These "LEAGUE Learning Links” provide ten quick and easy 5-minute mini-lessons to help promote The LEAGUE’s vision and scheduled events in your classroom. You can choose from among these mini-lessons and use as many of them as you would like and in whatever order best meets your needs and the interest of your students. The purpose of these mini-lessons is to provide a deeper understanding of philanthropy (the giving of ones, time, talents, and treasures for the common good) and to promote those philanthropic acts that have been identified as supporting The LEAGUE events. These mini-lessons will also help ensure a deeper understanding of character traits, civic engagement, and promote student leadership. It is recommended that students be encouraged to play as much of a role as possible and appropriate in presenting these lessons to their classmates.

1. Read: Have you ever heard someone say, “I have butterflies in my stomach”. They really don’t mean that they have real butterflies in their stomach.  “Butterflies in the stomach” is a figure of speech. Doctors say “butterflies in the stomach” is a "fluttery" or "tickling" feeling in the stomach.  If you watch a butterfly closely you will see it flutter around. It looks like it’s really excited or nervous. People who say they have “butterflies in the stomach” usually mean they are excited or nervous. They usually feel this way just before something important is about to happen. That’s when people might get a bit nervous or excited.
   
   Discuss: As we get ready for our One Day event, is it okay to have “butterflies in our stomachs”? What are some things we can do to get everyone excited about what we are going to do? What are some things we can do to help those who are nervous about participating in the event?
   
   
2. Read: Zack Bonner is eight years old. He lives in Florida. One day he heard on the radio that many people lost their homes because of a very big storm. The storm was called a hurricane. Many kids were homeless. They needed everything. One of the things that the radio announcer said that the people needed was bottled water.  Zack asked his mother if he could give them some of their bottled water. She said yes. He went to the neighbors. He asked them if they would give or donate some bottles of water too. Zack felt good about helping others. He decided to keep doing it.  He started his own charity organization called the Little Red Wagon Foundation, Inc.
   
   Zack continues to collect money and things for kids that are homeless.  He collected over $6,000 worth of toys to give to the homeless shelters after Hurricane Katrina. When Zach was asked about helping others he said, “I never knew how many kids are in distressed situations. It is sad. Worse than that, I think most people go around not knowing or pretending not to notice because they think they can't help. If everybody just helped a little bit then nobody would ever need any help because they would always have it”.
   
   Discuss:  Why do you think people might pretend that they can’t help during our One Day event? Do you think it’s possible to be too young to help?  What kinds of things can even young people do to help?  How do you think you will feel after helping during our One Day event?
   http://www.littleredwagonfoundation.com/
   
   
3. Read: Ants are really small insects. Some are red. Some are black. Some are even brown. But even though they are small, they get a lot of work done. How is this possible? Ants live in communities just like us. Their communities are called colonies. Their colonies have many other ants living in them. Each individual ant has a job to do. And each ant does its job. Just like the individual parts of our body has a specific job to do, ant colonies are sometimes called super organisms because they appear to operate as one body.
   
   Discuss: During our One Day event we will each have jobs to do. Even though we are small how can we operate as a super organism community to get the jobs done? Why is it important that everyone do his or her assigned job?
   
   
4. Read: Dogs like to bury their bones in the ground.  Why do they do this? Scientists say it’s in their nature to do this. Long ago before dogs became pets they were more like foxes and wolves. They would kill an animal for food. Somehow they realized that they had more food than they could eat at one time. They also realized that they might not have enough food later on. So they buried the extra food in the ground for a time when they were hungry and there was no food to be found.  Sort of like people do. Except we put our left- over food into our refrigerator.
   
   Discuss: Some people think that it’s in our nature to do good. By nature we seem willing to share our time, talents, and treasures with those who may not have as much. During our One Day event how can we share our time, talent, and treasure with others rather than bury it?
   
