2014 – SSE Group 4 Lesson Plans

Teacher: Raji Iyer

Attendance: Vishudhi, Omkar, Thayany, Aarthika, Yathika, Hruday and Amish.

Life application: Move out of your comfort zone and perform one act of kindness (with humility) that you would normally be hesitant to do. Share with the next class. e.g: Give a New Year�s card to a stranger . Lesson Plan Attached
Pope Francis

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Teacher: Bhaskar Anant

Attendance: Vishudhi, Riya, Thayany, Aarthika, Omkar, Hruday and Anish

The topic was “Attitude”. See attachment.

We saw videos, read articles and had a great interactive discussion after each of those items.

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Teacher: Sreenadh Jonnavithula

Attendance: Riya, Aarthika, Omkar, Hruday, Anish, Thayany

Lesson Plan:

We discussed the concepts of Karma and Reincarnation. The law of Karma is basically a law of cause and effect. What we sow now we reap in the future, either in this or in future lives. Each individual has a “Karma Account” and life is all about resolving Karma. Karma does not mean life is predestined, there is the prarabda karma from the previous births and kriyamana karma which is generated by actions within this birth. Outcome in life is a combination of past karma and present actions (free will). You can be born in adversity and advance by your actions; or born in great conditions and come to harm because of your actions. Every point was illustrated with lots of examples and resulted in spirited discussions and arguments by the children. In spite of the very serious topic, children appeared to enjoy the class.

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Teacher: Chandra Sekhar and Mani Sundaram

Attendance: Thayany, Riya, Yathika, Vishudhi, Omkar and Hruday

A. Lesson Plan : Self Confidence

1. Swami on Self Confidence
2. Swami’s assurances about faith in the self.
3. Swami’s Discourse on – Develop self confidence to gain success…. Feb 21 , 2009

Beyond all negativity & distortions, there is one entity – Atma. Atma is embodiment of the divine self . it is eternal and unchanging. Atma dwells in all beings and is essentially one . There is no scope for any doubt or duality in this aspect.

Unity and purity together retain Divinity

B. Life application: Gain focus and concentration

Meditation thru Gayatri mantra:

Chant the Gayatri 108 times along with the breath in- breath out process with out losing the count.

C. Quiz and information on Christmas traditions and practices around the world.

Lesson Plan Document 1
Lesson Plan Document 2

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Teacher: Shankar Krishnan and Mangala Shankar

Attendance: Aarthika Jeyagandhi, Thayany Jeyakumaran, Riya Bhattarai, Hruday Rajput, Omkar Iyer

• Welcome Swami – 3 Oms and Gayathri
• Bhajan – Bhajan – Taught by Mangala Sairam Hear My Call To You, Sai Ram Hear My Call
• Name 5 people whom we are thankful for and why ….
• Video on Perseverance and Patience Story of the Bamboo Tree
• Service to Mankind is service to God
• Watched Swami’s Assurance video that Swami is always with us and is guarding us like a shadow and is the indweller.
• Life Application.
  • Continue to point discussed with story ponder on the seva opportunity.
  • Continue to thank people every time whenever possible during the week and share in class.
• Retire Swami

Lesson Plan Enclosed

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Teacher: Chandra

Attendance: Sai Omkar, Hruday, Riya, Thayany, Vishu

We segmented our class into three components:

1. Review of ” public speaking ” class taken 2 weeks ago – the idea was to discuss practical applicability of the topic and how the students had applied some of the techniques discussed. It was indeed gratifying to hear various instances where students had utilized learnings and benefitted.

2. Since it was Thanksgiving time, we discussed the importance of gratitude and Swami’s quote : “Man without gratitude is an animal”. We went around the group requesting for their opinion on the quote. This activity brought out a variety of thoughts. It also went into the aspect of how man and animal are different. It was motivating to hear multiple view points coming in from our young minds.

3. Group activity was a game of Jeopardy based on multiple themes ( attached the questions / answers )

Overall it was a very interactive session.

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Teacher: Sujatha Ananthabhotla

Attendance: Riya, Vishu, Thayani, Aarthika, Omkar, Hruday and Anish

Value of Vegetarianism
Lesson Plan Enclosed

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Teacher: Chandra

Attendance: Anish, Hruday, Omkar, Yaathika, Riya, Sai Vishudhi, Thayani, Aarthika

:Lesson Plan Attached

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Teacher: Mangala Shankar

Attendance: 1. Aarthika, 2. Thayani, 3. Sai Omkar, 4. Riya, 5. Hruday, 6. Yaathika, 7. Anish

We watched the video for significance of Avatarhood day with group 4 for first few minutes. The link is www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW8lSATPVoo

Quote: Keep your faith in the Lord undiminished; you can then safely move about in the world.” – Sai Baba, Teachings of Sai Baba, p. 99

The true basis of religion is not belief, but intuitive experience. Intuition is the soul’s power of knowing God. To know what religion is really all about, one must know God.”

