island 6 senshu · 2019-08-15 · 3 read the tale of hope: read together the senshu section in the...

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ISLAND 6

Senshu FAMILY NAVIGATIONAL GUIDEBOOK

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Senshu (SEN-shoo)

Sense of Humor

ENLIGH SUGGESTIONS:

• What does the above statement above mean to you?

• Of the many benefits of a sense of humor, one is our immune system! Negative emotions

weaken, and positive emotions strengthen our immune system.

• Listen to Senshu the Cockatoo . Record your thoughts and impressions. What does it

mean to take an instant vacation regularly? How can you explain what a sense of humor

is to your family?

• Read the cockatoo facts . After reading the animal facts and listening to the song, how

could you liken the cockatoo to having a sense of humor or lightening up?

• Look at How to Use Senshu. Identify individuals in your own life or in your core books

who exemplify Senshu. Look for opportunities as a parent to take an ‘instant vacation.’

What benefits will come as you laugh regularly with your children?

Senshu (The Cockatoo)

All who have stayed the path of wisdom will attest that a sense of humor is a prerequisite to

staying the path.

HOW TO USE SENSHU RESULTS FROM APPLYING SENSHU

• Choose to have a healthy sense of

humor.

• Don’t give permission for life to make

you uptight or too serious.

• Take an instant vacation regularly by

laughing regularly.

• Lighten up.

• Reduces stress

• Increases creativity

• Releases endorphins causing feelings of

well-being

• Reenergizes

Teaching Tip

Studies have shown that laughter opens the brain for learning.

The more fun you have as you learn together, the better you all will capture and retain the

information!

Island of Resilience Senshu

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READ THE TALE OF HOPE: Read together the Senshu section in The Tale of Hope: Island

of Resilience.

LISTEN TO THE SONG: Listen to Senshu the Cockatoo.

EXPLORE THE COCKATOO:

1. Cockatoos are the loudest of all parrot species. They screech, sing, and sometimes scream

at one another to communicate.

2. Cockatoos usually live between 50 to 80 years. They are smart, curious birds that like to

discover things in their environment.

3. Some cockatoos can grow to be quite large, measuring up to 24 inches from beak to tail.

4. Cockatoos who become pets often forge a very strong bond with their owner. They often

like to be close to them or on their shoulder; and they love to be petted frequently.

5. Cockatoos are very affectionate and they crave attention. They can become depressed or

destructive if they are ignored. They move in very humorous ways, and some can mimic

human speech and dance to music.

6. What else can you learn about cockatoos?

PONDER:

1. Help young children understand what sense of humor means. How can you liken the

cockatoo to having a sense of humor?

2. Cockatoos move in very humorous ways, and some can mimic human speech and dance

to music. What are some things you do to lighten up, relax, and take an instant vacation?

3. Cockatoos will become depressed if they are not paid attention to. How can you relate

this to Senshu? What are some consequences of never lightening up and laughing? Do

you know people who have a positive sense of humor and laugh regularly? How does this

affect you?

4. Cockatoos live between 50-80 years. What health benefits come to those who take an

instant vacation regularly?


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Senshu Stories

The Lost Wig A retelling of Aesop’s Fable

by Colleen Jensen

Lion looked at his reflection in the murky Savannah puddle. His many years as king of

the pride was starting to show. Gray whiskers peppered his muzzle. His hide was folding where

it shouldn’t. And his mane? Oh, it was preposterous!

“Tufts of weeds! That’s all that’s left,” he muttered, shaking his massive head. “Time to

visit the barber.”

His barber friends were quick to assemble a most fashionable replacement wig for the

lion. He couldn’t wait to strut his stuff!

Ignoring the wind that was pesky at best, he shook back the locks that made him feel like

a frisky young cub again. At length, he spotted one of the classy Tiger Sisters.

“Ooh la la!” he thought to himself, raising a brow. “Now is my chance.”

He puffed out his chest, charmingly smiled, and bowed a most courtly bow. But before he

could breathe out a greeting, a mighty wind-gust stole his glorious wig right off of his head!