   
5. Read: Each week The Herald News carries a section called In the News. This section features someone who gives to the community. Yesterday there was a picture of a student at Crescent Elementary School. His name is Jerrime. Jerrime is a 2nd grade student in Mr. Caroline’s room. Under Jerrime’s picture was the following description of him: Jerrime is fun. He loves to read and play four-square. He is a responsible citizen. He is a valuable member of his community.
   
   Discuss: Why was Jerrime’s picture in the newspaper? What do you think it means to be a responsible citizen? A valuable member of the community? How will what we do during our One Day event show that we are responsible citizens? That we are valuable members of our community?
   
   
6. Read: Last week Andrew was riding in the car with his dad. They passed a group of teenagers holding a sign. It read Car Wash Freewill Donation. My dad and I often wash our car together so I knew what a car wash was. I wasn’t sure what the last part freewill donation meant. So I asked my dad. He said freewill meant not being forced to do something. It was more like volunteering to do something rather than being told you had to do it. He said donation meant giving something to someone or cause. It was like placing money in the red kettle during the holiday season. Or offering to help babysit my cousin. Then he asked me to tell him what I thought freewill donation meant. I told him that it must mean deciding to give or not and how much to give. He smiled. “Those kids back there are trying to raise money for their school. They are asking passersby to consider coming in and having their car washed. Once their car is washed they can then decide how much money they wish to give to those kids’s school.”
   
   Discuss: What part of our One Day event is about freewill donation. Do you think these kids would raise more money if they set a price for their car washes? Why do people tend to like freewill rather than being forced to do something? Do you think people would rather donate than be told how much they have to give? Why or why not?
   
   
7. Read: You probably have all seen them. Very bright lights on very tall poles. They are seen most clearly at night because that is when they are turned on. They usually surround athletic fields. Their light allows teams to see and play games at night. Some flood lights can be found in large parking lots. They help shoppers see where they parked their cars at night. Sometimes you see flood lights along the highway. Using them allows workers to work at night not only to see but also to be safe. There are many uses for flood lights. While these bright lights have been used during actual floods to locate people on roof tops and in trees their name comes the flood of light they provide. Unlike a smaller light bulb these lights can provide much more light. When they are mounted side-by-side on these tall poles with other lights and turned on they turn night into day.
   
   Discuss: Where are we trying to shed a little more light during our One Day event? Why is it important that we work side-by-side with others during our One Day event? How might we turn someone’s night into day?
   
   
8. Read: A few years ago Steve Hanna and his family raised goats. They milked the goats. The goats gave enough milk that they didn’t have to buy any. As you my know goats can be pretty naughty at times. One day Steve and his family were away from their home. Two of the goats got out of their pen.  They got into the place where the goat food was kept.  The food was in a big plastic garbage can with a lid that fit very tightly. It held a lot of goat food. When Steve and his family came home they found two very happy goats standing around the overturned can.  There wasn’t much food left. It appeared that the goats had worked together to push the can over. When the can fell, it knocked off the lid spilling grain over the ground. “There’s no way they could have done that alone.” Steve said. “It took teamwork to accomplish this.”
   
   Discuss: What kinds of things do you think we can accomplish by working as a team during our One Day event?  What are some things we can do to encourage others to join us?
   
   
9. Read: Do you know that knock-knock jokes are everywhere?  In France they are called "Toc-Toc" jokes.  In Africa they are called "Klop-klop" jokes. In India they are called "Khat-Khat" jokes . But no matter where they are told they all follow the same pattern. “Knock-knock,” says one. “Who’s there?” asks the other. “Who?” answers the one? “Who Who?” asks the other. “You sound like an owl.” says the one.
   
   Mr. Burnet asked his kindergarten class to come up with a knock-knock joke for their One Day event. This was their knock-knock joke. I’ll start it and you follow along (Reader) “Knock knock.” (Student Response) “Who’s there?” (Reader) “Lettuce.” Student Response) “Lettuce, who?” (Reader) “Lettuce all work together during our One Day event.”
   