Autobiography of a Yogi: Paramahansa Yogananda

Lesson plan: 1. To learn about the story of Paramahamsa Yogananda.

Value: Faith

Subvalue : Surrender

Reference : SSE Teacher’ s Handbook lesson plan

Lesson Plan enclosed 1 2

Life Application: During this week, become aware of an instance where you find yourself “Leaving it up to God” meaning surrendering to His Divine Will. What led up to that instance? Write it in your journal and share with the class next week.

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Teacher: Krishnan Iyer

Attendance: Thayany, Riya, Arthika, Yaathika, Vishudi, Anish, Hruday, SaiOmkar

Topic – Contact With Consciousness – Constant Integrated Awareness (CIA)

1) To remember GOD all times, waking and sleeping

2) When should we start praying?

3) Importance of GOD Consciousness

4) Practical Application : Conversation with GOD. This play was enacted in the class. See attached

5) Brainstorm and discuss on “Love is a Verb”. See attached.

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Teacher: Sushama Tangella

Attendance: Riya, Yaathika, Thayani, Arthika, Hruday, Omkar

Value: Love

Quote:
“There is only one religion; the religion of Love
There is only one language; the language of the Heart
There is only caste; the caste of Humanity
There is only one God, He is Omnipresent.”

Life Application:

1. Chant AUM 3 times every morning
2. During the week, try to cut your ego “I” at least once. Try to help somebody in need.
3. Try to control your anger or hatred and turn that into love. Can be at home with a sibling or with a kid in school.

Lesson Plan Attached

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Teacher: Krishnan Iyer

Attendance: Thayany, Riya, Arthika, Hruday, SaiOmkar

Topic: Religions Of the World : Hindu Religion with a focus on Current ongoing Festival Navarathri

1) Navarathri – Meaning and Spiritual Significance
2) Navarathri – Symbolism
3) Nine day worship of Goddess Durga, Lakshmi & Saraswati/Purpose Of Devi Worship
4) Golu Display
5) Vijaya Dasami/Dasara
6) Swami’s message on Navarathri

Students were shown a Power Point Presentation on Navarathri. A detailed write up on Navarathri was read and discussed in Class.

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Teacher: Sushama Tangella

Attendance: Thayani, Riya, Vishudhi, Hruday, Anish, Yaathika, Arthika, SaiOmkar

Value: Love Sub Value: Compassion

Affirmation: Love as thought is truth. Love as action is right conduct. Love as understanding, is peace.Love as feeling is non-violence.

Lesson Plan enclosed.

Life Application: Practice charity, send me an email with 5 charitable acts you have done this week.

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Teacher: Mangala Shankar

Attendance: 1. Ria, 2. Thayani, 3. Aarthika, 4. Hruday, 5. Vishuddhi, 6. Anish, 7. Omkar (L)

Value: Right Action , Subvalue: Determination

Lesson plan: To learn that determination is essential in reaching the goal

Quote: “You need determination to face the challenges of life, which is filled with ups and down, successes and failures, joys and sorrows. These challenges have to be faced with faith in God.” – Sai Baba

LESSON PLAN DOCUMENTS ENCLOSED 1 2

Life Application: Choose one of your affirmations and this week say it over and over to yourself. Write it down 10 times before you go to bed every night. Keep saying it to yourself during the day. Remember thoughts you express come back to you according to the principle of cause and effect, action and reaction.

Teacher:Shankar Krishnan

Attendance: Sai Vishudhi, Simran, Aarthika ,Riya, Hruday, Anish

Lesson Plan Summary:

The children wrote a beautiful gratitude message that would be shared with their father on what qualities they like in him and also how they love so much their dad. They said they love their father for

• being kind,
• patient
• being happy,
• cheering them up whenever they are down,
• cook for them,
• hardwork,
• never say to their requests

The kids also saw three video clips

a) never have doubts and have firm faith
b) always be united
c) Gayathri message as told by swami

We also discussed two stories

a) crocodile and monkey
b) inspirational stories about dad

Lesson plan enclosed

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Teacher: Raji Iyer and Manorama Saxena

Attendance: Hruday Rajput, Thayany Jeyakumaran, Riya Bhattarai, Aarthika Jeyagandhi

Value: Right Conduct Sub Value: Courage

Objective: To practice self evaluation and take decisions for oneself. To consider setting a good example without getting influenced by others.

