These Learning Links provide ten quick-and-easy, five-minute mini-lessons to promote student thought and dialogue about service and civic engagement. You may use as many of them as you wish, 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 time, talent, and treasure for the common good) and to reinforce the lesson focus. These Learning Links also promote the development of character traits, civic engagement, and student leadership. As appropriate to your grade level, it is recommended that students play an active leadership role in presenting these mini-lessons to their classmates.

1. Read: “Bundle up, It’s cold outside.” mother called after Jared and Jossie the twins.
   
   “Aw mom, it’s not that cold,” came their response. The twins knew that their mother was always concerned that they be safe and warm. It was not unusual that she would remind them to dress warmly. The twins trudged through the snow to their cousin’s house. They lived only two blocks away.
   
   To their surprise, their favorite Aunt Millie was also visiting the cousins. She was reading something in the kitchen and talking to their cousin’s mother when the twins came into the house.
   
   “What are you reading?” asked Jared taking off his jacket and mittens.
   
   “Oh these are old letters that our mother got from her mother long ago.” Aunt Millie replied.
   
   “Why are you reading them now?” asked Jossie.
   
   Aunt Millie smiled, “Because they keep me warm in the winter”,” she said. “They are like a big blanket and I like to snuggle up in them and keep warm.”
   
   While their cousin’s mother seemed to understand, the twins looked confused.
   
   Discuss: What do you think Aunt Millie was trying to say about the cards she was reading? Why do you think Aunt Millie would wait to reread these cards in the winter time? For our service project we are sending cards and letters. In what way can we make them warm?
   
    
2. Read: My friend’s parents would take turns writing and leaving little notes in her lunch box. My friend would read them at lunch time. They would be notes that said, “We love you”. “We’re really proud of you”. ‘”We hope you’re feeling better”. “Tell your friends we said ‘Hi’”. “We hope you’ll have a wonderful day”.
   
   I could see that my friend really like these little notes. She would often share them with me. Even I enjoyed them. One day, I told my mother about my friend’s notes in the lunch box. The very next day there was a note in my lunch bag from my mom. It said, “I love you. Tell your friend I love her too!” It was signed “mom”.
   
   Discuss: It’s always nice to be told that you are loved. Sometimes it’s important to tell others how much they mean to you as well. Our project gives us an opportunity to tell others how important they are to us. Who do we need to thank? To encourage?  To tell them that we love them? To wish them well? To just say “Hi”?
   
    
3. Read:  Do you know what a shower is? It can be a lot of things. It can be something we take when we want to get clean. It can be a steady rain beating on our roof-tops. It can be a gift-giving party for a bride-to-be or a mother-to-be. However, there is something in each of these showers that is the same. Do you know what it is? I’ll give you some clues. When you shower does the water fall all around you or in just that one spot which needs to be cleaned? When it rains does the rain fall all around you or just on your flowers or yard? When gifts are given to brides-to-be or mothers-to-be do the gifts bring happiness to just one person or to everyone there?
   
   Discuss: When we think about who will receive our cards and letters who do we think of? Does it make a difference who we “shower” with our cards and letters? Why or why not? In what ways will participating in this event bring happiness to those who receive our cards and letters as well as to us?
   
    
4. Read: Valentine’s Day is a special day to give card and letters to our friends.  We want to let them know that we care about them and that we enjoy their friendship. Sometimes people wait until this day to send a card or letter expressing how they feel.  Having a special day helps remind us of what we could be doing all year long. That’s why we have special days. Because we get so busy we forget to do a lot of nice things. Special days remind us to do these things.
   
   Discuss: What other special days can you think of that help remind us to do nice things? What would happen if we did these nice things all year long and not just on this special day? How is our event like a reminder to do nice things? What nice things are we planning to do?
   
    
5. Read: Not too many of us like a rainy day. It usually means we have to stay in at recess time. We can’t go out and play in the rain. While it is a happy time for the flowers, trees, plants, and grass, it is sort of a sad time for us. Even adults use the term “rainy day” to mean a time when one can’t make much progress. They use the term “rain on my parade” to mean a time when something nice is ruined by something not so nice. Seven year old Anthony loves a rainy day. “I get a chance to stay inside and read and color and play in my room.” He says. “Mom says it gives her a chance to get caught up on her letter writing. I’m not exactly sure what that means but I know that it makes her happy.”
   
