Learning to Give, Curriculum Division of The LEAGUE

A unit designed to enhance the student's understanding of the role that philanthropy plays in our society in conjunction with our system of Government.

The learners will read stories, written and illustrated by teens, about action and advocacy to make the world a better place. They will list concerns/issues they have about their school or local community. They will create story outlines about action and advocacy taken by people in extraordinary ways to address some of the issues/concerns.

The learners will analyze why nonprofit organizations are needed, especially when there are for-profit and governmental institutions which do some of the similar work. They will investigate a local nonprofit that works to alleviate poverty in the community and describe the importance of philanthropy in the community.

In this unit the learners will develop a definition of advocacy. They will become familiar with what motivates people to become advocates as well as identify and evaluate some of the strategies advocates use to promote their cause or the cause of others. They will identify and research local, state, and/or national concerns for humane treatment and animal welfare that call for advocacy intervention and determine what a successful intervention strategy might look like. They will include these strategies in a plan to address their identified local, state, and/or national concern for animal welfare as well as identify ways to encourage others to take up the cause(s). Advocating for the common good is everyone’s responsibility.  Advocacy becomes even more important when those who need or want change cannot speak for themselves – children and animals. This unit focuses on humane treatment and animal welfare to teach advocacy skills.

In this unit, students explore the history of Affirmative Action in the United States from Plessy v. Ferguson 1869 to the present. The class uses the Internet to read primary source documents from Plessy, Brown v. Board of Education 1954 and United Steelworkers v. Weber 1979. The class views documentary footage from the PBS series Eyes on the Prize and answers questions from that video on the Little Rock Central High School desegregation in 1957. Students explore recent Affirmative Action cases, then participate in a "mock" Affirmative Action Supreme Court case. Throughout the unit, students relate Core Democratic Values to the different aspects of Affirmative Action. Students finish the unit by writing a column on Affirmative Action for the school or local newspaper.

This unit will provide learning opportunities that allow students to interact with sources and individuals who have knowledge about the effects of air pollution while determining what role each has played.  Additionally, it will allow learners to develop and implement a plan for distributing radon and carbon monoxide detectors to senior citizens and families in need, developing skills for becoming good stewards of the Earth. It will introduce the learners to the idea that Air Quality is an important environmental issue and that they have the power to affect change.
Focus Question: In which ways can you heighten individual and community awareness about the issues posed by the condition of poor air quality?
 

Learners will define and identify stereotypical and discriminatory behaviors. They will analyze the harmful effects of discrimination on our society and give examples of the ways individuals have responded to violations of human dignity. They will describe a social action plan to make the school a welcome and secure learning environment for all learners.

How do the actions of one individual or group impact the well-being of others within the community?

The learners will view works of art that advocate for social change. They will recognize that art can influence social change. The learners will select an issue of human rights and create a work of art that represents the issue. They will write a paragraph of explanation about their work.

Learners will define justice, kindness, peace and tolerance. They will recognize these as attributes of a civil society. They will look for examples of their presence or absence in the news media and will brainstorm how they can promote them in their school, community and the world.

Learners will distinguish between nonprofit organizations and for-profit organizations. They will identify and dispel some of the myths of nonprofit employment. Using the Idealist: Action Without Borders Web site, www.idealist.org, the learners will investigate career opportunities in nonprofit organizations as well as some of the skills required in these careers. They will investigate a local nonprofit through an interview with an employee. They will orally present this information and conclude by writing personal reflections about nonprofits using the information that they found in their idealist.org investigation, their local nonprofit organization investigation, and the information obtained from the three interviews completed as homework.

The learners will explore making career choices, including factors that help make a career satisfying, by focusing on careers with animals as examples. They will research various careers with animals and share their findings as a service project with an appropriate student-selected audience(s). They will demonstrate their new knowledge and experience by reflecting and writing an evaluative response about their knowledge of career choices and the impact of their service.

Focus Question:
What factors might influence a person’s career choice, and their satisfaction in a chosen career?

Learners will understand and demonstrate their knowledge of the concept of civic environmentalism and the impact that one woman had on the world and our environment. The learners will understand how her advocacy is an example of civic environmentalism and how they can become civic environmentalists.

Learners will recognize that principles of justice, kindness, peace and tolerance are positive attributes of a civil society. Their awareness of these attributes will be enhanced as they search for examples of these attributes, or examples of the absence of these attributes, in political cartoons and newspaper comic strips. They will create cartoons of their own illustrating an aspect of civil society, and write a paragraph of explanation about their cartoon.

