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Following in Their Footsteps (Private-Religious)

Lesson 3:

From Unit Do Not Stand Idly By (Private-Religious)

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

3rd-5th Grade

Subjects:

Arts, Language Arts, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Brainstorming; Group Discussions; Research
PHIL:	Act of Kindness; Community; Judaism; Service Plan; Service Project; Volunteer
SOC:	Parochial

Purpose:

This lesson emphasizes that each individual must take action. After reflecting upon all that they learned earlier in the unit, students will have the opportunity to plan and execute a tikkun olam project of their choosing to help the local community.

Duration:

Two forty minute periods followed by one forty minute period each week for the ensuing six weeks.

Objectives:

The learner will:

reflect upon earlier lessons on tikkun olam.

inquire into possible tikkum olam projects.

plan a tikkun olam project by setting realistic goals to accomplish a specific outcome.

follow-through on plans.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

Students will plan and execute a service project to help the local community.

Materials:

Small pieces of paper
Text of "First They Came for the Jews" (See Attachment One)
Access to the online Yellow Pages
Access to e-mail
"Project Plan Worksheet" (See Attachment Two)

Handout 1: First They Came for the Jews
Handout 2: Project Plan Sheet

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:

Pass out small pieces of paper. Describe the following scenario to your students: Jonnie is a fourth grader. One day when Jonnie was on the way to the cafeteria for lunch, he saw his classmate Susie crying in the staircase. She had lost the new pearl earring that her mother had given her. She heard it fall, but could not find it anywhere. Jonnie knew that he was very good at finding lost objects, but he also knew that he did not have much longer to eat his lunch. If he did not eat, he would be hungry during the next period, and he would not be able to concentrate on the math test he had to take. Would it be tikkun olam if Jonnie helped Susie?

Tell students to put a check on the piece of paper if they think Jonnie should help Susie and an X on the paper if they think he should take time to eat lunch before his math test. Collect paper and tally the results. Ask a couple of volunteers to explain their answers. Guide students to realize that even a small act of kindness is helping to make the world a better place.

Ask students what would happen if people did not take action to help others. Take a few answers and tell the class that you are going to investigate this question further by reading a poem.

Pass out "First They Came for the Jews" and read as a class. Discuss what happened when the person in the passage didn’t take action. Compare it to what would have happened if Jonnie had not helped Susie. Explain that while one outcome would have been much less serious than the other, taking action would have made a difference in both situations.

Tell students that it is time for them to take action within their local community. Explain that their actions can be on a large scale, such as the passage, or a small scale, such as Jonnie, but that it must include a specific outcome and established goals.

Split students into groups of three to four and distribute one "Project Plan Worksheet" to each group (see Attachment Two). Instruct them to brainstorm categories of people in the community who could benefit from acts of kindness (such as elderly, sick, children, hungry people, homeless, etc.) and to write their ideas in Part I on their worksheet. After the groups complete their brainstorming, have each group choose one idea for their project and circle that choice on their worksheet.

Have a class discussion in which each group has the opportunity to share the category that they have chosen. As a class, brainstorm ideas of specific projects that could help the categories that were chosen. Deal with each group separately, guiding the class to come up with names of institutions and possible contacts within the institution. There is room for students to write the class’s suggestions in Part II of their worksheet.

Give the group members time to consult each other to choose an idea and plan how to find out more information. They should plan to call, e-mail, write, or visit a contact at the organization that they chose, and they should set a specific time when they will do this. They can write this in Part III of their worksheet.

Week Two: Once students have gathered information, have them plan their project and write it in Part IV of their worksheet. They should set specific weekly goals for the ensuing four weeks.

Weeks Three through Six: Allow students to evaluate their progress in Part V on their worksheets and update the class on their accomplishments.

Week Seven: Have students present their final accomplishments (Part VI on their worksheets).

Assessment:

Goals and progress as documented on the Project Plan Worksheets should be assessed throughout the project. At the end of the six weeks of planning, have each student tell the class how it felt to partake in their tikkun olam project. Ask them to describe the best part, the hardest part, and what future tikkun olam projects they would like to do.

School/Home Connection:

Extension:

Watch and discuss Pay It Forward, a movie about the effect that small acts of kindness can have on others.
Follow-up with additional tikkun olam projects throughout the year.

Bibliographical References:

First They Came for the Jews http://www.telisphere.com/~cearley/sean/
camps/first.html
Pay It Forward http://payitforward.warnerbros.com/Pay_It_Forward/
Amazon: ASIN: B00005BK5U

Kids Guide to Social Action, by Barbara A. Lewis, Free Spirit Publishing,
1998. ISBN: 1575420384
For Project Ideas: www.youthventure.org www.dosomething.org

Lesson Developed and Piloted by:

Shira Hammerman
Areyvut
http://www.areyvut.org
New York, NY 10018

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

First They Came for the Jews

Name: __________________ Date: _______________

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

Note: Pastor Martin Niemoller was a well-known Protestant leader in Nazi Germany. He spoke out very strongly against Hitler.

Handout 2Print Handout 2

Project Plan Sheet

Name: __________________ Date: _______________

Project Plan Sheet

Part I: Brainstorming

Think of categories of people in your community who would benefit from acts of kindness. (Such as elderly, sick, homeless, etc.) List as many as you can think of. When you have FINISHED your list, circle the one that you would like to help with your tikkun olam project:

Part II: Class Workshop

Your classmates will help you think of an organization or group in your community that helps the category that you have chosen (such as specific nursing homes, schools and hospitals that are nearby). They will also help you think of project ideas. Write their ideas here. After all groups have finished their workshops, circle the organization and project that your group chooses:

Organizations Project Ideas

Part III: Find Out More

1. Who can you contact to find out more about what you can do that is helpful? How will you contact him/her? When will you contact him/her? Which group member will do the contacting?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

2. We contacted _______________________ and this is what we learned:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Part IV: THE PLAN

For our tikkun olam project, we plan to:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

In ONE week we plan to: (Check here when complete: ___)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

In TWO weeks we plan to: (Check here when complete: ___)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

In THREE weeks we plan to: (Check here when complete: ___)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

In FOUR weeks we plan to: (Check here when complete: ___)

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Part V: How’d We Do?

After ONE week we have accomplished:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After TWO weeks we have accomplished:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After THREE weeks we have accomplished:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

After FOUR weeks we have accomplished:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

PART VI: Presentations

This is what we plan to tell the class about our project. We are going to include: What was our goal? How did we plan to accomplish our goal? How do we know if we succeeded? What could we do better next time?

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Academic Standards:

State:

Philanthropy Framework:

Unit Contents:

Overview:Do Not Stand Idly By (Private-Religious) Summary

Lessons:

1.: Piecing Together the Puzzle (Private-Religious)
2.: Jewish Heroes Congress (Private-Religious)
3.: Following in Their Footsteps (Private-Religious)