These "LEAGUE Learning Links” provide ten quick and easy 5-minute mini-lessons to help promote The LEAGUE 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 is possible and appropriate in presenting these lessons to their classmates.

1. READ: The principal of a school liked to play games with his students. Whenever he was out doors with the students for recess and the bell rang, the game would begin. “You need a ticket to get back into school! “ he would announce. All the students knew what he meant when he said they needed a ticket to get into school. They would leave the line and rush about the playground picking up pieces of trash carelessly left on the ground. When they found a bit of trash they would rush back to the principal. He would nod and motion them inside. He always said “Welcome aboard” as they entered the school. Whenever someone could not find a piece of trash, another student who found a big piece of trash would share. They would give the other person a ticket. The principal knew this happened and would wink at the two of them as they showed him their tickets.  It was a fun game and a great way to clean up the playground.
   DISCUSS: What project are we going to do for our Earth Day event? How will it help to clean up our environment? Why is it important to have fun while working? Is it okay to help each other as we work on our project?

2. READ: Lorie asked her mother if she could get a goldfish for her birthday. Mother agreed on one condition.
   “You have to keep the water clean,” she said.
   Lorie didn’t think that would be a problem. She named her goldfish Goldie. She was really proud of Goldie. Lorie would show him off to all her friends when they came to play. A week after getting Goldie, mom walked into Lorie’s room and noticed that the water in Goldie’s fish bowl looked a little cloudy. “Ummmm,” she said to Lorie, “I think it’s time to clean Goldie’s fish bowl, don’t you think?” Lorie looked at the water. It didn’t look nice and clean as it did when she first put Goldie into it. Lorie went to work doing exactly as the man at the store told her she had to do while cleaning the fishbowl. Weeks went by and soon cleaning Goldie’s fishbowl every week wasn’t as much fun as it used to be.
   “Gee, Mom,” Lorie complained one day. “Why do I have to clean the bowl so often?”
   Mom replied, “You see Lorie, Goldie needs fresh water to swim in and drink, just like we do. You wouldn’t want to drink or swim in Goldie’s water just before you cleaned and changed it would you?”
   “No way!” Lorie exclaimed.
   DISCUSS: Would you want to swim in or drink Goldie’s water just before Lorie changed it? Why is it important to keep our water clean? How can we help keep it clean? Is there something we can do for our Earth Day event that helps keep our water clean and safe to drink? Why do we need to keep doing those things that make for clean water?

3. READ:  Many kids own skateboards, roller blades or roller shoes. They are fun to have. They help get people to where they want to go faster. Sometimes they can be a problem. Seven year old Tanya was wearing a cast on her arm. It was her turn for Show and Tell. Tanya showed the class her cast. She told her story. “I was on my way to my friend’s house to play. I was cruising down the sidewalk next to Maple Street. I had been dodging trash that people had dropped on the sidewalk. I swerved to miss a pop can, a crumbled up magazine, and a half eaten banana. I didn’t see this big wad of gum in time. I wasn’t able to steer clear of it and I fell.” she said holding up her cast.
   DISCUSS: After Tanya finished sharing her Show and Tell, her teacher asked the class what they learned from Tanya’s story. What are some of things that you learned? How can trash not only look bad but also be dangerous? During our Earth Day event what can we do to make our Earth not only look better but also be safer?

4. READ: Buffy found a caterpillar on the side walk. Jason wanted to step on it. Buffy told him that he should not step on the caterpillar. Jason wanted to know why. She told him that some caterpillars make silk. This silk is used to make thread and that is used to make some of our clothes. She reminded him that caterpillars turn into butterflies. Butterflies help pollinate flowers and fruit trees just like the bees do. If the flowers and fruit trees are not pollinated, no flowers or fruit would grow.
   “So,” Buffy said to Jason. “If you step on that caterpillar we may not have as many flowers and fruit this year, our world will be less beautiful, you’ll be crushing a part of our beautiful world”
   DISCUSS: When we are careless with little things it can affect big things and other people. Do you think Jason had any idea that stepping on a little caterpillar could cause such big problems? Sometimes when we do little things like not stepping on a caterpillar it can make a big difference. How might our Earth Day event be a little thing that can make a big difference?

5. READ:  Lofton was playing kickball with his friends in the vacant lot next to school. He liked playing there except for all the trash that the wind and people left there. One day when the kickball game was over and everyone started for home. Lofton reached down and carefully picked up a broken bottle. He walked over to the old trash barrel on the curb and dropped it in. The next day after the game he spotted an old car tire. Picking it up, he rolled it to the curb and set it next to the old trash can. Looking back he noticed two of his friends had picked up a piece of trash. They were walking it to the old trash can. This seemed to happen every day that they played a game there. Little by little the trash disappeared. Before long the entire vacant lot was free of trash.
   DISCUSS:  Why do you think Lofton started to pick up trash in the vacant lot? What do you think caused his friends to start picking up trash too? Did Lofton’s friends have to work really hard to get the vacant lot free of trash? During our Earth Day event how can doing a little something make a big difference?

6. READ: Listen to this poem:
   I see trash and litter on the ground.
   Everywhere I look it can be found.
   Should I pick it up or leave it there?
   Some people just don’t seem to care.
   DISCUSS: What do you think this person should do? Why do you think some people throw their trash on the ground? Where should they put it instead? What are we doing for our Earth Day Event that shows we care?  

