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: There is a theory among law enforcement officials known as the “broken window theory”. It is the idea that if one window in a building is broken and not repaired quickly, the rest of the windows become fair game. Often abandoned business and apartment buildings fall victim to the “broken window theory”. It seems that when the windows are all broken there is not much reason to mow the grass or maintain the rest of the property. Everything falls apart.
   
   Discuss: In what ways is the “broken window theory” about being influenced by the behavior of others? What are some parallels that be drawn between the “broken window theory” and mob behavior? If people tend to “do what they see,” how might we use this theory to positively affect our drive? In what ways can what we do during our service project influence others to want to participate?
   
    
2. Read: One Saturday a month, in the city in Vancouver, Canada the Spuds and Duds Patrol swings into action. The Spuds and Duds Patrol is a group of volunteers that come together to bake potatoes and distribute clothing to those in need.  They bake all the “spuds” that their ovens will hold and take them to the park. They also bring all the things that go with them like sour cream, butter, and chives. The homeless people in the area are invited to the park to come to have a hot baked potato. Between 100 to over 2500 baked potatoes are given away each month. If they are in need of warm “duds” these volunteers also distribute clothing items donated to them for this cause. This all began because someone wanted to do something to help the homeless in his community but didn’t want to just give them money.
   
   Discuss: How do you think the people serving the spuds and duds felt when the people received the potatoes and clothing? Our service event is all about doing something besides giving money to those in need. Under what circumstances might this be the best that we can do? Why is it important that we come together as a class or school to participate in our service event?
   http://www.creditcardmerchant.com/
   jeffrey/jeffrey2/spud/vancouver.html
   
    
3. Read:  Every sport, even the X-treme (extreme) ones, operates by some set of principles. These principles over-see the conduct of the participants. They make up the ethics of the sport. They determine what is good and bad behavior. They determine what is acceptable and what is not. It is this moral philosophy that determines the “rightness” of any given action. For example, golf is often referred to as a “gentleman’s game”. This implies that those who participate abide by the rules both written and unwritten regarding fair play. They mutually accept and follow the golf code of ethics.  Of course as in any sport, there are those who “cut corners”. There are those who are not always honest. There are those who are always looking for the easy way in or out. These are the ones who ignore the ethics of their sport and tend as a result to give the sport “a bad name”.
   
   Deer hunters also have a code of ethics. When someone does not follow the governing principles of hunting it gives hunters a “bad name”. One of the ways hunters ignore their code of ethics is the manner in which they dispose of deer carcasses. Many hunters who shoot a deer indiscriminately dump their carcasses in creeks, on roadsides and in areas where the remains are visible to the public. This is unethical, senseless, and offensive to many people. Failing to properly dispose of a deer carcass causes all hunters to lose further respect and support from the non-hunting public. Ethical hunters make provisions to properly dispose of deer remains where they cannot be viewed by the public. Better yet, through a program called Sportsmen for Hunger, hunters can now opt to donate their venison to local food banks. There are packing companies who volunteer their time and talent to process the meat so that it can be donated. “It’s a win-win for everyone! And it helps build up our image too!” said one Mississippi hunting enthusiast.
   
   Discuss: Why is it important to have some set of principles governing conduct in sports? In what ways could our drive event be considered a “rightness” of action? Unlike how some deer hunters act when they indiscriminately dump their deer carcasses, how can our service event make a lot of good sense? How might our drive event be a win–win for everyone? How might it serve to help "build up” our image as teenagers and as a school?
   
    
4. Read: Do you recall the childhood game of peek-a-boo? It’s where a young child will cover his/her eyes and assume that because he/she does not see you, you do not see him/her. We chuckle about this game because we know that what the child assumes is just not true. We play along anyway. It’s fun!
   
   In the animal world, the ostrich is blamed for playing this little game all the time. The ostrich is known to “bury its head in the sand”. While animal experts agree that this is not really true, unless the ostrich is looking for food. An ostrich is blamed in analogies for wanting to avoid reality. We say that someone who buries their head in the sand is someone who chooses not to see the reality of a given situation or circumstance. Sociologists say that this is one way many people choose to look at world hunger. They cover their eyes hoping that no one will see them as being part of the solution to this problem. Or they bury their heads in the sand in an effort to avoid having to see the problem for what it is. That way they don’t feel the need to be involved in being part of the solution to the problem.
   
   Discuss: World hunger does not go away just because we think we can “hide” from it. As individuals, how can we avoid not “hiding” ourselves from this problem? How can we share with others that not facing an issue like world hunger doesn’t mean it does not exist or that it will just disappear on its own? How can our drive event be seen as an attempt to stop playing peek-a-boo or burying our heads in the sand and face the reality of the hunger situation in our world?
   
