This lesson focuses on the meaning and benefits of gratitude. A book about a gratitude jar challenges us to brainstorm things they are grateful for right now. For their service project, participants 'deliver gratitude' to others in the school community by saying "thank you" and observing the reactions of the person they thanked, as well as how they feel. They will keep a gratitude jar and add to it each day; they may look at their entries on tough days. They may add to others' jars with kind words.

Students learn about nutrition for healthy bodies and encourage others to make healthy choices. Students learn about healthy choices by playing a group game. In the end they learn that when everyone is healthy, we are all able to do our best.

Students explore the meaning of community and describe traits of a healthy classroom community. They develop a class definition of a healthy community and learn how to promote healthy habits in the school community.

Every person has individual traits that make them unique and who they are. People with neurological or physical differences have often been seen as less capable or received services that separated them from others. Society is enriched when it embraces our differences as gifts and characteristics to understand and respect. Awareness can change attitudes, laws, and opportunities. Each young person has a voice, heart, and hands to take big and small actions to help us create a more inclusive world. 

Students design a plan to make themselves and their school community healthier. They brainstorm what it means to get moving and exercise, and they see that increasing physical fitness activity is good for everyone and brings a community together. Students will choose or design a service project to encourage schoolmates and the community to increase their daily fitness activity.

Students explore the components of the Preamble of the U.S.  Constitution and apply them to their own lives, with a particular emphasis on philanthropy. This lesson is designed for Citizenship/Constitution Day (September 17) and connects students to the community-building focus of the Constitution and how it relates personally to their lives and action. 

Pages