   Discuss: Do you feel sad when it’s raining and you can’t go out-of-doors, or do you feel like Antony? If staying inside, reading, coloring, and playing in his room is something Anthony enjoys, does he always have to wait for a rainy day to do it?  If letter writing makes Anthony’s mother so happy, why do you think she has to wait until a rainy day to write letters?
   
   Our service event gives us an opportunity to “stay inside” and “get caught up on our letter writing”. Do we always have to wait for a special event like this to let people know how much they are thought of and appreciated?
   
    
6. Read: Lester was a bushy-tailed, cuddly looking, brown squirrel. Winter was coming and he was out gathering as many acorns as he could find. He was putting them away for winter when Snead the snake slithered up to his tree. “What ya doin’?’” he called up to Lester who was busily stuffing his winter home with the acorns he’d just collected.
   
   “What does it look like I’m doing?” he asked and then he answered his own question, “I’m getting ready for winter.”
   
   “Oh,” said Snead. “Do you want to play?”
   
   “I’m too busy, can’t you see?" Lester replied, “Go away and come back another day when I can play.”
   
   “How will I know when that day is?” asked Snead looking puzzled.
   
   Lester stopped what he was doing, grabbed his calendar and looked at it. He then yelled down to Snead, “Next week, Monday at 9 a.m., be here and ready to play!”
   
   “Great! See ya then!" Snead excitedly called back. He slithered away with a smile on his face already looking forward to Monday!
   
   Discuss: Lester was a busy squirrel. Do you see why Snead was confused by Lester’s first response when he told him to come back on another day? Why do you think Snead wanted Lester to commit to a time when they could play together? Our service project includes a set time for us to write cards and letters. Why might having a set time be important?
   
    
7. Read: In the dictionary, the word cheer means to be joyful, happy, and glad. To be of good cheerful means to be joyful, happy, and glad. To bring good cheer means to be joyful, happy, and glad around others so as to help them be joyful, happy, and glad as well. To cheer on, as a fan, means to be joyful, happy, and glad around others as a way to encourage them to perform at their best.
   
   Discuss: What do you think helps people be cheerful? If people are not cheerful what are some ways you could suggest to help them  be more cheerful? In what ways are we trying to be of good cheer, to bring good cheer so we can cheer on those who would receive our cards and letters?
   
    
8. Read: Justin walked into the family room where his father was busy working at the desk. He wanted to play catch with his dad, but he knew that his dad looked really busy. “What are doing?”  he asked his dad.
   
   “I’ve been asked to give the toast at Mr. Moreman’s retirement party tomorrow,” his father replied looking up only briefly from his papers.
   
   “Why would he want some toast for his party?” Justin asked looking a bit confused.
   
   Father sensed Justin’s confusion. He put down his pen and turned to Justin. “This toast is not like the toast we had for breakfast this morning.” He explained. “It’s more like a ‘thank you for all you’ve done’ and a ‘we wish you well’ speech.”
   
   Justin nodded his understanding. The very next day in class his teacher announced that for their service project this year they would be writing cards and letters to thank people of all they’ve done and to wish them well in their future. When she asked the class if they understood, Justin raised his hand and said, “Yes it’s like giving a toast!” Everyone looked confused except the teacher. She encouraged Justin to tell the class what he meant by a toast. Smiling Justin continued.
   
   Discuss:  In what ways is our service event like giving a toast? Who are the people that we want to “thank for all they’ve done” and “wish them well”?
   
    
9. Read: Some people write cards to thank people. Some people write cards to encourage people who are sad or lonely. Some people write cards to wish people to get better after an illness or being in the hospital. Some people write cards to invite people to a party or event. Some people write cards to ask people to donate time or money to a worthy cause. Some people write cards to remind people of upcoming important events. Some people write cards to recognize a special holiday, a birthday, a graduation, a wedding. etc. There are many reasons for writing a card, but do you know the number one card that people send that is the most enjoyed card of all by those who receive it? It is the “Just because” card. It’s the unexpected card that “comes for no particular reason” other than to say “Hi” and “I’m thinking of you”.
   