    
5. Read: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Believe it or not people argue over the answer to this question, but not Juanita and Miguel who live in Mexico with their four teenage boys. They are just thankful that their family, along with others, received a flock of baby chicks from a non-profit organization known as  ECLA World Hunger. In 2005, Hurricane Stan struck Mexico and Central America. It killed more than 1000 people and left 100,000 homeless and without food. ECLA sent a flock of baby chickens to many families to help them. For Juana and Miguel, in just a few months the chickens were laying eggs that helped to satisfy the appetites of their growing boys. They were also able to hatch more chickens!  They now have a chicken business that will provide the family with food and an income source for years to come.
   http://archive.elca.org/hunger/whatwedo/
   
   Discuss: The phrase Which came first, the chicken or the egg is often used to point out the futility of identifying the first cause of circular events. For example, some might argue that if it weren’t for the hurricane Juana and Miguel would not be in the chicken business today. Others might say if it weren’t for the generosity of ECLA World Hunger sending them a flock of young chickens they would not be in the chicken business today. Still others might argue that it took both of these events to get Juana and Miguel business started. During our service project, how might we get our event started towards success? In what ways might our involvement lead to a circular event; meaning how might what we do stimulate and perhaps challenge others to join our service event? Under what circumstances might it not always be important to know what caused what to happen? Why might it be important sometimes to know what caused what to happen under other circumstances?
   
    
6. Read: There are many ways to improve the health and well being of people. Even slipping on a bracelet can halt hunger and abuse. It may seem like a bit of self-indulgence when people are starving around the world to purchase a bracelet, but the very people who string these bracelets are no longer starving, thanks to the wages they are paid for beading them. Women in Rwanda and Zambia for example who used to go to bed hungry-some not eating for three days at a stretch- now enjoy regular daily meals and more nutritious ones too. In other words one can really lend a hand by adorning their wrist! At other times, in order to appropriately respond to the needs of others, we might be required to curb our self-indulgence. We may have to give up that $3.00 cappuccino or forego that video game. There truly are many ways to improve the health and well being of people.
   
   Discuss: Our drive is one attempt to lend a hand in curbing hunger in our community. How might doing so help to curb hunger in other parts of our world? What are some things that we could do to stimulate interest in our event? What are some ways that we might be able to curb our self-indulgence in order to respond to the concerns for the health and well being of our neighbors?
   
    
7. Read This appeared in a humor column of an educator’s magazine. It was submitted by a Middle School science teacher from a northern state. Apparently she had asked her class, “Which is closer, Florida or the moon?” One self-assured student piped up with the answer, “The moon!” Amid the laughter of the other students, the teacher asked the student why he would say the moon, to which he replied, “Because you can’t see Florida!”
   
   Discuss: Sometimes the things we can see seem closest to us when actually they are not. While at other times things that we can’t see might seem even farther away or not to exist at all. Hunger in the world seems to follow a similar theme. Because we hear about it and see it on our Televisions as being something in countries other than our own, we tend to think of hunger in terms of being “out there” somewhere far away. On the other hand because we don’t often see hunger in our own community, we tend to think that it doesn’t exist there. How can we make hunger in our own community more visible to others and ourselves? How can our service event help lessen hunger in our own community?
   
    
8. Read: When the Andres’ home located in Borosburg burned to the ground, a request appeared in the neighboring town of Hummersville’s newspaper. The request was for donated items to help the Andres get reestablished. Fourteen year old Gabe and his classmates had been asked by their teacher to consider donating items. These items would be given to the Andres family. Gabe didn’t know the Andres family. So he wasn’t planning to contribute. But pressured by his peers to donate something, Gabe finally as a joke decided to donate an old autographed baseball cap. He found the hat buried in the back of his closet. He recalled that his father had bought it for him while attending a home game in Chicago. He was eleven years old at the time. He hadn’t worn it for a long time because he wasn’t into baseball all that much anymore.  While the other students in his class brought dishes, rugs, used furniture, linens, and even a bed, Gabe’s donation seemed really insignificant by comparison. In fact some of the other kids joked with him about his contribution. It wasn’t until the class received a “thank you” card from the Andres that Gabe and everyone else in the class learned a valuable lesson. The card thanked the students in the class for all of their thoughtful and useful contributions. It concluded by offering a special thanks to whoever donated the autographed baseball cap. It appears that the baseball hat had been identical to the one their eight year old son had lost in the fire. And the autograph… it just happened to be that of his favorite player on the team.
   
   Discuss: What “valuable lesson” can be learned from this story? Is there such a thing as an insignificant contribution? Why or why not? How might this story help us as we think about our participation in our service event?
   
    
9. Read:  “It is easy to love the people far away. It is not always easy to love those close to us. It is easier to give a cup of rice to relieve hunger than to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved in our own home. Bring love into your home for this is where our love for each other must start.”- Mother Teresa of Calcutta, India
   
   Discuss: During her lifetime, Mother Teresa was a Roman Catholic nun who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. This was the place where she worked for over forty years attending to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying. If Mother Teresa were to visit our classroom today and talk to us about our service event what do you think she would say to us? Why is it sometimes “easier to give a cup or rice to relieve hunger that to relieve the loneliness and pain of someone unloved?” How might we attempt to accomplish both of these things during our drive event?
   