Learners make those critical connections between primary sources and textual materials or secondary sources. The lessons and instructional sequence involve learners identifying philanthropic activities within their own community and state during the period of World War II. Stretching to their community today, they discover the role of ongoing philanthropic institutions and grassroots actions. Two engaging service-learning lessons give cohesive meaning to philanthropy in their community and state.

This unit focuses on different traditions of giving through world cultures (and religious traditions), looking for similarities that connect us. In addition, learners recognize that diversity makes our community stronger. Learners read and research diverse cultures of giving and serving. Students develop personal mission statements and create visual/audio presentations of "Why I Serve" as it relates to their personal motivations, culture, experiences, and perceptions. Students share their findings and creative work as an act of advocacy for service. 

Focus Question: How do traditional culture and personal experience influence attitudes and practices of giving and serving?

Scholarship Award: Through the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The LEAGUE will be awarding three (3) scholarships of $5,000 each for student writings or reflections on civic experiences. See scholarship details here.

The lessons that comprise this unit were designed to give students an opportunity to draw from their prior knowledge as well as new experiences to develop a deeper understanding of the concept of philanthropy. Student writing skills are also heavily emphasized in this unit. It is also designed to develop a personal definition for the term philanthropy that is based on prior knowledge as well as facts learned in this unit.

This unit is about the impact of growth (commercial and residential) on the environment and how everyone needs to be aware of the trade-offs. Specifically, this unit will examine how the use of impervious surfaces impacts the environment. The unit will also illustrate how knowledge of science informs our decisions and awareness as citizens. The lessons evolve from engaging the learner’s interest, becoming aware of the issue in their community and taking action in their community for the common good.Population density and community development has political and environmental implications. The development of cities, towns, suburbs and rural America share a common feature; a transportation system that relies on cars and trucks and the highways, roadways and parking lots that they demand. As towns and suburbs grow, the commercial and residential building “footprint” on the landscape will be harmful to the environment unless carefully planned. The issue related to “sprawl”, “population density” and the environment is the use of concrete, brick and asphalt; all impervious surfaces. The purpose of this lesson is to make learners aware of the environmental impact of impervious surfaces and empower them to become environmental stewards.

Focus Questions:
What is the relationship between community development and the environment?
How has development negatively impacted my community and what can be done about it?
 

Learners will understand that the giving of their time, talent and treasure will improve the quality of life in their communities. Their active participation in community life makes their community and government stronger. This unit will stimulate, develop, educate for and encourage youth volunteerism at home, in school and in the community.

This unit sets the stage for an introduction to the three economic sectors: "profit," "nonprofit" and "government." The students learn what makes an organization fit into its appropriate category. Taking that information, they apply it to researching environmental groups within the three categories. Students must decide into which sector they fall and why. The students then take their knowledge of nonprofit organizations and apply that information to the research of nonprofit environmental organizations. The historical focus of this unit is the 1960's and the students are introduced to the factors that led to the creation of the environmental movement and environmental stewardship.  The unit has a strong economic focus as well that allows student to interpret data about environmental nonprofit organizations investigated. This information is used as students decide how to invest their time and money in a nonprofit environmental organization. The students must also identify why they would support an environmental group of their choosing thereby making key economic decisions about their own spending and time.

Learners will identify some of the roles they play in their various communities. They will explore the vocabulary of beliefs/values and identify how and when these values affect the various roles they play in community. This understanding of their beliefs/values will be used to help them determine reasons and motivations for roles they might play in the larger community.

Learners will describe what constitutes good nutritional practices, compare their own eating patterns to these practices and encourage others to improve their own eating habits. They will determine the value of acting on behalf of others and decide if their actions can make a difference in the school. Learners will investigate the difference between hunger and malnutrition, analyze hunger in the community and research local groups that aid the hungry. They will compare the depiction of hunger in world literature and describe causes of hunger in the world. Learners will distinguish between the many different approaches to hunger in the United States and abroad by looking at governmental versus nonprofit programs. They will reflect on the importance of philanthropic actions in solving the problems of hunger in the world.

This unit will introduce the learners to the manner in which marginalized, disenfranchised and disadvantaged individuals have used the nonprofit sector as an alternative power structure in American society. They will research various local and national organizations, events, and leaders involved with creating positive change for the common good. They will conduct a community survey involving women and minority groups and discover the problems they faced and continue to face. They will report their findings in the school and/or community newspaper. They will create bookmarks about local women and minorities to be given to other schools and the local library to distribute to community members.

