Learners explore character traits and life lessons through folktales from various American cultures. The stories illustrate the impact of "paying a debt forward" rather than "paying it back." ...
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Unit: Generosity of Spirit Folktales
These Australian folktales compare selfish and unselfish behaviors and tell the origin story of our permanent responsibility as caretaker of the land.
Learners analyze characters in five European folktales, particularly female characters. They analyze what small acts of kindness contribute to both the giver and receiver.
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. ...
When life is at its most difficult and grief is great, a generous sacrifice can move the spirit toward life again. In these folktales, two Inuits face death with a truly generous spirit.
In the featured folktales, we learn the impact of misjudging the character of another, and understand that an evil act does not require a person to return evil with evil.
There are times when a person learns that it is better not to give a generous gift at all if it will be disrespected by the receiver. There are also times a person may realize too late that there is a cost for bad behavior. ...
As demonstrated in these folktales, even the smallest things, when shared, can be examples of philanthropy.
The learners explore folktales related to forgiveness. They investigate how compassion is interrelated with forgiveness, and describe challenges to real forgiveness.
Unit: Poetry of Giving
Youth will use metaphor, simile and personification to create imagery in their writing and recognize philanthropy in poetry. The learners will also become familiar with the poet laureates, Billy Collins and his writing....