Students explore what it means to be responsible citizens and identify ways they are (or can be) responsible at home, in school, and in the community. They create a survey related to people's perceptions of community health and poll members of the community to identify needs.
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...
We learn a little history of the painters Van Gogh and Gauguin who were driven by a need to give of themselves to others through art. Participants study the techniques and draw their own portraits. They make a gift of the portrait to someone.
This lesson explores opposing perspectives on fairness issues and whether fairness is based on fact or context. Students compare and contrast different perspectives on two fairness issues - one global and one personal. They reflect on when fairness is a matter to advocate for through...
Students organize and implement a school-based recycling plan based on a one-day lunchroom waste audit.
Adapt this one-period lesson plan and follow it with a simple and powerful service project for Earth Day. The reflection...
Performance of the mitzvah of tzedakah is, ideally, a holistic part of life, not an activity to be performed when all others have been completed! This lesson offers a classic model of how that ideal was realized by one of our Sages, Rabbi Tanchum, and how our families might...
Learners compare and contrast the work and mission of four famous philanthropists: Cesar Chavez, George Washington Carver, Sunderlal Buhuguna, and Abdul Sattar Edhi. They identify the motivations, impact, and attitudes about service, and start to clarify their personal attitudes about service by...
Youth research and report back to the group about the nonprofit organizations that are serving their community and the many facets of community life that nonprofits are involved in.
Author: Urban EdVenture Faculty
Through this activity participants become aware of their own privileges, and the racial, cultural and socio-economic biases in society today.
Participants gain exposure to how citizens organize in response to a need. They observe the benefits of group cooperation. They review data they have collected from surveys and work in collaborative groups to identify focus areas for the service-learning project.