Students make a classroom goal in which they commit to “passing on” acts of kindness in the classroom, school and at home.

Anticipatory Set:
Show the students some examples of paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. Talk a little about the colors, style and feelings generated from the paintings. If the information is available, talk about where the paintings hang and how much they sell for today. Tell the students that this very famous artist didn’t sell very many of his paintings when he was alive. He didn’t make enough money from his art to feed himself. His brother helped him buy materials for painting and helped support him. Ask the students if it seems fair that he was so poor and now his paintings sell for millions of dollars. Talk about whether this art is important to us? If Van Gogh were alive today, what would people be willing to do for him to make sure he had money for food, paints and canvasses?

• Read aloud the book Camille and the Sunflowers by Laurence Anholt (see Bibliographical References). Discuss the main idea of the book that the artist Van Gogh was a struggling and misunderstood artist. Talk about how and why the boy and his family helped Vincent. Talk about the contribution of this artist to the common good. How can an artist survive if he can’t make money on his art work? He needed someone who recognized his important work to support him.
  
  
• Arts programs are expensive and sometimes cannot support themselves through regular economic channels. Tell the students that some people choose to give time, talent or treasure to support artists and the arts. Creative arts in the community are often supported by philanthropy because it is important to the community.
  
  
• Help the students verbalize why the arts are important to the community (beauty, cultural diversity, leisure, etc.). Discuss and provide examples of arts by looking at books of art, watching videos of drama or dance and/or listening to music. Help the students recognize the value of these forms of art. Students may share stories of their own experiences with attending a show, performing in dance or music show, or visiting an art museum.
  
  
• Name some of the arts organizations and events in your community (ballet, symphony, drama, art museum, etc.). Assign an organization or event to each pair of students to find on the Internet and list the ways it is funded: grants, local philanthropists, fund-raising events, ticket sales, etc. (To locate the information, students may go to www.Google.com and type in the name of their local community plus the name of the event or organization.) After 15-20 minutes in the computer lab, bring the students together to compare their findings and see if there are some organizations that support several different local arts.

 

Day Two

• Introduce the concept of giving back. Since it is difficult to support oneself when getting started in the arts, many artists rely on philanthropy. Over time, many artists (painters, dancers, actors, singers, etc.) are successful enough to make a lot of money from their art work. Many of them feel the need to “give back” to say thanks for the opportunities they were given. This means that they donate their money or time or resources to help other artists. Discuss why artists may wish to “give back.” Ask the students whether it may be required to “give back” and why and by whom. (For example, is it part of our Core Democratic Values?)
  
  
• Ask students if they have ever felt the desire to “give back” in small ways. Discuss small ways they may “give back” for things they have received and will receive (bring an apple to the teacher, take care of parents when they grow up, teach younger students).
  
  
• Another form of giving back is called serial reciprocity. Tell the students about a time when someone did something unexpected and selfless for you—preferably a stranger. Talk about how it made you feel. Tell students that when someone does a selfless act, the recipient of the act often feels compelled to pass on the kind act. This passing on of kind acts is called serial reciprocity. For example, you may be walking down the hall with your arms full of books. The person in front of you opens a door for you and asks if you want help carrying something. You thank the person and appreciate the unexpected help. Next time you are in line at the drinking fountain, you remember the kindness and let the person behind you move ahead of you in line.
  
  
• Ask the class to imagine what the classroom would be like if students were passing around acts of kindness at unexpected times. What would be some of the effects of this behavior? If this sounds good to the class, make a group plan for how to get some serial reciprocity going in the classroom and ultimately in the school (brainstorm ideas, set goals, put benchmarks on a calendar, plan to follow up with an evaluation, etc.). Discuss how to keep it spontaneous and unexpected as well.
  
  
• Carry out the plan. After an agreed-upon amount of time, evaluate the resulting changes.

• Interactive Parent / Student Homework:
  None for this lesson. See Extension.

• Anholt, Laurence. Camille and the Sunflowers: A Story About Vincent Van Gogh. Barrons Juveniles, 1994. ISBN: 0812064097