Without hesitation, Lion raised from his bow and addressed the young tigress as though

nothing were amiss. With a ready smile and quick wit, he said: “Is it a wonder that another

fellow’s hair shouldn’t keep on my head when my own wouldn’t stay there?” and continued on

his way, never bothering to recover the lost wig.


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Laughter is Medicine by Beth Southwick

It seemed that young Abraham Lincoln was given a tough break as soon as he was born.

His family was extremely poor and had to move many times. His baby brother died. When

Abraham was nine, his mother died. He had to work hard all of his life. Up until he turned 21

years old, his father rented him out to neighbors as a ferry operator, a farmhand, rail splitter, and

hog butcher. Abraham would earn from 10 to 31 cents a day; and his father would collect the

money. Because his uneducated father considered formal education a waste of time, Abraham

only had 18 months of schooling as a child. He thirsted for knowledge, so he learned to read; and

he read everything he could get a hold of.

On top of all this, Abraham grew really tall and really lanky, really fast. Because his arms

were too long, or his trousers too short, people openly criticized him, with comments such as, he

is "thin as a beanpole and ugly as a scarecrow.” Making claims like, “he was the homeliest

person in the area.” Even his own wife, upon first meeting him, said that he was “not pretty.”

So, with all of this going against him, what do you suppose he did?

He laughed.

Abraham didn’t take the hurt to heart and become bitter or self-loathing; he refused to be

offended. In fact, he made light of it and let it become part of his sense of humor. For example,

when Abraham Lincoln was sick with smallpox, he good naturedly joked, "There is one

consolation about the matter, doctor, it cannot in the least disfigure me!" That was not only a jest

about his looks; but in light of the severity of the illness, Abraham still looked for opportunities

to laugh.

After being called two-faced in a debate he remarked, "I leave it to my audience. If I had

another face, do you think I'd wear this one?"

The most amazing thing about Lincoln’s sense of humor was what it did for others. Once

people got to know him, they found that his good nature and big heart made him attractive.

Mary Todd, despite thinking Abraham was “not pretty” upon first meeting him, married

him anyway. She said, “Mr. Lincoln may not be as handsome a figure, but the people are perhaps

not aware that his heart is as large as his arms are long."

When a distressed mother visited him in behalf of her son who was sentenced to die for

sleeping at his post, Abraham Lincoln showed mercy and released her son. She made the

comment after: "The neighbors told me that I would find that Mr. Lincoln was an ugly man,

when he is really the handsomest man I ever saw in my life.”

And a Utica newspaper reporter wrote, on June 21, 1860, “After you have been five

minutes in his company you cease to think that he is either homely or awkward.”

Lincoln could light up a room with his funny stories. During the Civil War, President

Lincoln would often visit wounded soldiers. The story is told how “a gentleman, visiting a

hospital in Washington, heard an occupant of one of the beds laughing and talking about the


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President, who had been there a short time before and gladdened the wounded with some of his

stories. The soldier seemed in such good spirits that the gentleman inquired:

“’You must be very slightly wounded?’

“’Yes,’ replied the brave fellow, ‘Very slightly—I have only lost one leg, and I’d be glad

enough to lose the other, if I could hear some more of ‘Old Abe’s stories.’”

Account after account relate this same thing. Abraham Lincoln had a wonderful way of

telling stories and kept people laughing everywhere he went…. usually.

In 1862, the Civil War was going badly for the Union. President Lincoln called his

cabinet together for a special meeting. His secretary of war, Edwin Stanton tells the following

story:

“He didn’t even notice me as I came in. He was reading a book of some kind, which

seemed to amuse him. It was a little book. He finally turned to us and said:

“’Gentlemen, did you ever read anything from Artemus Ward? Let me read you a chapter

that is very funny.’

“Not a member of the Cabinet smiled; as for myself I was angry, and looked to see what

the President meant.

“It seemed to me like buffoonery. He, however, concluded to read us a chapter from

Artemus Ward, which he did with great deliberation. Having finished, he laughed heartily

without a member of the Cabinet joining in the laughter.

