These Learning Links provide ten quick-and-easy, five-minute mini-lessons to promote student thought and dialogue about service and civic engagement. You may use as many of them as you wish, 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 time, talent, and treasure for the common good) and to reinforce the lesson focus. These Learning Links also promote the development of character traits, civic engagement, and student leadership. As appropriate to your grade level, it is recommended that students play an active leadership role in presenting these mini-lessons to their classmates.

1. Read: Our Penny Drive is a fun way to raise money for a cause. As you know we are asking students to donate some of their money. We plan to use the money we collect to help make things better for people and our world. Our Penny Drive is an example of fundraising. Fundraising is collecting money and using that money to help make our world a better place for everyone. Most fundraisers are fun. I think that’s why they are called fundraisers.
   
   Discuss: How is our Penny Drive like a fundraiser? In what ways can our Penny Drive be fun? How can having fun while raising money for a cause be a good thing?
   
    
2. Read: If you look at a new penny you will see the face of Abraham Lincoln on one side. Mr. Lincoln was the sixteenth president of the United Sates. On the other side you will see a picture of a building.  Mr. Kendall told his 3rd grade class that these two pictures helped remind him to give some of his money to people or organizations that need help. He said the way Mr. Lincoln’s head was facing reminded him to “look” for ways to donate his money. “It seems to me,” he said, “that Mr. Lincoln is looking for something.” Mr. Kendall also said that the building on the other side reminded him that giving some of his money to people or organizations in need. It helps to “build” a better world.
   
   Discuss: How are we “looking” to use the money we collect during our Penny Drive? In what ways will the use of our donated money help build a better world
   
    
3. Read: On some nickels you will see the face of Thomas Jefferson on one side. Mr. Jefferson was the third president of the United Sates. On the other side of a nickel is a picture of a building. Mr. Kendall reminded his third grade class that a nickel, like a penny, also helps remind him to give some of his money away to people or organizations that need it. He said the way Mr. Jefferson’s head was facing reminded him to “look” for other ways to donate his money. It seemed to Mr. Kendall that Mr. Jefferson was looking to his left while Mr. Lincoln on the penny was looking to his right. Mr. Kendall said that the building on the other side of the nickel, just like the building on the other side of the penny, reminded him that giving some of his money to people or organizations in need.
   
   Discuss: Why is important that we “look both ways” before we decide where to donate the money we collect during our Penny Drive? Whether we donate our money to individuals in need or organizations in need how are we “building” a better world?
   
    
4. Read:
   One, two, three
   Found a penny under a tree.
   How lucky is me!
   Three, two, one
   I gave it to someone.
   That was even more fun!
   
   Discuss:  Why do you think the author of this little rhyme thought he/she was lucky to find a penny? Why would giving it to someone be more fun that keeping it oneself? Our Penny Drive is about giving our pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters for a good cause. How can that be both “lucky” and “fun”?
   
    
5. Read: Each year Angela sells cookies for her Girl Scout troupe. The goal of the cookie sale is to raise money to support the Girl Scout program. The money Angela’s troupe raises goes to her local Girl Scout Council. The Council uses some of the money to pay for the activities of the Girl Scouts. Some of the money goes to take care of the Girl Scout camps. Some of it is used to help with future cookie sales. Some is needed to buy supplies. Some of it is donated to a good cause. Each Council must show how the money they raise is used. The cookie sale also helps to teach the valuable skills of planning and working together to make the best use of the money raised.
   
   Discuss: In what ways is our Penny Drive like a Girl Scout cookie sale? How does it differ? How are we planning and working together to ensure a successful Penny Drive? In what ways will we be using the money we raise?
   
    
6. Read: What can you do with one penny? If you are lucky you might find a store that still has a “Pony Ride” machine for one penny. The post office still sells one cent stamps. But it takes a lot more pennies than just one to mail a letter. Once in a while you can still find some places that sell "penny candy".  But you really have to hunt for them. You could buy one penny’s worth of meat or cheese at the store. You probably wouldn’t get much though. You could trade a penny if you can find someone interested in trading. You could sell your penny but you would probably only get one cent for it. Perhaps you could get one wish for it by tossing it into a wishing well. Maybe someone would share their thoughts with you if you paid them a penny for their thoughts. I guess a penny doesn’t get you much…unless it joins up with other coins, and then you can do much more with them.
   
   Discuss: In what ways might a penny be considered valuable? How is our Penny Drive helping coins to “join up” and do much more in our school and/or community?
   
