If you are teaching online this week, ask students to gather eight index cards or pieces of paper before the lesson begins. They will need these for Step 4.
Share the following video with your preteens [1:14]:
Man spins a giant wheel in a game show and wins more than a million dollars.
Justin’s Spin Hits a Huge Win
Contestants participate in television game shows with hopes of winning a grand prize: a whole lot of money.
- What would you buy yourself if you won two million dollars? (Answers will vary; new tablet; gaming system; bicycle; sneakers, etc.)
- If you won two million dollars, what would you do with the stuff you already have? (Answers will vary: keep it; throw it away; give it to a friend.)
A 60-year-old homeless man in Canada found $2,000 in cash. To someone who had little or nothing, a few thousand dollars may have been like winning a couple of a million dollars. Imagine all he could do with that money!
Instead of spending it, that man walked to the police station with the money, hoping it could be returned to the person who lost it. As a reward for his honesty and kindness, those who heard about what he did raised nearly $5,000 for the homeless man.
- What things do you think the homeless man bought with all that money? (Answers will vary: clothes, blankets, shoes and socks, a bus pass, a night at a motel, dinner at a restaurant, a cell phone, etc.) If you are teaching in a physical classroom, write the answers on the white board as the students share. If you are teaching online, project the board on your screen as you write. Or, write their ideas on a Word document while you share that document on your screen. Save this list for Step 4.
- Sometimes, people like those in the game shows simply want to have more and more money. Other times, people like the homeless man truly need more funds. Is there ever a time when a person has enough? Explain your answer. (Accept all reasonable answers.)
Today we are going to explore the concept of being content with what we have, knowing that the things money cannot buy are what bring us true happiness.