As an extension, they will write essays on why the community feels as it does, and agree or disagree with the community's views. After learning about the various nonprofit organizations associated with marginalized, disenfranchised or disadvanaged individuals and/or groups, learners can choose to volunteer their time, talent, and/or treasure to these organizations.

Folktales from all over the world reveal much about giving to others. They reveal a "generosity of spirit" that speaks the language of "giving" whether it be the giving of time, talent or treasure. This unit will look at various types of folktales, from various places, with various morals/lessons.

Learners will identify what constitutes a folktale, describe the different types of folktales, define philanthropy, recognize cultural influences in folktales, analyze motivations for giving and recognize models of "giving" in folktales from around the world.

The students will review the concept of philanthropy through viewing a logo. They will design original logos that represent philanthropy and related ideas. They will explore philanthropic behavior as it relates to the arts.

In the modern era, charity is often an essential component of the community. Children are often bombarded with television advertisements, billboards, articles and stories of charities. Many times, young people do not understand the concept of giving charities, the origins or the importance. These lessons are intended to give the students an overview of what charity is, why it is important, how to give it, to whom to give it, and the benefits of giving it.      

Learners will describe how hunger and malnutrition are related, but not the same problems. They will recognize hunger as a global community issue and the role of the four sectors of society in solving problems of hunger in the community. They will be challenged to apply their own time, talent and treasure to address the issue of local hunger.

Having formulated an initial opinion on whether or not Americans today exhibit civic virtue, the learners will defend their positions in light of the opinions of writers. They will make a personal plan to exhibit civic virtue through civic engagement in an environmental act.

The purpose of this unit is to assist the learner in developing a deeper understanding of what it means to be a steward of the environment and to apply this knowledge to identified environmental problems as they relate to landscaping and gardening. 

Focus Question: “How can I, as one person, become a steward of my environment and affect positive change?”
 

Throughout human history there have been social injustices and advocates who have spoken out against them. Learners will determine what constitutes a social problem and cite historical examples of injustice solved by willing participants.

The learners will define philanthropy and identify past and present individuals and/or small groups who have made a difference by volunteering in their communities and/or world. They will explore the risks (opportunity costs) as well as the merits of "joining hands" with those who have volunteered in the past in order to provide continuity and meaningful purpose in promoting the common good and a more civil society.

Using a cross-curricular approach, teachers from different disciplines engage the students creatively to investigate economic and environmental conditions that influence employment in their community. Students compare recent times to the Great Depression, analyze the availability of natural resources, explore current job statistics, and hold a job fair simulation. Although written as a whole unit, each lesson may be taught independently. The student learning in each lesson correlates to a service-learning project. The students work independently and cooperatively in both large and small groups to problem solve and propose change.

Focus question:  How do economic and environmental conditions affect job availability in a community and how do personal choices affect employment?

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce students to The Group of Seven, a group of artists whose intent was to establish a national identity, a sense of pride and original style for Canada, inspired by the environment. This was a philanthropic endeavor for the common good of all. Students will create similar landscapes of their local community to inspire environmental stewardship.

The learners will define and understand the meaning of the term “philanthropy” and describe the characteristics of a good citizen relative to democracy and to promoting the public/common good. The learners will review the Fundamental Democratic Principles and Beliefs of American Democracy that unite all Americans and promote the common good, and correlate character traits and philanthropic actions. The learners will discover and understand that they have roles to play as civic participants and that by doing so, they too can make a difference.

The learners will explore their strong interests/passions and determine the role that these play in helping motivate their participation in philanthropic activities to promote the common good.

The students will analyze their community through their own eyes and the “eyes” of the media. They will describe their community using the five themes of geography. They will note the environment of their community, listing those things that are good and those conditions in need of improvement. They will develop a personal plan to address an environmental issue.

Learners will use economic thinking to determine how to allocate their scarce resources for community service.

The learners will develop the skill of writing in several genres: persuasive essay, news story, reflective journaling, and personal narrative. They will recognize that reflecting and writing about civic engagement, service, and volunteerism enables them to clarify their own commitment and participation in contributing to the common good, and also gives them the power to inspire and persuade others to serve. Students are encouraged to publish their stories in writing, podcasts, weblogs, or other forms of media.