    
10. Read: In viewing pieces of art one is often directed not to look too closely.  Standing at a distance one is able to get a better view of the entire piece. From this recommended distance all the little imperfections tend to disappear or at least be less evident. While Astronaut, Edgar Mitchell upon seeing the Earth from outer space for the first time described it as a blue and white jewel, most astronauts prefer not to even be interviewed about what they saw from outer space. They are in awe and admit being unable to find the words to adequately describe the Earth’s mystifying awesome beauty. American singer-songwriter Julie Gold captured some of this sentiment in the lyrics of her 1985 song entitled “From a Distance” sung in 1990 by four time Grammy Award winner Bette Midler, a well known American singer, actress, and comedienne in her own right. The lyrics in this song too, suggest that from a distance little imperfections tend to fade away; from a distance our world is beautiful and peaceful. But the lyrics go on to imply that our world may look better from far away than it actually does up close and personal. The lyrics suggest that while from a distance there is beauty and peaceful harmony and everyone has enough, up close there are guns, bombs, disease and hunger.
    
    Discuss: What do think the lyrics in this song mean when they say ‘from a distance we all have enough’? Do you think it implies that up close, things might look a lot different? How so? Do you think ‘distance’ plays a role in how seriously someone might consider being involved in our service event? What could we do to get everyone to take a closer look?
    www.desertwebcenter.com/God_is_watching_us.html

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: Give each student 10-12 small sticky notes.  Have the students write a word or phrase on each sticky note that comes to mind as they think about their involvement with the Event.  Allow 2-4 minutes for their writing. (NOTE: Be prepared to hand students additional sticky notes if they ask for them.)  As the students are writing place a four-column grid on the display board and label the columns: Feelings, Activities, Affects/Effects, and Misc. At the end of 2-4 minutes, have the students decide which column their words or phrases best fit and then have them place their sticky notes under the proper heading. When all of the notes have been posted, read the notes under each column to the students. Have them look for similar comments in order to synthesize and condense the number of sticky notes and eliminate duplication. Lead students to draw some conclusions about their service experiences based on this activity.

ACTIVITY TWO: Have each student draw a Venn Diagram.  In the circle on the left have them place single words that come to mind when they think about how they were feeling during this Event in which they were just involved.  In the circle on the right have the students place single words that come to mind when they think about how they were feeling during earlier Events or involved in similar philanthropic activities that they were part of at an earlier time.  Have the students look for those words that appear in both circles and have them place those words in the “overlap” of the two circles.  Have each of the students, in turn, call out the words found in their “overlap” and place these on the display board for all to see.  Ask the students, “What conclusions might one be able to make about being involved in philanthropic activities as a result of completing this exercise?”

ACTIVITY THREE: Tell the students that they have been selected by a major toy company to come up with a design for an “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot to be used to “promote” this Event next year. Ask the students, when coming up with their “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot, to consider what it takes for someone to be involved in an Event like the one they just completed and what types of personal characteristics/ attitudes would it be helpful for someone to be involved in Events like these.  Working in pairs, have the students design and draw their “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot.  When finished, have each group share their idea for their “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot. Display the Action Heroes/Heroines or Mascots under the heading “Our Action Heroes/Heroines” or “Our Mascot” or, etc.

ACTIVITY FOUR: Provide each student with three shiny coins (pennies). Play (or tell them) about the song entitled “Three Coins in the Fountain”.  Share the lyrics of the first verse. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank-sinatra/55254.html.
 

Ask the students what they know about wishing wells.  Ask for volunteers to share how they were involved in this service project: what activity (-ies) they performed, how they felt about this event, what impact they felt this service project had on those involved, etc. Challenge the students as a class to determine how tossing three coins into a fountain might be a lot like participating in this service project using the following prompts:

Discuss how the author of this song might have felt as he tossed his three coins in the fountain and have the students compare his feelings with their feelings about getting involved in this service project.

Discuss what the author of this song might have been hoping would result from his tossing the coins into the fountain and have the students compare his hopes with their hopes for what might result from their involvement in this service project.

Discuss how the author of this song might have felt as he walked away from the fountain after having tossed his coins into it and have the students compare his feelings with their feelings after having been involved in this service project.

Finally, ask the students if they think they will ever know the end results/impact of what they did during this service event. Have them share why or why not.  Tell the students, if they would like, they could make a wish and drop their three coins into a “wishing well” (box) placed on your desk. Tell them if they prefer not to make a wish and put their three pennies in the “wishing well,” that your wish for them is that they will put the three pennies to good use.