   Discuss: Why do you think an unexpected card sent for no particular  reason other than to say “Hi” and “I’m thinking of you” is so much more appreciated than all the other cards? In what way might our cards and letters come to someone unexpectedly? How do you think the recipients of our cards will feel knowing that a card was sent to them “just because”?
   
    
10. Read: We all like surprises. If you’ve ever seen or played with a Jack-in-the Box you know what a surprise that can be. You turn a crank on the side to of a box and it plays the tune “Pop Goes the Weasel”  There are many versions of this tune, the more popular being 
    All around the Mulberry Bush,
    The monkey chased the weasel.
    The monkey stopped to pull up his sock,
    Pop! Goes the weasel.
    When the tune gets to the part of Pop! Goes the weasel, the lid on the box suddenly opens and out pops the Jack-in-the-Box. It’s great fun even though everyone soon realizes that when the tune comes to that particular spot that the lid will open and the out will pop the Jack-in-the-Box.
    
    Discuss: In what way might our cards and letter writing be a surprise to those who receive them? Do you think people who receive our cards and letters will ever grow tired of reading them even though they might have read them ma
    
     

Reflection plays a very important role in promoting student learning. The following suggested activities are ways to help students reflect on their learning after they have participated in a service event.  Choose one or more of the activities most appropriate to the service event and your students.

ACTIVITY ONE:
Have the students cut out a snowflake. Remind students that no two snowflakes are alike, so all snowflake designs will be acceptable. Have the students, using a crayon or marker; write a word on their snowflake that represents how they felt while participating in the service-learning activity.  When each student has completed placing their “feeling” word on their snowflake, have them each share their word with the class. After everyone has had an opportunity to share, place all the snowflakes on display to simulate a snowman and titled the display e.g. “Building Together”, “A Magical Snowman”, etc. Share that just as it takes lots of snow flakes to build a snowman it takes a lot of helping hands to make a service project a success.

ACTIVITY TWO:
Give the students an 8 ½” x 11”-sheet of multi-colored construction paper, a pair scissors, a glue stick/paste and a variety of old magazines and newspapers.  Tell them that they will have a designated amount of time to go through these magazines and newspapers to cut out pictures and /or words that could be used to describe their involvement in the recent event.  Once they have cut out pictures or words, tell them to place their name somewhere on the construction paper and then glue the pictures and/or words they cut out to the construction paper being careful not to cover up their name.  Display these in the classroom and if time allows have each student share the contents of his or her collage with the rest of the class.

ACTIVITY THREE:
Give each student two pop sickle sticks and a cut out of a happy face and a sad face. Have them attach/glue each face to one end of each of the pop sickle sticks.  Tell the students that they are going to be asked to “vote” on a series of questions and they can register their “vote” by holding up one of their two faces.  (NOTE: You may choose to add that the students can hold up both faces, if they are unsure of their answer/or if they feel that their answer could be both a happy face and a sad face.)

Questions:

1. How did you first feel about doing this service project?
2. How did you feel while you were doing this project?
3. How did you feel after the event was over?
4. How do you think what you did made other people feel? 
5. How do you think the ‘face of our world’ would look if no one did these things?
6. How do you think the ‘face of our world’ would look if everyone was giving and sharing?

From the student’s votes create a one-dimensional block graph on a display board or use actual building blocks to show how students responded to each of the questions.  Discuss what the graph would tell someone who might be looking at it for information about the service project.

ACTIVITY FOUR:
Arrange the class into four groups. Have one group mime some of the activities they actually did during the event, while the rest of the class tries to guess the activities.  Have the second group mime how they felt while being involved/working in the event, while the rest of the class tries to guess their feelings.  Have the third group mime how they would feel if they were the ones being helped/received the cards, etc., while the rest of the class tries to guess their feelings.  And finally, have the fourth group mime different activities they might be able to do the next time that would also be helpful, while the rest of the class tries to guess the activities.  Discuss with the class how well they thought they did in identifying the various mimes and what they learned from doing this activity.