Scholarship Award: Through the generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The LEAGUE will be awarding three (3) scholarships of $5,000 each for student writings or reflections on civic experiences. See scholarship details here.

In this unit, the students examine closely what it means to spend, save, invest, and donate.  Students will gain an understanding of the importance of budgeting, create a personal spending plan, and investigate the uses and misuses of credit, including installment loans and credit cards.  Throughout the unit, students are reinforced in “the economic way of thinking” with emphasis on improving their understanding of scarcity, the role of opportunity costs in decision making and the responsible use of credit.  Students will use an economic decision making model to choose a service learning project to promote financial literacy and responsible use of credit amongst peers and/or in the community.  Students will be guided through proposing, planning, problem solving, implementing, and reflecting on service projects that meet a real community need.  Finally, students will create and present a demonstration of their service project.

The learners will identify motivations for giving and social action in the community. They will also explore their personal reasons for volunteer/giving and endeavor to promote giving and social action through persuasive writing.

The learners will analyze services that are provided in their community and note that the government is not always able to, or does not choose to, provide all goods and services needed. They will define and identify the work of charitable organizations doing philanthropic work in their community. They will investigate motivations for giving and assess their own motivations for participating in the Penny Drive.

Learners will understand the meaning of “philanthropy,” associated concepts, and the qualities that philanthropists share, especially those qualities of character and personal virtue. Learners will analyze the “new philanthropists,” who they are, what they give, to whom they give, their personal qualities, and how they hold people and organizations accountable for their philanthropic efforts. They will consider different causes and issues about which they care to decide which they might support.

The purpose of this unit is for students to understand how both small and large scale acts of philanthropy are necessary for urban renewal, especially in war-torn countries.  They will do this through history lessons, mathematical data analysis, and finally an opportunity to make their own contributions to urban renewal in their communities.

Focus Question: In order for a society to recover from war, must citizens, governments, and organizations perform actions or services devoted to the common good, and if so, how?

Learners will create a personal mission statement of responsible, engaged citizenship applicable to community service and philanthropy.

Learners will explore the essential question "What is a Philanthropist?" and use what they’ve learned to not only become philanthropists themselves, but to highlight philanthropists in their community by writing a newspaper article to be published in a local, school or class paper.

Learners will define philanthropy and describe the significant impact that philanthropists have made in American civil and political life, and how philanthropy reinforces American values and principles. Learners will identify qualities that exemplify philanthropists, and recognize those qualities in a local philanthropist.

• To teach students that giving and sharing time, talent or treasure for the common good of their community is philanthropy.
• To teach students that civic action within their community is philanthropy.

The purpose of the unit is to have students understand, through reading, research and discussion, the importance of the philanthropic tradition in the growth of democracy and civil society.

The purpose of this unit is to raise awareness about the impact of growth (commercial and residential) on the environment, specifically, how impervious surfaces impact the environment. The lessons evolve from engaging the learner’s interest, becoming aware of the issue in their community, and taking action in their community for the common good.

Population density and community development have political and environmental implications. The development of cities, towns, suburbs, and rural America share a common feature; buildings and a transportation system that relies on roadways, parking lots, and the use of concrete, brick and asphalt--all impervious surfaces. As towns and suburbs grow, the commercial and residential building “landscape footprint” can be harmful to the environment unless carefully planned. Learners become aware of the environmental impact of impervious surfaces and take action as environmental stewards.

The unit also illustrates how knowledge of science can inform our decisions and awareness as citizens.

While this unit is written specifically to address the "greening of New Jersey," it is adaptable to any community.  

Focus Questions:
What is the relationship between community development and the environment?
What is my personal responsibility to the use of land?

Learners read about and discuss individuals who have made a difference. They review the definition of philanthropy. The students analyze the characteristics, skills and sacrifices associated with philanthropic acts. They reflect on their own power and potential to make a difference.

Using two works of art, students will make comparisons between historic and present-day philanthropic endeavors. They will analyze the contributions of Robert W. Scrivner to modern philanthropy through his work on the Rockefeller Family Fund and recognize how the work of each Robert W. Scrivner Award winner carries on his legacy. In Lesson Two Historic and contemporary Hispanic philanthropists are the focus.

This unit will help the learners more fully understand that every life has meaning and importance as well as explore the concept of there being far more good than evil in the world.  The learners will discover how individual acts have/can contribute to violence and intolerance, but that history shows society also has the capacity for respecting the beliefs, practices, and behaviors of others.  Finally, the learners will see that, as individuals, they too can contribute their aesthetic artistic talents to advocate for tolerance, non-violence, justice and beauty thus making our community and world a better place in which to live.

