Youth learn about basic human rights and discuss whether everyone deserves these rights. In addition, they reflect on examples of human kindness and collective action for the common good.
Youth analyze personal reasons for taking action and compare them to the researched motivations for giving.
Youth make a chart of how they typically spend a free day and then envision what that same free day would look like when it is infused with philanthropy. They plan a free day, substituting their usual routine with activities that serve the community. They discuss the benefits and opportunity costs involved in sacrificing personal time for the common good of their community.
After reading about historical figures who have taken philanthropic action related to justice, youth write a narrative about a more recent (young) philanthropist who took action for social justice.
Using words of Native Peoples, youth explore examples of the philanthropic attitudes and traditions.
Young people discuss examples of philanthropy in poems and quotations. They write an expression of philanthropy using the poetic conventions of metaphor, simile, and personification. These statements could be used as the text for greeting cards produced for an Art from the Heart service project and given to veterans, elderly neighbors, or another identified group.
Inspired by stories of service, young people define philanthropy concepts and actions. They brainstorm acts of kindness and determine how they will contribute to the common good.
Rosa Parks’s acts of philanthropy brought a community of people together for the common good and resulted in major social change in her community and in the nation. Young people identify the relationship between individual rights, justice, equality, and community responsibility.
Young people learn about the contributions made by Benjamin Franklin to the common good. They categorize his accomplishments in the nonprofit, business, and government sectors. They select a quote from Franklin that they would like to apply to their own lives.
The young people define philanthropy and identify philanthropic activities.