7. READ: From out in space, our Earth looks like a big blue, green, and brown beach ball. Scientists say that parts of our Earth are beginning to look gray. This is because of pollution. This pollution looks a lot like smoke. We call it smog.
   DISCUSS: What on our Earth looks blue? What looks green? What looks brown? What are we doing during our Earth Day Event to help make our world bluer, greener, and browner again? What are some things we can do at home to help keep our world from turning grayer?

8. READ: “Let’s do something really big for Earth Day this year,” said Mr. Zanos.
   “What can we do?” the class asked.
   “Let’s each pick up one piece of trash each day. We can put it in this trash can,” Mr. Zanos said. He pointed to a trash can in the corner of the room.
   “That’s not doing something big!” Connor said.
   “Well, let’s give it a try and see.” Mr. Zanos said.
   The class agreed. Each day, each student picked up one piece of trash and put it in the trash can. Something strange began to happen. The trash can became fuller and fuller. By the end of the week, it was spilling over. Mr. Long, the custodian, came to take the trash can away. It was really heavy.
   “Wow!” he told the class. “You have all been a big help to our school and me! Thank you!”
   DISCUSS: Why do you think the boys and girls in Mr. Zanos’s class said picking up one piece of trash each day wasn’t a big thing? Why do you think Mr. Long told the class that it was a big thing? What are some things we can do for our Earth Day Event that would be a big thing for our school, our community, and our world?

9. READ: I heard my mom tell her friend what my three-year-old brother did. They were laughing, but I felt a little sad. My brother saw that one of the flowers along our sidewalk had fallen off its stem. I guess I rode over it on my bike. I didn’t try to do it. My younger brother went into the house and got a bandage. He said the flower was hurt. Then, he tried to bandage the flower back on the stem. He cried when he couldn’t make the flower better.
   DISCUSS: What are some things we can do to be careful not to “hurt” our environment? What are some things we can do for our Earth Day Event to help make our environment better?

10. READ: Felix was a butterfly. He loved flowers. Every day, he visited as many flowers as he could. “I’ll never see them all, but I keep trying. I love my beautiful world,” said Felix.
    One day he heard loud noises. Felix saw big machines knock down his flowers. Then, he watched for months as big people made tall buildings and parking lots. Felix was sad. Then one day he saw a group of young children carrying some flowers. He watched as they planted them in a small green area. Felix was happy once again. He wanted to thank these young children. But we all know butterflies can’t talk. So Felix fluttered from one flower to the next. When the children saw him, they all laughed and clapped their hands. “Look,” they said. “Look how happy that butterfly is!”
    DISCUSS: What did the children do that made Felix so happy? What are we doing for our Earth Day Event that will make the world prettier again? Who do we think will be happy because we helped make our world pretty?

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 share what they know about quilts (e.g. they are warm, soft, cuddly, usually made out of pieces of materials sewn together, etc)  as you provide the students with 4 ¼” by 5 ½” sheet of paper-- an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper cut in half.  Tell the students that they will be helping to make a “quilt” and that each person will contribute one piece to be added to the quilt. Have each student draw a picture of what they did during the Event activity using crayons or markers.  When they have completed their drawings have them take turns bringing their “quilt piece” to you and telling the class about their drawing which will then be added to the “quilt.”  Display the “quilt” as it is being sewn together to form a “Caring Blanket.” When everyone has contributed their piece to the blanket, ask the students how their “Caring Blanket” may have made someone feel warm inside.

ACTIVITY TWO:
Provide each student with a yellow cutout of a happy face and a sad face. Have the students decide which face represents how they felt as they were helping during the Event activity.  Have each student bring their chosen “face” to the display area entitled “Our Faces”/”Our Helping Mirror.”  As the students hand you their “faces” display them in as much of a circle as you can.  When everyone’s face is displayed, ask the students if most of the faces were happy or sad. Using black heavy string or yarn and common pins/tacks, make the mouth of the face, over the ‘sea of faces’ that represents how the majority of the students felt.

ACTIVITY THREE:
Playing the game “Duck, Duck, Goose,” model for the students how the person who is “IT” will walk around the circle of students tapping them lightly on the head saying, “caring” “sharing” “helping” “giving,” or any combination of these words.  However when the person who is IT taps someone on the head and says “philanthropy” or “philanthropist” that person is now IT and must stand and tell the class how he or she cared, shared, helped, or gave to someone during the Event.  The new IT person now walks around the circle following the model.  If some is dubbed “Philanthropist” and they have nothing they can think of to share, have the IT person continue to follow the model until he or she finds someone to be IT who is willing and able to share.  (NOTE: Make every effort to be sure that everyone has an opportunity to be IT and to share.)

ACTIVITY FOUR:
Cut out an outline of a star on yellow construction paper for each student.  Have each student come to the front of the class in turn and whisper to you what they did during the Event.  Write what they did on their star.  Have the student hold up his/her star while you tell the class the word(s) that is written on it.  Celebrate each recipient as they hold their star with hand clapping/a cheer, etc.  Have each student then place his or her star on the display board entitled “Super Stars.”  After everyone has had a turn, ask the class if they think that the stars in the sky help to make things a little brighter at night. Draw a comparison as to how all of their deeds certainly helped to make the world a brighter place.  Thank and applaud the students as a class.