    
7. Read: One day a young boy was kicking his soccer ball in an open field. Having kicked it against the fence, he went to get it. Looking down he saw a genie lamp. He picked it up and began rubbing it. He remembered that’s what people usually do with a lamp like this. Out popped a genie. Instead of giving this young boy three wishes, the genie said to him, “I have something really important that I want you to do.” Puzzled, the young boy waited for instructions, “When you leave this field you will find penny by the gate. I want you to pick it up. I want you to do something really important with it.”
   
   “What?” asked the young boy.
   
   “You will know when the time comes.” replied the genie. With that the genie disappeared. True to the genie’s word, the young boy found the penny by the gate. He held it tightly in his hand. Each day, the young boy waited for the time when he would do something really important with his penny. But nothing seemed to be really important. After all it was only a penny. A week went by and the young boy decided that the genie must have been mistaken. After all it was only a penny. Thinking that nothing important would ever require just a penny, he took the penny to school. At school, he and tossed it into his school’s Penny Drive collection box and he soon forgot about it.
   
   A few days later, the young boy found himself back in the open field kicking around his soccer ball. All of a sudden the genie was standing in front of him. “I thought I was supposed to do something really important with that penny.” he said to the genie.
   
   ”Why you did!” declared the genie.
   
   “I did?” asked the boy. “What did I do?”
   
   The genie smiled. “When you tossed your penny in the collection box at your school, a lot of students saw you do it. They weren’t planning to participate. When they saw you drop money into the collection box, they decided to contribute as well. And because everyone contributed, a lot of really important things are going to happen!”
   
   “It really is magic!” the young boy exclaimed.
   
   Discuss:  How could something as small as a penny, do something really important? Why might it be important that everyone try to contribute something to our Penny Drive, even if it’s only a penny? What “magic” are we planning for the money we collect during our Penny Drive event?
   
    
8. Read: Have you ever heard of an angel tree? Do you think there is such a thing? Maybe you don’t think so.  But there is an Angel Tree Program. This program was started by the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army organization wanted all children to be able to experience the magic of the holiday season. During this special time each year, people and businesses get a name of a child from the Angel Tree Program. Then they purchase toys or clothing items for the child whose name they have been given. These items are collected by the Salvation Army. The Salvation Army makes sure that each child gets his or her gift. Anyone can take part in this program. Everyone is encouraged to do so. “It certainly makes a world of difference to these kids,” one participant told a news reporter. “I’m not sure why everyone doesn’t get involved in this very worthwhile program.”
   
   Discuss: The Salvation Army sees a need and tries to meet that need in its Angel Tree Program. In what way is our Penny Drive doing the same? What difference are we hoping our Penny Drive will make? What can we do to involve as many of our classmates as possible in this event?
   
    
9. Read: One day Mrs. Hicks asked her 3rd grade class to share with her what thoughts came to their mind when they hear the words “Penny Drive”. Samon raised his hand. He said that he thought about a place like the name of a street-Penny Drive. Ferris then shared that he pictured a penny hitting a golf ball. The goal is to drive the ball down the fairway toward the cup. Mary added that the first thing she thought about was a person named Penny. And she was driving a car to get somewhere. Everyone was laughing. They knew that last year their school had been involved in a Penny Drive and it didn’t mean any of these things.  It really meant that students brought some of their money to school. Then they donated their money to a cause.
   
   By now even Mrs. Hicks was chuckling. Then she said, “You know boys and girls, in a way what Samon, Ferris, and Mary just shared is also true about a Penny Drive.” She reminded them that there will be a “place” to put their pennies. She reminded them that they would have a “goal” to reach. And she reminded them that the money they collected would “go somewhere” where it was needed.  Everyone still thought what Samon, Ferris, and Mary said was funny.
   
   Discuss:  Where will we be collecting our money during the Penny Drive? What is our goal for the amount of money are we hoping to collect in our class? Where will the money we collect go? Why is it important that we know all these things about our Penny Drive?
   
    
10. Read: Have you ever heard the saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”?  That was said by a man who lived a long time ago. His name was Benjamin Franklin.  “A penny saved is a penny earned" means that little by little you will save money by not spending it. If we receive money and save it we will eventually have to decide what to do with it. Sometimes choices are hard to make. There are many things that we can do with money that we save.
    
