The most effective assemblies are usually fairly short. Try to have something visual when you can, and it's good to involve some of the children where possible. YOU are the most vital resource, and as most assemblies are story-based, the better you are (or can become) at story-telling (not just story-reading), the better your assemblies will be.
Who do you think I am?
Theme; it is wrong to judge people by their appearance.
Dress in as un-teachery a way as you can. Address the children in an un-teachery way (whatever feels right for you and your school). Maybe something like 'Heeeyyyy! Dudes! Y'OK? You're looking goooood!!'(if this sort of role play is a step too far for you, you could recruit a willing colleague to take on the role).
Then revert to your more normal self and ask 'If you met that person for the first time I wonder what you would think of them?' Make the point that we all tend to judge people by their appearance, but this is not always a reliable guide. You could refer to the story of Beauty and the Beast - Belle fell in love with the real person - she did not let outward appearances dictate how she behaved.
You could perhaps make a slideshow of people looking very different in appearance and ask what the children would make of them, asking, how would you know if you were right? This could include disabled people, or people from different cultures if that was appropriate in your context.
You could also turn this around, to demonstrate that people who appear nice and friendly might not be quite what they seem - e.g. burglars don't go around wearing striped jerseys and a black mask, carrying a bag with 'swag' on it over their shoulders. There's no way we can tell if a person has bad intentions by looking a them - a warning for not going with strangers.
Wearing different hats
Theme: We all encompass several facets, but we're still us underneath.
Find several different hats, representing different roles, e.g. baseball cap, sunhat, policeman's helmet (from a dressing-up box!), mortar board, chef's hat, etc. As you put on each hat, ask what role or job this suggests you might have. Explain the phrase 'putting on a different hat' to mean taking on a different role - give examples,e.g. you are a teacher, but also a son or daughter, a cook, a cleaner, a driver. Maybe expand your teacher's role i.e. a teacher, as well as teaching, has to be a nurse, a reporter, a computer operator, a policeman, an arbitrator, etc.
Ask the children to suggest some of the roles they might have, e.g. pet-carer, older sibling caring for younger, pupil, room-tidier, home-helper, gymnast, musician, sports person, etc.
Demonstrate how sometimes people adopt a 'telephone voice', pretending to be someone better than they think they are, in order to impress.
Make the point that we all have different roles to fulfil throughout life, and it's important that we recognise this and act appropriately, e.g. being polite when speaking to older people, being a good listener for our friends when we would rather be talking about ourselves, following the rules as a motorist so we don't cause accidents, etc. But at the same time it's also important that we don't pretend to be something we are not - we should always be true to ourselves, be proud of being who we are.
We've got talent!
Theme: Everyone has a talent
Point out also that when we are young we may not yet know what our talent is - we haven't discovered it yet - we may be a great writer, or architect, or artist, or politician. Cite examples of people who didn't discover their special talents until they were older - e.g. Dick King-Smith, writer of Babe (The Sheep-Pig) and many other books for children. He was a soldier, farmer and teacher before publishing his first book at the age of 56. If you have the time to prepare it, you could find several such examples and make a slide-show of them to add a visual element to the assembly. (If you're really keen, you could start off with a video of the TV show's opening credits!)
When you do discover where your true talents lie, enthusiasm and persistance are the keys to making the most of them. And always make the most of your talents - don't waste them.
If you wish, you could also use the biblical parable of the talents. (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-28)
Spring/New Life
Theme: life cycles; could be linked to Easter ; resurrection
Have two daffodils - one alive and one dead - and a daffodil bulb. As it will be difficult for these to be seen clearly for your audience, either use a visualiser or project images - but still have the real thing for impact.
First show the live daffodil and talk about how it is a sign of spring and the earth coming back to life after a long cold winter. Then show the dead daffodil - aaawwww - but like all living things, it dies, which can make us feel sad. Then show the bulb. BUT, by dying, the plant is storing its energy ready to come back to life again next spring. You can see how easily this could be linked to the Easter story if you want to, or just use it as an example of a life cycle. You could make more of how the live flower gives us joy, and that could be a message that we should strive to give joy to others when we can - wear a smile, they're infectious kind of thing. You might go on to talk about how, when we're quiet - like the dormant bulb - this gives us the opportunity to use our mental energy to think of ways we can bring joy and happiness to others.
Lies
Theme: Don't tell lies
You need a ball of wool or string and 7 or so children.
Think up a lie that your children would understand - I'm going to Disneyworld/my Dad's won the lottery/ I'm going to meet a famous person, etc. Choose a child to tell the lie to one other child and as they do so, they hand them the end of the ball of wool/string. Child 2 passes on the lie to Child 3, along with the end of the wool, but keeping hold of their part of it. Each time, ensure the wool crosses over and over, creating a complex 'web of lies'. The original lie-teller turns their back while this is going on. When the last child has been reached, the lie teller, having realised the lie will be found out (you obviously make this clear), goes back to try and untangle the web, obviously finding it either difficult or impossible, thus demonstrating how difficult it is to undo a lie. 'Oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practise to deceive'!!
Golden windows
Theme: 'The grass is greener on the other side of the hill'
Tell the story of a child who would look out of the window on summer evenings at a house on the other side of the valley where the windows shimmered and shone with gold. The child so wished it could live there, where there must be so much wealth that even the windows were made of gold. It must be such a wonderful place and so much better than the child's own poor village. The child so longed to at least see the house with the golden windows that one day it took up a pack and set off on the long trek across the valley towards the house.
When the child arrived across the valley the next morning there was no gold and the only house there looked much the same as the child's own. Sitting down, feeling discouraged and sad, the child looked back across the valley to its own house which...had golden windows!
Explanation; the sunset and the sunrise caused to windows to appear gold.
Moral: Life isn't always better on the other side of the hill - look for the best in your own life and appreciate what you have for its true worth.
Resource note: If you can, black out the room, and use a torch to show the effects of light on glass. Or if you're very clever with ICT, there must be a way of creating the same effect!
