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: A recent survey reported what people would do if they found money lying on the ground. The question they were asked is: If you found money on the ground, and nobody was around, what would you do with it? The responses were as follows: 4% said they would leave it there. 96% said that they would pick it up. 10% said that they would donate the money they found or a portion of it to a worthy cause. 12% said they would take it to a police station; 74% said they would either spend it or save it.
   
   Discuss: Do you think that most people would do what this survey says they would do? Why or why not? Do you think that the amount of money that is found should be considered when deciding what to do with it? What might be some good reasons for leaving the money where you found it? What might be some good reasons for picking it up and donating it to a worthy cause? What might be some good reasons for picking it up and taking it to a police station or for spending it or saving it for you? What do you think would motivate someone to donate money that was found? What do you think might motivate someone to donate his or her own money to a worthy cause? How could we use all of this information to help us encourage others to donate during our Penny Drive?
   
    
2. Read: Ask anyone who plays video games like Lego Star Wars, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire, Dora The Explorer, Scooby Doo Unmasked, Disney's Kim Possible 3, what they like about the game and they will tell you. They like the challenge. Most video games have levels of play. They can be rated easy, moderate /intermediate, or hard. Most of us really don’t like things to easy. As we get better at a game, most of us like to advance to a more challenging level. Look at all the things we no longer play with. It could be that they are broken, but often we don’t play with them anymore because they are not fun. Often they are not fun anymore because they are too easy. Sometimes we even call these easy games “baby games”.6.4
   Discuss: We have been involved in service project all year and now we’re doing a Penny Drive. The ones that we have participated in were all fun. Are we ready for a challenge? Are we ready to play the game at the next level? How can we make our Penny Drive even more exciting, fun, and challenging?
   
    
3. Read: For his birthday, Carmello received a $10.00 bill from his grandmother. It was exciting to think about all the things he could buy with the money. There was a baseball cap that he wanted. He also thought about a book his friend had that he would like to own. His bike needed a new inner tube. And Wilson’s Cone Shack was offering a special price for their strawberry sundaes.
   
   Three days went by. The list of possibilities of how to spend the money kept growing. Carmello began to worry that he might never be able to make up his mind. The day it was announced at his school that the money collected from this year’s Penny Drive would go to the local Humane Society; Carmello knew his problem was solved. Just last week, his best friend Shawn had to take his dog to the Humane Society. His family could no longer afford to keep him. It made Shawn very sad. Carmello figured that if he donated some of his money to the Humane Society, they could use it to buy food and shelter for Shawn’s dog.
   
   Carmello placed $5.00 in the Penny Drive collection box and then invited Shawn to come with him to Wilson’s Cone Shack. There, he told Shawn what he did. He also ordered a strawberry sundae for each of them to celebrate. This made Shawn very happy. Later when Carmello told his grandmother how he spent the money, she smiled and patted him on the head and said. “I’m proud of you.”
   
   Discuss: When Carmello thought about how to spend his birthday money, he first thought about all of his own needs and wants. What do you think made him think about Shawn? Do you think that Carmello made a good decision? Why or why not? What do think Carmello’s grandmother meant when she told Carmello that she was proud of him? What can we learn from this story about Carmello that might help us see how important it is to be a part of this year’s Penny Drive?
   
    
4. Read:  Sonia wanted to do something for her school’s Penny Drive. But recently she purchased some needed school supplies and a gift for her mother’s birthday. That made her short on cash. It seemed that everyone was tossing some of their change into the collection box. She was sure that everyone was noticing that she hadn’t. She decided to talk to her aunt. Her aunt usually had good advice. Sonia’s aunt told Sonia about a time when she also was short on cash. It was right before the holidays. She still needed to buy some gifts for her family and a couple of her friends. I complained to my mom about how life wasn’t fair, recalled Sonia’s aunt. And my mom said something that I’ve never forgotten. She said “Sonia, if there is a will, there is a way. If someone really wants to do something badly enough there will be no stopping that person until it’s done!”
   
   Sonia’s aunt paused for a second and then went on, “I had to ask myself did I really want to buy those gifts or was I just looking for an excuse not to?”
   
   “What did you decide?” Sonia asked.
   
   “I decided that I did want to buy those gifts!” her aunt said with determination in her voice.
   
   “So how did you manage to buy gifts when you had no money?” Sonia looked puzzled.
   
   “I decided if I didn’t have it, and really did want it, I could put these to work!’ she said lifting her two hands into the air for Sonia to see. “I collected cans. I did some extra baby-sitting. I raked leaves. I even helped my elderly neighbor lady put up and decorate her Christmas tree!”
   
   “Did you raise enough money to buy the gifts you wanted to buy?” asked Sonia.
   
   “Oh yes! Even though I had to really work hard to raise the money, there was something very special about those gifts that year!” her aunt admitted with a smile. Sonia was beginning to understand.
   