   Discuss: Why would it be fun to tell this knock-knock joke to students in the other classes in our school? How can we work during our One Day event and still have fun? Why is it important that we all work together?
   
   
10. Read: Dottie was a dolphin. She lived in the sea. She was very smart. She could even see and hear better than humans could. She lived in a pod. A pod is what a community of dolphins is called. These communities can have as many as 1,000 dolphins in them. Dottie is cute and very friendly. She once saved a swimmer from sharks by circling around the swimmer until the sharks gave up and went somewhere else. Dottie wanted to grow up to be an entertainer in a sea side amusement park. But when new dolphins joined her community she felt she should be there to welcome them. Besides she did not want to leave her friends. And when her sister grew ill she knew that it was only right that she stay to take care of her. All dolphins are like that. They are loyal pod members.
    
    Discuss:  How are we showing that we are loyal community members during our One Day event? Do you think Dottie was disappointed having given up her dreams of being an entertainer? Why or why not? Why is it “only right” that we do what we can to help our community?

 

Reflection plays a very important role in promoting student learning. The following suggested activities are ways to help students reflect on their learning after they have participated in a service event.  Choose one or more of the activities most appropriate to the service event and your students.

ACTIVITY ONE:
Have the students cut out a snowflake. Remind students that no two snowflakes are alike, so all snowflake designs will be acceptable. Have the students, using a crayon or marker; write a word on their snowflake that represents how they felt while participating in the Event activity.  When each student has completed placing their “feeling” word on their snowflake, have them each share their word with the class. After everyone has had an opportunity to share, place all the snowflakes on display to simulate a snowman and titled the display e.g. “Building Together”, “A Magical Snowman”, etc. Share that just as it takes lots of snow flakes to build a snowman it takes a lot of helping hands to make a LEAGUE Event a success.

ACTIVITY TWO:
Give the students an 8 ½” x 11”-sheet of multi-colored construction paper, a pair scissors, a glue stick/paste and a variety of old magazines and newspapers.  Tell them that they will have a designated amount of time to go through these magazines and newspapers to cut out pictures and /or words that could be used to describe their involvement in the recent Event.  Once they have cut out pictures or words, tell them to place their name somewhere on the construction paper and then glue the pictures and/or words they cut out to the construction paper being careful not to cover up their name.  Display these in the classroom and if time allows have each student share the contents of his or her collage with the rest of the class.

ACTIVITY THREE:
Give each student two pop sickle sticks and a cut out of a happy face and a sad face. Have them attach/glue each face to one end of each of the pop sickle sticks.  Tell the students that they are going to be asked to “vote” on a series of questions and they can register their “vote” by holding up one of their two faces.  (NOTE: You may choose to add that the students can hold up both faces, if they are unsure of their answer/or if they feel that their answer could be both a happy face and a sad face.)

Questions:

1. How did you first feel about doing this Event?
2. How did you feel while you were doing this Event?
3. How did you feel after the Event was over?
4. How do you think what you did made other people feel? 
5. How do you think the ‘face of our world’ would look if no one did these things?
6. How do you think the ‘face of our world’ would look if everyone was giving and sharing?

From the student’s votes create a one-dimensional block graph on a display board or use actual building blocks to show how students responded to each of the questions.  Discuss what the graph would tell someone who might be looking at it for information about the Event.

ACTIVITY FOUR:
Arrange the class into four groups. Have one group mime some of the activities they actually did during the Event, while the rest of the class tries to guess the activities.  Have the second group mime how they felt while being involved/working in the Event, while the rest of the class tries to guess their feelings.  Have the third group mime how they would feel if they were the ones being helped/received the cards, etc., while the rest of the class tries to guess their feelings.  And finally, have the fourth group mime different activities they might be able to do the next time that would also be helpful, while the rest of the class tries to guess the activities.  Discuss with the class how well they thought they did in identifying the various mimes and what they learned from doing this activity.