Definition: Someone who is grateful is thankful for people, nature, and things. Stewardship means taking good care of what we’ve been given.

In short: Thankful for every blessing, big or small.

Summary:

Yoshi works as a stonecutter in the mountains of Japan. He is visited by a spirit that grants wishes. He puts away his tools when his wish to become rich is granted. Yoshi isn’t grateful when his wish comes true and he continues to make wishes that aren’t satisfying and cause problems for him and others. Eventually, Yoshi asks to become a stonecutter once again and when the wish is granted, he is finally happy. He realizes that being a stonecutter was the best job for him after all. 

Lesson Objectives: 

1. Teachers guide students in an activity that starts with a discussion about the things and people in our lives that make us feel grateful. This is followed by a writing and sharing activity in which students make lists of people and things for which they are grateful and then share their lists with another classmate or the whole class. 
2. Students write and give a letter of gratitude to someone who is a special part of their lives. 

Guiding Questions: 

1. Can you describe Yoshi’s life as a stonecutter in the beginning of the story? 
2. Yoshi thought being rich would make him happy, but it didn’t. Do you think being rich makes a person happy? Why or why not?  
3. Why do you think Yoshi kept making new wishes? 
4. Why did Yoshi want to be the sun? What happened as a result of the wish being granted? 
5. Why did Yoshi decide he wanted to be a cloud instead of the sun? 
6. What happened to the land and rivers when Yoshi became a raincloud? 
7. Why did Yoshi change his mind when he was a rock? Why did he want to be a man again? 
8. Can you share about a time when you made a wish and it came true? How about a time when your wish didn’t come true? How did that make you feel? 
9. Gratitude means that you are thankful for what you have. Can you make a list of things and people for which you are grateful? 
10. Can you be grateful for what you have and at the same time wish for more? Why or why not?