We discuss the joy of giving, as well as various ways to give through doing kind acts for people in the community. We learn how #GivingTuesday is a day of giving that combines efforts with others around the world to make a big difference. Children follow their own interests to make someone smile and promote kindness as an instrument of change.

Students learn about the goals of Earth Day and identify areas in town that need clean-up or planting. They plan a day of service.

Teach this one-period lesson plan and follow it with a simple and powerful service project before or on Earth Day. The reflection brings learning and service impact together. 

This lesson focuses on the meaning and benefits of gratitude. Teens research one aspect of gratitude in order to understand its relationship to health, happiness, or generosity. For their service project, they decide how they can 'deliver gratitude' to a deserving person or group. They will then complete a service such as writing thank you notes. 

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.

Conflict happens in many situations and knowing the proper means to communicate and resolve issues can mitigate many problems. This lesson helps youth evaluate the roots of conflicts and methods on how to resolve conflict with respect.  

In civil society, different people come together to form community. While differences may cause conflict, for the sake of the common good, we practice empathy and respect for others. Students respond to scenarios of differences in opinion. They learn to communicate respectfully with someone of a different opinion and to seek common ground or compromise. The lesson concludes with a service project in which the students create posters to teach these methods to the school or community. 

Students learn about the roles of bees in a colony and discuss how that relates to people in community. Bees have an important role in nature as pollinators, but their population numbers have been declining in recent years. Students write a letter or create a flyer to teach others how to help bees by planting native species.

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. 

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