“’Well,’ he said, ‘let’s have another chapter,’ and he read another chapter, to our great

astonishment.

“I was considering whether I should rise and leave the meeting abruptly, when he threw

his book down, heaved a long sigh, and said:

“’Gentlemen, why don’t you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day,

if I did not laugh I should die, and you need this medicine as much as I do.’

“He then put his hand in his tall hat that sat upon the table, and pulled out a little

paper….”

That little paper was the Emancipation Proclamation. At the end of the war, this

document became the ticket that freed every slave in America.

Additional Books/Stories

• Chicken in the Headlights by Matthew Buckley (Ages 10-up). What are a mother

and father to do with SEVEN rambunctious boys under the age of eleven? Every

night culminates in an epic bedtime battle. When the school year ends, however,

Mom and Dad decide to harness some of their boys' apparent, inexhaustible energy

and buy some goats and chickens for them to take care of. An excellent read-a-loud

for the family.

• The Value of Humor: The Story of Will Rogers (Value Tale) by Spencer

Johnson and Steve Pileggi (Ages 8-11). The book tells of Will's early life on the


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family ranch, doing chores and learning rope tricks to entertain his friends. Will

learns to say funny things by talking with an imaginary rope named "Larry Ett."


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Senshu Movies Brian Regan is a clean and family friendly comedian. He has several full-length programs on

YouTube. Consider finding and watching the following:

I Walked on the Moon

The Epitome of Hyperbole

Tim Hawkins is a Christian and family friendly comedian. He has several full-length shows on

YouTube.

Studio C is a weekly comedy show composed of humorous skits that are clean and family

friendly. You can find them on YouTube.


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Senshu Lesson Ideas

Discussion Questions

1. Name one fact about the cockatoo and how it reminds you to have a sense of humor.

2. Have you read or seen any examples of someone having a sense of humor? Be sure to

recognize family members when you see them apply the principle on their own.

Song Extensions

• COLOR: Invite your family to color the Senshu coloring page as they listen to

the song.

• DISCUSSION: WHY IS LAUGHTER SO GOOD FOR YOU? Listen to Senshu the

Cockatoo. Encourage your family to listen for words and phrases that describe having a

sense of humor.

• ACTIVITY: Search for a video clip of a cockatoo dancing. Turn off the video sound and

turn on Senshu’s song and have everyone dance while you watch the video.

• WORD PUZZLES: Do the word search or crossword puzzle while you listen to songs

you have already learned.

Additional Activities

• OPTIONAL ATTENTION ACTIVITY: BELLY LAUGH GAME. Have one family

member lie on his or her back. Then have another person lie with his or her head on the

person’s belly. Have the remaining family members lie down with their heads resting on

another person’s belly. One person starts the game by shouting, “Ha!” The next person

will shout, “Ha, ha!” and each family member continues to add a “ha” as they work

around the group. Sooner or later the group will burst into laughter, with heads bouncing

off bellies with laughter.

• ACTIVITY: Watch the video clip from Mary Poppins, “I Love to Laugh.” Have a tea

party and share funny stories from your family. Discuss how knowing family stories can

help you in times of challenge or difficulty.

• ART: JOKE BOOK. Collect funny jokes and make a book to share with family and

friends. Invite your family members to share their jokes during dinner time. You can

illustrate a few of the pages to make it more interesting.

• QUOTE ACTIVITY: Choose a quote. Write each word of the quote on a separate piece

of paper. Remove one word at a time as you try to memorize it. Continue to do this until


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you feel you have learned it all. To add a greater challenge, mix up all of the words and

try to put them in order.

• ACTIVITY: Read a humorous experience from your journal or someone else’s.

Discuss how remembering this experience helped you understand yourself or face a

stressful situation. Encourage family members to record humorous experiences in their

journals.


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Senshu the Cockatoo Sense of Humor

ANIMAL FACTS

1. Cockatoos are the loudest of all parrot species. They screech, sing,

and sometimes scream at one another to communicate.

2. Cockatoos usually live between 50 to 80 years. They are smart,

curious birds that like to discover things in their environment.

