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...
The group reviews the list of issues and ways to take action, including those gathered with their families. They narrow the list through consensus. They invite a local Community Foundation Youth Advisory Committee member to talk about their work and grant process.
This lesson highlights the importance of monitoring speech. The children identify positive and negative effects of the words they use and are encouraged to use speech only for good.
Depictions of hunger in excerpts from Jane Eyre and Oliver Twist provide concrete images of hunger as learners determine its causes and decide whether to support a change in U.S. public policy related to the issue.
Using the plays from the previous lesson as a jumpstart, youth carry out a plan to share time and talent in the community. They may help at a local food pantry or donation center. After the visit, they reflect on the impact of their contribution to...
Sometimes you have to give up what you truly love to get what you really want. That can be a hard lesson when you have almost nothing. This lesson looks at who has the responsibility to be generous and what changes can come about because of one’s generosity.
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...
With guidance from a local environmental agency, prepare the youth in advance of volunteering their time to clean up a lake or river for the common good. Arrange a field trip that includes picking up trash and recording the data.
Through discussion of the book The Seven Chinese Brothers, learners recognize that using our talents and working together to help others has benefits greater than the opportunity cost (what we gave up to take generous action).
Cultures are sometimes represented through clothing items like head wear or colors. These clothing items can be very meaningful and important, and it is respectful to learn about others and what their cultural expression means to them. It is never okay to mock someone for what they wear or to...