Quotation: Courage is the quality of mind and spirit that enables a person to face difficulties in life.

Opening: Three Oms and Three Gayartris

1. Discussion on the following questions:

a. Do you stand for what is right even if you have to stand alone.
b. Do you cave in to negative peer pressure.
c. Does fear of failure prevent you from trying things.
d. Are you afraid to express yourself because some people may disapprove.

Children were then given the questionnaire to fill out and further discussions continued on their answers.

Are You a Person of Courage?

(Take this self-evaluation and decide for yourself.)

True False

I stand up for what is right even if I stand alone.
I don’t cave in to negative peer pressure.
Fear of failure does not prevent me from trying things.
I am not afraid to express myself just because some people might disapprove.
I work to solve problems without violence.
I never intentionally ridicule, embarrass, or hurt others.
I think I am / am not a courageous person because: ___________________

Story : Emperor’s new clothes: Link:http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/

Moral: Only a child had the courage to speak out and say that the emperor had no clothes at all.

2. Discussion on another aspect of courage: Great leaders are those who apologize when they know they’re wrong. Article discussed briefly. Link below:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikaandersen/2012/06/05/courageous-leaders-dont-make-excuses-they-apologize/

3.For lack of time a copy of the “Inspirational story on courage” was given to the children to read which they read silently in class.

http://inspirationalstories.eu/inspirational_stories/inspirational-stories-about-courage.php

4. Life application: Children should complete and bring to next class:

Describe a situation in which you showed courage. What was hard about it? What did it accomplish? How did people respond to you before and after you took the stand?

Class ended with 3 Om and three shanties.

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Teacher:Krishnan Iyer

Attendance: Riya, Arthika, Simran, Thayany and Hruday

Lesson Topic: Social Responsibility/Need – versus – Greed

Objective: To stimulate thought and action regarding use of our resources; respecting diversity. Synthesis – Connecting different aspects of life into a meaningful whole.

Case Study – Human rights – Gandhi

Money Management – Effect of greed on the world

Lesson Plan attached

Group Activity:

What evidence is there of the effect of greed on the world?

Brainstorm ways in which we could cut waste and use less of the world’s resources.

Money Management:

What is the difference between what I need and what I want?

Do you ever waste money? How?

Give each student a copy of the Money Management Sheet to be monitored and filled for one full month and discuss how money management can be improved.

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Teacher: Chie Fujishima and Sushma Tangella

Attendance: Anish, Hruday, Kavya, Thayani, Simran, Isha, Arthika, Riya

Lesson on Shintoism, Attachments:
1 2 3 4

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Teacher: Mani Sundaram

Attendance: Kavya, Isha, Riya, Thayani, Arthika, Simran, Anish, Hruday

Lesson Plan: Meditation

We split the students to 2 grps – to discuss and present the pros & cons of Meditation & how does it help in contact with consciousness.

The Group came up several thoughtful observations – Meditation brings peace of mind, relief from stress, Healthier and happier state of mind, increases creativity and a connection to God .

The other group had many good points too – that it is not easily achievable state, if done for wrong reasons it could lead to disastrous consequences. Namasmarana & Seva are more active alternate means to GOD. It is not easy to make any headway into meditation.

First group came back to say – Nobody said it is going to be easy ….

The whole group then discussed further that

1. intensified Namasmarana,
2. Seva with the Lord as the receiver
are also a way of meditation …

We summarized with each students takeaway from the discussion.

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Teacher:Shankar Krishnan

Attendance: Thayany, Aarthika, Kavya, Riya, Hruday, Anish, Pallak, Vamsh, Yaathika

Please see enclosed, Reviewed the life application of courage from Last Class.

Two students shared how they implemented it. One students said his friend was getting bullied and how he took courage to sort it out with the person who was bullying. Also other student shared their personal courage.

Since it was Easter Sunday, we took an opportunity to know what is Palm Sunday, Maundi Thursday, Good Friday, Passover, Last Supper and reviewed the 14 stations of the cross and what Christ crucification means to our in our current world.

