The lesson is 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.

The learner will:

• write his/her own definition of the term philanthropy.
• compile and graph the results of the various student definitions of the term philanthropy.
• read and evaluate several notable literary people's quotations about the term philanthropy.

Anticipatory Set:


Randomly pass out five copies of the stenciled letter "W." Ask the students to figure out what this means. The correct response is "the five Ws." Now ask what do these "Ws" represent? (Who, What, When, Where and Why) Use a teacher-made poster board to explain how philanthropy answers all five "Ws" (see Attachment One). Do not explain what on the poster.

• Announce to the class that their task is to find the answer for what on the philanthropy poster. Either distribute a handout with the pre-test question "What does the term philanthropy mean?" or write this question on the chalkboard. Allow 10 minutes for response.
• Have students read their responses aloud and record them on the board. Ask students to make inferences about the quantity of differing responses. For example, the students might respond by saying that everyone has a different definition for philanthropy.
• Using a graphing diagram, explain to the class how to record data on a graph. Monitor the students as they graph their responses. After the students have finished graphing their responses, use the philanthropy board to inform them that the official class definition of philanthropy is private action for public good. Tell the students that the remaining time will be spent finding out what some famous literary figures felt that philanthropy meant.
• Selected students should read the quotations. Ask all of the students to select one of the quotations read to discuss how well it matches the official class definition of philanthropy. They should record their personal responses in student journals.

Ask students to write a sketch (short narrative) based on the question "What is philanthropy?"