Focus Questions

• What values or beliefs can build a stronger community?
• What role does art play in a civil society?
• How can art contribute to promoting values and beliefs?
• How can art encourage philanthropic behavior?

Learners will envision an ideal world characterized by principles of justice, kindness, peace and tolerance. They will demonstrate understanding of these concepts by creating a fictitious newspaper called USA Tomorrow that reports on the ideal world. They will reflect in writing about one step they can take to make an ideal world a reality.

This lesson will enhance the learners knowledge and understanding of the political process as it relates to advocating for candidates and their political issues. The learners will articulate how this action is a demonstration of responsible citizenship and how advocating for one's beliefs is a demonstration of a citizen's rights. Voting is a method to have a voice in the common good of their community and Nation.

The purpose of this unit is to give the learners an historical perspective of social injustices (such as racial intolerance) and social needs.  The learners will use rhetoric to create an authentic argument for change, develop that rhetoric into an action plan and conduct a group service project.

FOCUS QUESTION: How have social injustices/social needs been addressed in the past, and how can learners address them today?

1) Although this lesson was designed for Muskegon, MI, it can be used in any community with a United Way connection

This lesson focuses on two young Jewish survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the Nazi death camp.  As they return to their home town and the concentration camp, they each tell their story and explain why they were willing to return to such an emotionally devastating place. Their story is replete with examples of heroism and concern for others in the face of unspeakable sorrow. 

The focus question for this lesson is:
In the face of tragic disregard for human life and dignity, how did/can individuals maintain their humanity and still sacrifice for the good of others?

Learners will think about ways to demonstrate civic virtues of justice, kindness, peace and tolerance in being good citizens. They will explore what it means to act out these virtues – what they could “do” to act just, kind, tolerant and peaceful. They will work cooperatively to clarify what these virtues might look, sound and feel like when practiced. The students will write a goal for themselves in developing/practicing at least one of the virtues and a plan to achieve the goal.

The purpose of this unit is to provide practical insight into the dilemmas of creation, an examination of theoretical social areas needing improvement and presenting solutions in those areas utilizing tikkun olam. How can small acts of kindness help “fix” big social problems in my home, school, and/or community?

This unit allows students to study and create oral histories of people who have experienced previous events in history and to share this knowledge with others.

Focus questions include:

• What can we learn about history by listening to the stories of others?
• How have others demonstrated service for the common good?
• How can the experiences of others be used to teach younger citizens about service for the common good?

Learners will explore the concept of environmental stewardship and the role they can play ‘even as just one individual’ in helping to make their home, school, community, and world a better place in which to live, work and play by recycling.The purpose of this unit is to assist the learner in developing a deeper understanding of what it means to be an environmental steward and to apply this knowledge to identified environmental problems as they relate to the use of the Earth’s natural resources and recycling efforts. 
Focus Question: “How can I effect positive change in the environment?”
 

The unit focuses on the ethical and social underpinnings of tolerance. What is it? How do we attain it? And what are the parameters? Can a person be tolerance without accepting someone else’s view? How much opportunity is there to be tolerant in your life? Why is it absolutely necessary?

Essential questions for this unit include:

Learners will define community, identify how community is/has impacted their personal lives, and share ideas and develop a plan whereby they might also make an impact on their community.

Learners will examine the statistics of voter turnout in the 2006 Federal Election and from these statistics the learners will draw some comparative conclusions based on interpretations of the statistics found on the chart.

The learners will develop a greater understanding of hunger and malnutrition as it relates to their causes and consequences as well as explore ones responsibility to share this world's food resources with those who lack adequate access to these resources.

The learners will explore the four economic sectors and the responsibility to care for the environment. They will determine how they are responsible for environmental stewardship and create a plan for what they can do to help.

In this unit students will learn about the power of writing for creating positive social change by studying writers who use their writing as a means of activism and by using those same tools to become activist writers themselves. Students will see how writing is a means of social activism for the common good, and hence philanthropy. They will study how people, through their writing, have changed the world and how writing can empower even the most disenfranchised.

Discover through introspection, discussion, reflection and research, the learner’s own personal values/beliefs, the values/beliefs of their peers and how they compare. Using the conclusions drawn from the comparisons of the two survey’s results, determine the rationale/motivation for working together to accomplish the common good.