Definition:

doing what needs to be done without complaining. 

In short:

Do what needs to be done.

Summary:
Melissa is normally kind and likes to help others. However, when things don’t go her way, she can be rude and impolite. After an incident when she yells at her little brother, Melissa feels bad and asks her dad for advice. She is encouraged when her dad tells her to think about the consequences of the choices she makes. She realizes she needs to practice being responsible for her actions. Melissa practices  pausing to consider consequences before acting on her feelings and the result is she does better at making good choices! 

Lesson Objectives: 

1. Students work on pausing before reacting, thinking about consequences, and they find that they are able to make better choices 

Guiding Questions: 

1. Melissa is usually kind and responsible. But she gets mad at her baby brother. What happened? 
2. What advice did Melissa’s dad give her? 
3. What does it mean to “think twice” and how does that help us make better choices? 
4. When Melissa’s mom asked her to make her bed, she almost got mad, but then she thought about her choices. What did she think about and what did she do? 
5. When Melissa accidentally broke a vase and thought about blaming her brother, what happened? 
6. Do you think Melissa got better at pausing before reacting by the end of the story? Give an example from the book to support your answer.
7. If you make a mistake, what can you do about it that would help? 
8. Do you think there’s anyone who’s never made a mistake? Ask a family member if they’ll tell you about a mistake they made.  
9. Can you think of a time you made a mistake? What did you do about it? 
10. If I ask you, “who is responsible for you?” What would you say and why?