    Discuss: What are some ways we earn or receive money? Saving money and giving some of it away is called donating. How will our Penny Drive event be like saving money and donating some of it for a good cause?
    http://www.goenglish.com/
    APennySavedIsAPennyEarned.asp

 

 

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:
Provide each student with a cutout of a green, orange, yellow, and blue gum ball (a circle). On each green gum ball have the students write what they did during the Event activity.  On each orange gum have them write what impact they felt they made because of what they did. On the yellow gum ball have the students write a word that represents how they felt. On the blue gum ball have the students write something that they might do in the future to be helpful. Have students share their “gum balls” with a partner.  After their sharing, have the students come to the display area and place their four gum balls inside the outline of a glass topped gum ball machine.  (NOTE: Each gum ball should be displayed so that what is written on it can be easily read.)  Should the “Gum ball Machine” not be “filled up,” encourage the students to add additional blue gum balls as they think of additional activities they could do to be of service.

ACTIVITY TWO:
Have the students share what chores they are responsible for doing around their home.  Record these responses on a display board for all to see.  Have the students look for commonalities and differences.  Lead the students in a discussion that explores why doing these chores might be helpful to everyone in the family; how they contribute to the “common good” of the family.  Now, lead the students in a discussion about the Event and have them explain what it is they did during the Event.  Record their responses next to their “chores” responses on the display board.  Lead the students in a discussion that explores the importance of doing their “chores” as a member of the community; why taking part in the Event might be helpful to their family, school, and/or community.

Ask the students how they feel about doing their “chores” around the house.  Record their responses on the display board. Then encourage them to share how they felt while being involved in the Event and have them compare their “chore” feelings with their “Event” feelings. Note similarities and differences and encourage them to draw some conclusions.

ACTIVITY THREE:
Draw a clock face on the display board without its numbers and Label it “What Time Is It?”  Randomly, read the statements below and instruct students to raise their hands if they know what time it is (hour)?  They are to determine the correct time by the clue found in the statements.  Once a student correctly identifies the time (hour) from the clue, they are to share something from their experience with the Event.  Capture one or two key words or phrases that “summarize” the student comments and record these key words/concepts, along with the correctly identified number in the appropriate hour position that the number occupies on the clock face.  (Note: Use the ‘time cues’ suggested or ones that might be more appropriate to your present classroom academic instruction.

Time Clues:

1. How many people are flying an airplane when a pilot is flying solo?    
   (1 o’clock)
2. How many people are there singing in a duet/How many people does it take to tango?    
   (2 o’clock)
3. The minimum number of legs you need on a chair in order for it to stay upright/The right side half of a figure eight/Number of blind mice who ran after the farmer’s wife.   
   (3 o’clock)
4. The number of “downs” you get to move the football 10 yards/The number that is called out when a golfer is concerned that someone might be hit by the golf ball.    
   (4 o’clock)
5. The number of digits that make up a hand or a foot/Number of players on a basketball team that can be playing on the floor at the same time   
   (5 o’clock)
6. A half-dozen/The highest number one can shake on a single die   
   (6 o’clock)
7. The number of days in a week/A half of a decade plus two         
   (7 o’clock)
8. The figure of some race tracks/The shape of a snowman           
   (8 o’clock)
9. Three triples/One year short of a decade/A baseball team         
   (9 o’clock)
10. The highest score for an Olympic diver/A decade    
    (10 o’clock)
11. The last hour of the morning before noon/The hour before midnight     
    (11 o’clock)
12. Eggs are usually sold in this quantity/How old is the oldest pre-teen in the world?    
    (12 o’clock)

Once the numbers and key words/phrases have been placed on the clock, label the clock “Time for Philanthropy.”  Ask the students to summarize what they heard in the way of key words and phrases.  Asking “Do you have time for philanthropy?” might be a good question when considering helpful acts of kindness and justice.

ACTIVITY FOUR:
Show the students a variety of pictures of various candy bars (or have a variety of candy bars on display).  Ask the students to think about their favorite candy bar.  Have them share what it is about their "pictured" candy bar that appeal to them.
For example:

1. How do they feel while they are thinking about their favorite candy bar?
2. How do they feel while they are actually eating their favorite candy bar?
3. How do they feel after they have actually eaten their favorite candy bar?
4. Do they think that they might eat another of those candy bars in the future?
5. Do they think they might try a different kind of candy bar in the future?

Have the students think about and share with the class how eating their favorite candy bar and their having been involved in this most recent service project might be alike.  Conclude this reflection by having the students share their favorite part about this service project and explain why.