3. Some cockatoos can grow to be quite large, measuring up to 24

inches from beak to tail.

4. Cockatoos who become pets often forge a very strong bond with

their owner. They often like to be close to them or on their shoulder; and they love to be

petted frequently.

5. Cockatoos are very affectionate and they crave attention. They can become depressed or

destructive if they are ignored. They move in very humorous ways, and some can mimic

human speech and dance to music.

6. What else can you learn about cockatoos?

PONDER

1. How can you liken the cockatoo to having a

sense of humor?

2. Cockatoos move in very humorous ways, and

some can mimic human speech and dance to

music. What are some things you do to lighten

up, relax, and take an instant vacation?

3. Cockatoos will become depressed if they are

not paid attention to. How can you relate this to

Senshu? What are some consequences of never lightening up and laughing? Do you

know people who have a positive sense of humor and laugh regularly? How does this

affect you?

4. Cockatoos live between 50-80 years. What health benefits come to those who take an

instant vacation regularly?

HOW TO USE SENSHU RESULTS FROM APPLYING SENSHU

• Choose to have a healthy sense of humor.

• Don’t give permission for life to make you

uptight or too serious.

• Take an instant vacation regularly by

laughing regularly.

• Lighten up.

• Reduces stress

• Increases creativity

• Releases endorphins causing feelings of

well-being

• Reenergizes

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Senshu the Cockatoo

Take a vacation, an instant vacation,

And la-ha-ha-ha-haugh!

Senshu the Cockatoo has certainly seen a few

And la-ha-ha-ha-haughs!

Don't allow the challenge of life

To cause you to become too uptight!

You know laughter is the best medicine

'Cause positive emotion strengthens the immune system.

Oh, lighten up, you will find others will lighten up!

Be a force when you come, others will brighten up!

Senshu reveals what is good and grand!

So, be the one with a smile and a helping hand!

A sense of humor, a sense of humor, as Senshu the Cockatoo sings,

A sense of humor, a sense of humor, no matter what each day brings!

Oh, lighten up, you will find others will lighten up!

Be a force when you come; others will brighten up!

Senshu reveals what is good and grand!

So, be the one with a smile and a helping hand!

Be the one with a smile and a helping hand!

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“All who have stayed the

path of wisdom will attest

that a sense of humor is a

prerequisite to staying the

path.”

~ Roger Anthony

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"Laughter is the sun

that drives winter from

the human face."

~ Victor Hugo

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"Laughter is an

instant vacation." ~ Milton Berle

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SENSHU CROSSWORD

1

2

3

4

5

6

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*Hint: The answers can be found in the song. If you need additional help refer to the word bank at the end of the document.

Across

4. Don't allow the challenge of life, to

cause you to become too ____!

5. You know laughter is the best

______.

6. ______ reveals what is good, and

grand!

7. Oh, lighten up, you will find others

will _____ up!

Down

1. Take a vacation, an instant _______,

2. 'Cause positive emotion strengthens

the _____ system.

3. Be a force when you come, others

will ______ up!

6. So, be the one with a ______, and a

helping hand!

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SENSHU WORD SEARCH

P D H R P L E H K Y I G B N

N O M T V C S H C X J G A D

B S S H B G A J B D N O S S

C A T I N U C U R G J O F M

D E R F T R F O I U T T E I

E D E S J I R I G K G A T L

W D N Y G Y V L H H V K V E

E F G P F J R E T K S C H J

O G T O S H E Y E N R O N U

Y H H I F N U U N J Y C M T

R B E S E N S H U N L S U H

T V N H K L H K R O M U H S

U K S F R E T H G U A L O Y

O L I G H T E N G H K V F Y

SENSHU BRIGHTEN

COCKATOO HELP

LAUGHTER SMILE

POSITIVE LIGHTEN

STRENGTHENS HUMOR

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SENSHU CROSSWORD

Word Bank

vacation smile

brighten lighten

immune Senshu

uptight

medicine

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island 6 senshu · 2019-08-15 · 3 read the tale of hope: read together the senshu section in the...

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