   Discuss: Why could it be easy for us to use the excuse that because we are short on cash we can’t participate in our Penny Drive this year? Why is it important to ask ourselves if we really want to participate in our Penny Drive or not? What can be learned from Sonia’s aunt that might help us as well as our friends to raise additional money for our event? Why do you think Sonia’s aunt felt that the gifts she gave that year were very special?
   
    
5. Read: Jessica was excited! Her team had just won their class’s Spelling Bee! Jumping around and cheering she hugged her teammates. And for some reason, she went over and hugged Jamie too. Jamie was a student with special needs.  Born with a physical handicap she was confined to a wheelchair. She was also unable to speak clearly. She came into Jessica’s class only for an hour each day. During the Spelling Bee, Jamie was a spectator. After Jessica hugged her, Jamie smiled and grew as excited as Jessica. Jessica’s family had just finished eating that night when the phone rang.  It was a telephone call from Jamie’s mom. She told Jessica’s mom all about Jessica giving a hug to Jamie. “It meant so much to Jamie”, she said. When Jessica was called to the phone Jamie’s mom said to her, “I know that you probably never gave it another thought, but to Jamie it was the nicest thing you could have done. She couldn’t stop talking about it. To think that you would give her a hug and include her in your celebration. It was wonderful! I know that you think it was no big deal, but sometimes it’s the little things that mean so much!”
   
   Discuss: From the story we get the impression that Jessica, at first, wasn’t even aware that her hug would mean anything to Jamie. What did Jamie’s mother mean when she said, “I know that you think it was no big deal, but sometimes it’s the little things that mean so much”? In what ways might donating a penny or two to our Penny Drive be like Jessica’s “no big deal” hug?
   
    
6. Read: A man named Aesop was born and grew up as a slave a long, long time ago. He loved to write short stories. These stories often had a “hidden” meaning. While the story might have been all about a frog, it really was about a king who should have been a frog. His stories often contained a moral or a lesson to be learned.  Later these stories became known as Aesop’s Fables. Aesop wrote many fables. You might have heard about two of his more famous fables. They are entitled The Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Aesop once said, "The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."
   
   Discuss: What moral or lesson do you think Aesop wanted to share with us in this quote? How might the success of our Penny Drive be limited only by our imagination? How could we use this quote to remind ourselves that even a little penny of kindness is never wasted?
   
    
7. Read:  Eleven year old Joshua felt sorry for his friend. His friend had to go to a hospital in another city for an operation. He had to have a new kidney. It would cost lots of money. Joshua decided to put up a lemonade stand in his front yard. He would sell lemonade for $.25 a glass. He planned to give all the money he made to his friend to help pay for the operation. At the end of the week, Joshua had collected $33.00 but he was sad. It wasn’t much money for an operation that would cost thousands of dollars.
   
   But what Joshua didn’t know is that a local service group heard about what he was doing. They decided to conduct a fund raiser of their own. Their Bingo Night raised over $400.00 dollars. But that wasn’t all. One of the people playing Bingo that night told people where he worked about what Joshua was doing. The workers there set up a fund. They eventually donated $3,000. The management of that company heard about what their workers were able to collect. They decided to match and double the donation. So they gave an additional $6,000.00. The chairperson of the Board of that company was very impressed by what his management team and workers were doing. He was so impressed that he offered to pay any remaining expenses not covered by the money already raised. Wow! Just think it all started with Joshua’s lemonade stand!
   
   Discuss: Do you think Joshua had any idea when he put up his lemonade stand that enough money would be raised to pay for his friend’s entire operation? Why is it important to donate our coins to our Penny Drive even though it may not be a lot. Do you think that by our donating money others might be inspired to donate some of their money as well? http://youth.foundationcenter.org/youth_stories.html
    
8. Read: Sophia was a street urchin in Northern Ireland. That meant she was a homeless child living on the streets. One day while rummaging through the trash behind the town’s apothecary shop she found a porcelain bell. It was the kind that is used to decorate holiday trees. As best she could guess someone must have thrown it away because it had a small chip out of its outer rim. Digging deeper, she found the missing chip and carefully piecing it back together, she found that it fit perfectly. Wrapping the bell and the piece carefully in handkerchief she took them to school. There she used some glue from the teacher’s desk to glue the chip back into its place. To her amazement when it dried, except for a crack barely visible with the naked eye, the bell was “perfect”. Sophia treasured her porcelain bell as if it were made of solid gold. The years past and life for her didn’t improve all that much. She was known as a bag lady by those who looked at her with scorn.
   
   The one bright spot in her life was Maude, another woman of the streets that she had come to know over the years. They enjoyed each other’s company and shared their dreams for a better life. It was nearly Maude’s birthday when she was rushed to the hospital. She was diagnosed with pneumonia. Sophia wanted so much to make this birthday special for Maude. She search everywhere for something she could give. The only thing she felt was even the least bit worthy of being called a gift was the porcelain bell she had found years ago. Wrapping it in tissue she brought it to the hospital where Maude was staying. “It’s not much,” Sophie admitted handing the tissue covered bell to Maude. When Maude pulled back the tissue, tears welled up in her eyes.
   
