Present a “Show and Tell” program describing philanthropy to other classes or organizations.

Anticipatory Set:
Ask students: “What does tradition mean?”
Play the song “Traditions” from the musical Fiddler on the Roof (see Bibliographical References). After listening to the song, brainstorm with the class the possible meaning of the word.. Then write the following meaning on the board or chart paper and compare it with the students’ ideas. (A special way of doing something that has lasted a long time because people care about it and pass it on to others).

 

Day One:

• Discuss and review other traditions studied (birthdays, a block party, game sharing, holiday celebrations, storytelling, volunteer firefighters). Traditions are like the threads of a piece of woven fabric. Together they help form strong, healthy communities. Illustrate this concept by using a burlap square to represent the strength of a community and the individual woven threads to represent traditions. Show how a community can be weakened, by removing some of the threads.
  
  
• Explain that philanthropy is also a tradition. One of the meanings of the word philanthropy is "an effort to help other people".
  
  
• Ask students if they can think of examples of philanthropy, or helping other people, that exist or have existed for a long time in their community.
  
  
• Discuss the importance of the tradition of philanthropy to the community.
  
  
• Construct a Class Philanthropy Dictionary (see Attachment Two)
  
  
• Distribute the Student Vocabulary List (see Attachment One) to each student. Have students individually find the word “philanthropy” and discuss the meaning as a whole group. Tell students that all of the other words on the list will help them understand more about the meaning of philanthropy.
  
  
• Have each student select a vocabulary word until all are randomly chosen. Then in small groups they should write original sentences using the philanthropic terms correctly. If they are unsure of the word meaning, a dictionary can be used.
  
  
• Tell students to illustrate their sentences using crayons.
  
  
• As a large group, place the individual dictionary pages in alphabetical order. Bind these together with the cover page and display as a classroom reference book.

 

Day Two:

• Read the book created in the first class period as a whole class with each group reading their own page. Discuss each word’s relationship to philanthropy.
  
  
• Construct a Philanthropy Teaching Quilt:
  
  
• Allow each student to choose a new word from the Class Philanthropy Dictionary to illustrate on the Philanthropy Teaching Quilt . Tell students to make a preliminary sketch to illustrate their word. Then call students one at a time to write their word and illustrate it with fabric markers on a block of the prepared fabric.
  
  
• Each student should then write complete sentences to define their word and describe their illustration in philanthropic terms.
  
  
• Arrange for students to offer a “Show and Tell” program to other classrooms and then display the Philanthropy Teaching Quilt and descriptive sentences for public viewing.

• The cover and individual dictionary pages can be laminated for durability. The cover can be colored and illustrated. A back cover can be added. Individual Student Philanthropy Dictionaries can be made by copying each page of the Class Philanthropy Dictionary, distributing them to the individual students, and assembling them in the fashion described above.
• The Teaching Quilt Banner could be sewn to another piece of fabric with batting between to give it depth and structure. The "corners" can be tied with yarn.
• “Show and Tell” presentations can be offered to local organizations such as the PTA, School Board, or Service Clubs.