We also watched two video clips on Swami talking about Food Prayers importance and the other on Jesus

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Teacher: Raji Iyer and Manorama Saxena

Attendance: Swetha,Thayany,Riya,, Arthika,Simran,Kavya, Hruday

Lesson Plan Handout

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Teacher: Mani Sundaram, Akilesh Tangella

Attendance: Vansh, Hruday, Thayany, Simran, Isha, Arthika

Discussion on Sivarathri significance

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Teacher: Sreenadh Jonnavithula

Attendance: Swetha,Thayany,Riya,Kavya,Aneesh,Arthika,Isha

Value: Duty

Lesson Plan: Discussed the idea of “Serve All”. The idea of helping other people sounds contrary to the way evolution is supposed to work i.e survival of the fittest. By helping others, creatures would reduce their own chances of survival. Therefore this trait should have disappeared.

We discussed and played a game which illustrates why this may happen. This is the “Donation game”, a variant of the famous “Prisoner’s Dilemma” in game theory. It has been shown mathematically that cooperation evolves if certain conditions are satisfied by the strategies used, and this benefits the entire community. The interesting thing was that these conditions sound very much like what we teach as Sai values.

Lesson Plan enclosed

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Teacher: Sujatha & Ishwarya

Attendance:Hruday, Vamsh, Simran, Arthika, Swetha, Thayani,Riya

Value: Surrender
Lesson Plan Enclosed

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Teacher:Shankar Krishnan

Attendance: Anish Pisipati, Vansh Kumar, Thayany, Kavya, Isha, Swetha, Sai Vishuddhi, Aarthika, Hruday

Purpose: To understand that we can achieve goals in spite our disabilities.

Affirmation: Never Give up…. Yes you can…..!!

Story – inspiring story of Rick Hyot

a. Watch Video:
b. Read Letter from Rick Hyot to his dad

Discussion:

a. Lessons learnt from the story of Rick Hyot?
b. How can we apply those in our daily lives?
c. Can you tell me any other examples of heroes similar to Rick Hyot?

We also discussed briefly Holi along with the lesson plan. Most of the children were moved seeing the video and reading the letter of Rick Hyot

Lesson Plan Document : Enclosed

Life Application

Any time you feel you can’t and about to give up think of this Story from Rick Hyot

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Teacher:Krishnan

Attendance: Anish, Hruday, Swetha, Manasa, Thayany, Kavya, Isha Joshi, Vishudhi, Simran, Riya, Pallak Malhotra,Yaathika,Vansh Kumar

Lesson Plan Attached

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Teacher:Mani Sundaram

Attendance: Hriday, Anish, Palak, Simran,Riya, Thayani, Kavya

Sacrifice & Selflessness are the Hallmarks of True Love

Discourse by Swami on True Love on 20th June 1996.

Sacrifice is the goal of True Love. Love does not desire anything, does not criticise or harm anybody. Even the love between mother child, husband & wife, between siblings or friends has some element of selfishness and self interest. Gods love is without any trace of selfishness and self interest.

True Love brings all beings close as one . It transforms animal tendencies to divine being. The Atmic pinciple is the same in all.

True Love is changeless. It knows no fear, it does not beg anything from anyone, it is love for love’s sake. Love should find its place in your mind as well as your heart.

Seek to leave everything to Gods will. Do not beg for favours, even with God. He Knows your needs better than you yourself. Attain unity of thought , word & Deed. Cultivate and nurture your love for God carefully. Whether you want it or not , Consciousness exists in everybody.

Story of Dhruva’s love for the Lord and his attainment of spiritual glory was narrated. The main aim of Japa & Dhayana is to attain pure love for the Lord. Self Confidence, self satisfaction, self sacrifice and then the self realisation are steps to our goal in life.

Acquire both spiritual and secular education to win your life’s game. Beat the team of Kama, krodha, Lobha, Moha, Mada and Matsarya with your own team of Sathya , Dharma, Shanti, Prema and Ahimsa.

Life Application: Nurture your love for God.

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Teacher: Sreenadh Jonnavithula

Attendance: Hruday, Vansh, Thayany, Aarthika, Yaathika, Kavya, Vishudhi, Swetha, Pallak, Simran

Value: Right Action

Global Warming.

Class started with children reading various quotes (attached) from Swami on the topic of pollution and warming. “In order to protect Nature, man has to practice a ceiling on desires.” “All that needs to be done to avert this danger is to reduce the pollution of the atmosphere caused by automobiles and industrial effluents.”

