These "LEAGUE Learning Links” provide ten quick and easy 5-minute mini-lessons to help promote The LEAGUE vision and scheduled events in your classroom. You can choose from among these mini-lessons and use as many of them as you would like and in whatever order best meets your needs and the interest of your students. The purpose of these mini-lessons is to provide a deeper understanding of philanthropy (the giving of ones, time, talents, and treasures for the common good) and to promote those philanthropic acts that have been identified as supporting The LEAGUE events. These mini-lessons will also help ensure a deeper understanding of character traits, civic engagement, and promote student leadership. It is recommended that students be encouraged to play as much of a role as is possible and appropriate in presenting these lessons to their classmates.

1. Read: Trees are very important. Their leaves clean our air. Their branches give birds a place to build their nests. They give us shade from the hot sun. Their trunks give builders wood to build houses. They are used to make the paper that we use when we color and write.  But what good are a tree’s roots? They don’t clean the air. Birds can’t build nests in them. They can’t give us any shade. We don’t use them to build our houses or make paper. I guess roots are not important. But wait a minute. Without its roots a tree would not be able to stand up. Without its roots the tree would not be able to drink water from the ground or get the food in the soil. Without its roots a tree would die. I guess tree roots really are important after all!
   
   Discuss: When we bring something to give to our Drive event how are we being like the roots of a tree? Who are we helping to be able to get food? Why is it important that everyone have enough food to eat and water to drink?
   
    
2. Read: Kindra got a kitty for her birthday. It was just the one she wanted. Her mother had sat down with her and told her about her responsibilities for feeding and taking care of her new kitty long before it arrived. Mother wanted to be sure that Kindra knew how important it is to take good care of her pet. Kindra agreed. A few weeks after the kitty arrived, mother asked Kendra how it was going.
   
   “It’s so much fun,” Kendra said. “This kitty is so polite!”
   
   Mother looked curious. “What do you mean, polite?” she asked.
   
   “Well when she’s hungry she says please and when she has eaten she says thank you.” Kendra relied proudly.
   
   “And how does she do that?” mother asked.
   
   “When she looks up at me and cocks her head, I know that she’s hungry. I think she’s asking me to please feed her. And when she’s finished eating she licks her lips and cleans her face. I think that’s her way of tell me thank you.”
   
   “I see what you mean,” said mother.
   
   Discuss: During our Drive event there are people who are in need of our help. They can’t always ask us to please help them and they can’t always thank us for helping them. Is that OK? How will we know that things are going all right during our Drive event? In what ways could it be fun?
   
    
3. Read:  Once there was a painter. He was asked to paint a very big and difficult picture. The painter knew that it would take him a long time to paint the picture. At first he was worried. How could he ever get it done? Then he got an idea. He decided that each day he would paint for one hour.  Day after day he would paint of one hour. Soon before he realized it, the painting was finished. “I only did a little bit each day,” he told the buyer of the painting.
   
   Discuss: Hunger is a very “big picture”! Will we ever be able to get food to all the people who don’t have any food? How is our Drive event doing a little bit each day to help people in need? Why is it important that we each do something to help people in need?
   
    
4. Read: Strange things have been going on in our school. Two days ago we saw some of the older students come into the building. They were bringing in cans and boxes of food. Yesterday a table appeared in the hallway. And today that table is beginning to be piled up with cans and boxes of food. It was a mystery. We told our teacher about the mystery we had discovered. She told us to sit down and she would try to solve the mystery with us. Ms. Justin told her class that during this time of year some people give or donate food to help other people that don’t have enough food.  She told them that the school is participating in a school-wide food collection drive.  Ms. Justin said that everyone, all students, teachers, helpers and anyone else that wants to, can bring in food items that will be given to a local organization. That organization will give it out to anyone that needs it.
   
   Discuss: Why was it important that this mystery be solved? Why is it important that everyone who wants to participate in our Drive event? How will our Drive be more successful if our class participates?
   