   “Oh this is perfect!” she said.”You see years ago when I was a little girl we had a bell just like this one. My great-grandmother gave it to my grandmother who gave it to us. It was the only real decoration we had. Each year we would put it out on the table next to our Christmas sacks and mince pie left for Santa.” She paused to wipe away the tears. “One night my brother and I were rough housing and we knocked the bell off the table and it broke. We were so afraid and ashamed that I threw the bell in a dumpster. We hoped that mom would think that she had misplaced it somewhere.” As she carefully held the bell in her hand, she saw the tiny crack and gasped….
   
   Discuss:  Sometimes we may feel that what we have to give is “not much”. And yet most of the time, it’s “just perfect”. During our Penny Drive, how can we help other kids in our school understand that what may appear to be “not much” can really be “just perfect”? Sophia had no idea that her gift would bring so much happiness to Maude. Do we have any idea how much happiness our Penny Drive will bring to those who receive it? Why or why not? Why is it important to give it anyway?
   
    
9. Read: Did you know that Ben Franklin was considered to be a polymath? This term goes back to ancient Greek times. It means "having learned much”. Later in history such a person was known as a Renaissance man. This was a common term used to describe a well educated person, or one who excels, in a wide variety of areas. The term polymath is used rarely enough to be included in dictionaries of obscure words. But it does not change the fact that Ben Franklin was proficient and competent in multiple areas. He was so proficient and competent that he is often quoted in historical documents and writings. Here are just two quotes accredited to him: Wealth is not his who has it, but his that enjoys it. And Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. There is nothing in its nature to produce happiness. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one. If it satisfies one want, it doubles and triples that want another way.
   
   Discuss: In light of these two quotes by Ben Franklin, what might this say to someone who thinks money should buy him or her personal happiness? How might donating money to a good cause “buy” happiness? What do you think would be Ben Franklin’s reaction to our Penny Drive? Do you think that he would be in favor of it? Why or why not?
   
    
10. Read: Someone who gives of their time, talents, and/or treasures for a common good cause, is called a philanthropist. For our Penny Drive, we are asking everyone to donate some of their treasure to the cause. Those who give of their treasure can be called philanthropists. One teacher challenged her students to think of ways that they might also give of their time and talents during the Penny Drive. Here are some of the students’ ideas: Rake leaves for a donation. Play an instrument for a fundraiser. Volunteer to decorate the containers for the Penny Drive. Make posters and flyers announcing the Penny Drive. Go from classroom to classroom to talk about the Penny Drive. Baby-sit and donate the money to the Penny Drive. Agree to sit at a table in the hallway at noon and invite students to put their change in the collection containers. Volunteer to count and wrap the money after the Penny Drive is over. Design “Thank You” cards for each classroom. Everyone agreed that people who did one or some of these things could also be called a philanthropist.
    
    Discuss: In what ways might anyone involved in our Penny Drive be considered a philanthropist? Why is being a philanthropist so important? Why is important they everyone do something to help make our Penny Drive a success?
     

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 each student write a paragraph about his or her personal experience using one of these prompt analogies:

This service project was:
Like baking a cake, because…
Like hugging a friend, because…a
Like reading a good book, because…
Like running a race, because
Like planting a flower, because

ACTIVITY TWO: Holding one end of the yarn, toss the yarn ball to a student and have that student use one word or phrase, describe/summarize his or her personal experience.  After the student has responded, have that student hold the end of the yarn and toss the yarn ball to another student--continuing to unravel the yarn ball-- repeating the process until everyone is part of the web created by the yarn.  Passing is permissible. (Note: Point out to the students that the web represents the interconnectedness of people and their experiences.)  If time permits, have the students “retrace” the yarn ball tosses.  This time the student with the yarn ball rewinds the yarn onto the ball while sharing what he or she feels might be the effects of the event or what more they would like to do before tossing it back to the student who originally tossed it to him/her. Continue this process until the yarn ball is back in your hands.

ACTIVITY THREE: Collect a bag of inexpensive small toys.  (These could be borrowed from a Kindergarten classroom.)  Place these toys in a large brown bag.  Assign students to groups of four or five.  Have a member of each group select from the bag, without looking at any of the toys.  Have each group explain to the other groups how this toy might represent what they did, how they felt, or suggest in some way what impact they might have had as a result of the event project. Allow the groups time to meet and brainstorm together for a few minutes before making their presentation.

ACTIVITY FOUR: Have the class determine how much money they “saved” others by offering their volunteer service(s) or donations during this event. To calculate the volunteer services amount, have each student identify the number of hours they were involved in the activity and multiply this number by the minimum wage for your State. (The Federal minimum wage can also be used which is approximately $7.00 per hour.) To calculate the donations amount, have the students count the total amount of money raised during the fundraiser. Celebrate the grand total savings to others that the students have provided during this event.