We then briefly discussed the science of warming – the greenhouse effect – and showed that it is almost entirely due to carbon dioxide emissions due to human activities. The results of this warming are shown in the rising ocean levels, habitat changes etc.,

It is quite obvious what needs to be done – reduce carbon dioxide emissions. So why is this not happening?

We discussed the “Invisible Hand” concept of Adam Smith (1776) – basically, when everyone acts in their best interests, an “Invisible Hand” leads to the betterment of the everyone. The food we eat is grown by farmers who work very hard; but they are not working to make us happy – they work to make their living, and due to the invisible hand, this also make everyone’s life better.

But not all individual actions lead to the community betterment. We discussed the concept of the “Tragedy of the commons” of Garret Hardin, 1968. If there is a common resource – eg. a pasture where cows are grazed, a sea where fish are taken – if each individual takes as many as possible, the net result is the complete depletion of the resource. If one fisherman holds back from taking as much as possible, others may just grab the extra fish. Therefore the resource can only be saved by cooperation among all participants, not by any one acting separately.

A simple game (based on concepts from Game Theory) was played to illustrate the problem of global warming. Each of the 11 students was given 15 pennies. The game consisted of 5 rounds. In each round, each student could put 1 penny (Selfish), 2 pennies (Good Citizen) or 3 pennies (Altruist) into a collection. The amount collected is announced after each round. If 110 pennies were collected at the end of 5 rounds (average of 2 pennies per kid per round), the earth is saved. The entire collection is doubled and divided equally among all the participants. If 110 pennies are not collected, the planet blows up. All participants lose all their money.

The tension in the game comes from the fact that if someone gives 1 penny instead of 2, he is risking the health of the planet, but stands to make a big profit if the goal is reached because others put in 3 pennies.

Glad to report that we had many altruists among the SSE students, and the planet was safe.

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Teacher: Shankar Krishnan

Attendance: Thayani, Sai Vishudhi, Hruday, Kavya, Swetha

Topic: Reviewed Nutrition and Eating Smart Topic, Reviewed Healthy and Un Healthy Foods and had discussion on Meat and nonvegetarian foods.

Lesson Plan Document attached.

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Teacher:Sushma Tangella

Attendance: Anish , Swetha , Isha , Riya , Thayani , Arthika , Yaathika , Kavya , Simran , Hruday

Children listened to talk on Radiosai – Satsang with Techie – Part 5

We then discussed the values and shared life experiences.

Points discussed:

1) Compassion towards thy neighbors
2) spreading Love
3) Taking care of mother earth
4) Hurdles are god given gift to help us get close to our goal.
5) There is no Happiness without Sorrow
6) Safety comes first – Don’t try to help any body on the street when you are alone.

Life application:

Look out for a situations at home/school where you can practice be compassionate.

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Teacher: Chandrasekar

Attendance: Thayany, Kavya, Arthika, Riya, Vishudhi, Yaathika, Simran, Vansh and Hruday

Topic: Learning from Nature

Our discussion was segmented into three areas:

a. Referred to Swami’s message about Nature

b. Discussed a very interesting concept called Biomimicry.

c. Open discussion on how our actions are negatively impacting Nature and what can we do to protect nature. We also discussed how we can apply Biomimicry concept.

Life Application: Identify one area where we can apply Biomimicry concept in daily life and share during class next week.

Lesson Plan Document enclosed

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Teacher: Sreenadh Jonnavithula

Attendance: Thayany, Arthika, Vishu, Swetha, Yaathika, Isha, Simran

Started with students reading out sections from various discourses where Swami talks about the Mahabharata . Then introduced the main characters in the Mahabharata, narrated the story of Duryodhana’s Ghoshayatra and discussed the lessons that can be drawn from it.

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Teacher:

Attendance: Anish, Hruday, Vansh, Thayany, Swetha, Pallak, Vishudhi, Riya, Arthika, Simran

Lesson: Discussion on Sai Values

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Teacher: Sushama Tangella

Attendance: Simran, Isha, Pallak, Kavya, Vishudhi, Thayani, Arthika, Anish, Hruday, Vansh

Lesson Plan : Document enclosed

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Teacher:Chandrasekhar and Mani Sundaram

Attendance: Isha, Hruday, Swetha, Simran, Thayany, Kavya, Riya, Vishidhi, Arthika

Topic: Connecting with Divinity

Structure of our discussion:

* Swami – The Cosmic Avatar

* The Simplest Way of Connecting with Divinity

* Sharing views on Connecting with Divinity

* Prayer

Lesson Plan enclosed

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