    
5. Read: “But dad, I really need a new backpack,” Brady begged. “All the other kids at school have new Spiderman backpacks except me.”
   
   “Didn’t we just get you a new backpack before school started this year?” dad asked.
   
   “Yeah, but I want one like the other kids have,” Brady whined.
   
   “So which is it Brady? Do you need one or do you just want one? Dad explained, “When you need something, it is important because without it you may not stay alive. When you want something you really don’t need it to stay alive.” Brady looked confused. Dad continued, “We just ate dinner didn’t we?“
   
   “Yes,” Brady agreed.
   
   “So you wouldn’t really need anything else to eat right now would you?” Dad asked.
   
   “No, I guess not.” Brady replied.
   
   “So if I offered you a peanut butter candy bar right now, would you take it because you needed or because you wanted it? Brady understood.
   
   Discuss: Did Brady need a new backpack or did he want a new backpack? Our Drive event wants to get the items we collect to the people who need them. Why is this important?
   
    
6. Read: This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine…. Do you know this song? It was written and sung long ago by slaves. Slaves were people who were forced to work with no pay. They sang this song because they were sad. They didn’t feel very important. Today this song is often sung by young children. Today it is sung as a much happier song. It has come to mean that no matter how small we are we can still do something. Even a very small candle in a dark room lights up the room.
   
   Discuss: During our Drive event we are asked to bring things to school to give to people in need. How can we let our light shine even though we may be small? Do you think what we give will make people happier? Why or why not?
   
    
7. Read: Many students have a favorite stuffed animal. Some carry their stuffed animal wherever they go. Some play with it during the day. Others like to take their stuffed animal to bed with them at night. They are called stuffed animals because they are usually filled with foam rubber, feathers, or other soft material. When we say we are stuffed, we usually mean that we are full. We’ve eaten too much.
   
   Discuss: We are collecting food during our Drive event to give to people who are not stuffed. In fact, many of them are very hungry. How will our food help to fill them up?
   
    
8. Read: Sometimes we forget to wear our jackets when it is cool outdoors. Sometimes we forget to wear our boots when it is raining or snowing outdoors. Sometimes we forget to wear our mittens or gloves when it’s really cold outdoors. Most parents and teachers remind us to wear our jackets, boots, mittens, or gloves when they think we should. They remind us because they want us to be warm and dry.
   
   Discuss: Sometimes we forget that not everyone is warm and dry. Sometimes we forget that not everyone has enough food or clothing to wear. How does our Drive event help remind us that there are people who are hungry and cold? What can we do to help these people?
   
    
9. Read:  Did you know that and adult anteater is just about our size? Did you know that an anteater gets its name because it eats ants and their cousins the termites? In fact, they eat 30,000 of them a day! So if you were bringing food to our Drive event for an anteater you’ve have to bring ants or termites. But our food drive is for people. People like to eat many different things. They certainly do not like to eat ants or termites!
   
   Discuss: What are some things people like to eat? Why is it important to bring food to our Drive event that people might like?
   
    
10. Read: “Smile…say cheese”. Most people don’t mind having their picture taken. Sometimes it’s the “Smile…say cheese part” that is hard. Maybe we just don’t feel like smiling or saying cheese. Maybe we are not happy about something. Maybe we didn’t get the gift we wanted. Maybe somebody else got the biggest piece of birthday cake. Maybe somebody else is playing the game we wanted to play. Maybe we were just told we couldn’t watch our favorite TV show because we didn’t do our chores. But some people don’t smile because they are hungry. Some don’t smile because they are cold. Some don’t smile because they have homes. When we help people in need their smile is almost automatic. That means it just happens! When we help people in need our smile is almost automatic. It’s almost impossible to help someone and not smile.
    
    Discuss: In what way does our helping others make a beautiful picture? Why do you think people who are helped smile? Why do you think people who help others can’t help but smile? How might our Drive event bring smiles to the faces of those we help?