beach. Judge Peckinpah apologises to Red for not heeding his warnings about the pigs. He asks Red what they should do next. The rest of the community also looks to Red for leadership. Red says that now is the time to get angry. He mobilises the community to build a boat in which to pursue the pigs. The boat sets off with the whole community on board.’
- [PowerPoint slides 13 and 14]
- [Invite the volunteers who measured their anger on Red’s Anger Scale to consider how they might react more positively in the future. Examples are included on slide 14.]
- [PowerPoint slides 15 – 17]
- [Remind the group about Red’s Anger Scale before asking them all to respond to the following facts.] How angry do these facts make you? Is it good if these facts don’t make you angry at all? For those who do feel angry, how might you let go of your anger and do something positive?
- [PowerPoint slide 18]
- Remember that the Bible teaches that you shouldn’t ‘let the sun go down on your anger’. So, if you do feel angry about children not having enough to eat or not being able to go to school or to use a proper toilet, you need to do something about it today. [Invite suggestions.]
HEADINGS AND BULLETS
- [PowerPoint slide 1]
- Welcome.
- Introducing The Angry Birds Movie.
- [PowerPoint slide 2]
- Red’s Anger Scale.
- How angry do you get…
- [PowerPoint slide 3]
- When your team loses?
- [PowerPoint slide 4]
- When someone pushes ahead of you in a food queue?
- [PowerPoint slide 5]
- When your computer shuts down before you have saved your work / place in a game?
- [PowerPoint slide 6]
- When it’s only raining a bit outside and it’s declared as ‘wet play’?
- [PowerPoint slide 7]
- When you are told to go to bed even though you’re not tired?
- [PowerPoint slide 8]
- When a sibling goes into your room and messes with all your stuff?
- [PowerPoint slide 9]
- Introducing Film Clip 1.
- [PowerPoint slide 10]
- Possible outcomes of anger.
- [PowerPoint slide 11]
- Ephesians 4:26.
- [PowerPoint slide 12]
- Introducing Film Clip 2.
- [PowerPoint slide 13]
- Red’s Anger Scale.
- [PowerPoint slide 14]
- Alternative outcomes of anger.
- [PowerPoint slide 15]
- Fact 1: Hunger.
- [PowerPoint slide 16]
- Fact 2: Education.
- [PowerPoint slide 17]
- Fact 3: Sanitation.
- [PowerPoint slide 18]
- Ephesians 4:26.
Photo copyright for Getting Angry PowerPoint: Slide 1 Rovio Animation/Sony / Slide 2, 9 and 13 Rovio Animation/Sony / Slides 3, 5, 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 16, 18 iStockphoto.com / Slide 4 Clive Perrin / Slide 6 Freeimages.com / Slide 7 Freeimages.com / Slide 12 Rovio Animation/Sony / Slide 17 B.Koelsch
RESPOND
Reflection
- Think about the last time that you got really angry? What were the outcomes of your anger?
- How might you have used your anger to achieve most positive outcomes?
- What things in your life and in the world are you right to feel angry about?
- What could you do today to make your world / the world a better place?
- Have you been holding onto anger towards someone else? What could you do today to get rid of your anger?
Prayer
- Dear God, we thank you for giving us the ability to feel different emotions like joy and sadness, peace and anger. Please help us not to hold onto our anger. Teach us how to forgive ourselves and others and how to use our anger to make positive changes in our community and in the world. Amen.
YOU WILL NEED:
- The Angry Birds Movie (Sony Pictures, certificate U), click here to buy the DVD online.
- Getting Angry PowerPoint.
Ethos Education 