5th Grade

LESSON PLAN: DAN LEKHAF ZECHUT

Didactic Instruction

1. Ask the class what does it mean to judge people? What does it mean to judge somebody favorably?

2. Give the students a minute to think about what it means to judge people and have them turn to the person next to them and share with each other how they define judgment and favorable judgment. (Think-Pair-Share)

3. Engage in class discussion defining judgment.

   • Is it nice to judge people?

   • What happens if we make the wrong judgment and accuse someone falsely?

   • In what ways can we go from judging someone unfavorably, to judging him or her favorably?

   • Teach a source in Pirkei Avot about Dan Lekhaf Zechut. Teach source when Avraham argues for saving the people of Sedom.

Modeling Skill Steps

1. I would role-play the following example (or along the lines) asking a student to participate and provide a script.

• Student walks into classroom 10 minutes late

          Teacher: Rachel, you must stay in during recess because you were late for class.

           Student: I’m sorry I was late, but I was helping the art teacher clean up supplies after class.

          Teacher: I apologize for rushing to judgment so quickly. I won’t keep you in for recess, but next time,            please bring a note.

2. I would ask the class, how was this scenario an example of judging someone unfavorably?

Role-Playing the Skill

1. I would combine the students into 4 groups and hand out 4 different situations. It could be about a parent seeing money is missing from their wallet, or someone seeing a student looking in someone else’s locker. The example with then have 2 judgments, one that was favorable, and one unfavorable.

2. Students in the group would take turns reading the story and then discuss with each other which judgment is which.

3. The groups would then play out and present the scenario to the class.

Reviewing the Skill

1. As a class we would debrief about how each of these scenarios was a unique example of Dan Lekhaf Zechut

2. We would then go around the room and each give a small example of how we could practice this middah today.

3. At the end of the week, we would go around the class and give an example of how we changed our perspective in one situation and instead of rushing to judgment, exhibited the middah of judging favorably instead.