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: People send cards to others for many reasons. Sometimes it’s for happy reasons like a congratulations or a birthday wish. Sometimes cards are sent for sad reasons like saying “I’m sorry”. Sometimes cards are sent to tell people to “get well soon”. Some are sent to thank someone for something they did. Sometimes cards are sent to say I love you, I miss you, or I’m glad you’re my friend. Cards can be sent for all kinds of reason. One thing that always happens when cards are sent and received. There is a connection. Information, thoughts, and/or feelings are shared with one another.
   
   Discuss: Why is it important that we share ourselves with others? What are some of the ways we can share ourselves besides sending a card? As we approach our Art from the Heart event, how will what we do communicate with and connect us to others?
   
   
2. Read: A very wise person once said, “We are all something, but none of us is everything.” I think this person was trying to tell us that while we may not be good at everything, we are all good at something. That something is what we call our talent. Some people use their talents to become even more talented. Others use their talents, but never share them with anyone. Still others never use their talents, because they are sure that they are not talented.
   
   Discuss: Why do you think someone who is talented would say they don’t have talent? Why do think someone who is talented won’t share their talents with others? As we plan our Art from the Heart event how do we talk to those who don’t think that they have a talent? How do we talk to those who have talent but choose not to share it? How can we use our talent to help make our Art from the Heart event a success?
   
   
3. Read: Mr. Kirk, the bus driver, greeted Andrew with a smile and friendly “Hello” as Andrew boarded the bus to go to school. When Stacy climbed on the bus at the next stop, she dropped her books. Andrew rushed to help her pick them up. When Tara stepped on the bus a few stops later, Stacy offered her a seat next to her. As Armando boarded the bus and walked down the aisle looking for a seat, he tripped over Tara’s backpack that had fallen onto the floor. Tara quickly apologized for having the backpack in the aisle.
   
   When the bus finally arrived at school, all the students got off. They played on the playground until they heard the bell. Then they quickly lined up at the school entrance door. As they entered, Armando held the door for everyone. As the students entered Mrs. Gomez’s classroom, she greeted them. She gave a friendly wave to Mr. Kirk, the bus driver, as he walked down the hallway to the school kitchen.
   
   There are two big words that are used to describe this chain of events. The words are serial reciprocity. It means when someone does something nice for someone, that person in turn does something nice for someone else and they do something else for someone else , etc. the nice just keeps going…and going…and going.
   
   Discuss: What started this chain of events? It is said that whether someone is an artist or not, the one thing everyone can paint is a smile on their face. Do you agree that we all have that ability? How could what we are doing for our Art from the Heart event be the “smile” that is the start of nice events?
   
   
4. Read:  In New York City a special day is held each year called Art for Life. On this day artists from all over the world come to display and sell their art. The money raised on this day helps give young people a chance to enjoy the artistic talent of others. They also get a chance to explore their own artistic talents. Many of these young people are, or have been, in jail. Some are living in poor areas in the city. Without Art for Life, many of these young people would probably not have an opportunity to learn about art. They would not have an opportunity to discover their own artistic talent. One person who helped raise money for this project said, “You see the lives of young people change for the better as they learn that they too can become involved in art.”
   
   Discuss: How might our Art from the Heart event give others an opportunity to  enjoy the arts? Why might it be important to share our talent with others? Do you  think it’s possible that our planned event will change lives for the better? Why, or  why not?
   
   
5. Read: Bill Anderson used his bicycle to become the oldest and only person to ride a bicycle across the United States from the north to the south. After that, he rode his bike across the United States from the east to the west. He was 78 years old when he made his first trip from Mexico to Canada and back again. Two years later, at the age of 80 he made one trip from Mexico to Canada and another trip from California to Florida. In June, 2007, at the age of 81, he rode around the border of the entire state of Arizona. When he was asked why he does this, Mr. Anderson replied, “I raise money for the homeless people served by the Crossroads Mission. People and businesses sponsor me. They give me some money for every mile I ride. I give the money to help the mission who cares for people in need. Growing up as a child, I knew what being hungry was. I don’t want anyone not to have enough food to eat.”
   
   Discuss: What other talents are there besides coloring, painting and drawing? How might bicycle riding be considered a talent? How did Mr. Anderson use his talent to make the world a better place? How might we convince someone who thinks that they are too young, or too old, or have no talent to be involved in our Art from the Heart event?
   
   
6. Read: April really wanted to do something for the Art from the Heart event. She felt that she wasn’t good at drawing. She knew that her friend Yolanda was a good artist and Shandra had excellent handwriting skills. April asked her teacher if she could work with Yolanda and Shandra on their assigned project.
   
   “What will you be doing?” her teacher asked.
   
   “I have some ideas for cards to write and I can place the cards in envelopes and seal them for mailing,” April replied. “I know it’s not much, but…”
   
   Her teacher interrupted “… but, remember what we talked about yesterday? Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.”
   
   Discuss: Why do you think April felt that her contribution to the class’ Art from the Heart event wasn’t “much”? Which of these three girls in this story do you think had the most talent? Why? Why might the teacher use Henry Ford’s quote “Coming together is a beginning.  Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” to remind April of what would make for a successful Art from the Heart event?
   
   
7. Read: One day, Alicia and her mother were talking about their neighbor, Mrs. Foster. Mrs. Foster was having some problems with her eyes. Alicia had noticed that Mrs. Foster needed a magnifying glass to read. Alicia’s mother told her that many people have problems seeing well. Some are not able to drive cars, read a book, or move about safely in their own homes. When Alicia heard about this, she called her friend Aaron. Their class had recently talked about talents and the importance of using them. Their teacher had asked each of the students in the class to think of ways they could use their talents to help cheer someone up. Most of the students decided to make cards or posters to send to people. Both Alicia and Aaron didn’t feel that they were good artists so they wondered if they could read a story to Mrs. Foster instead. The teacher told Alicia and Aaron that reading a story to Mrs. Foster would be an excellent use of their talents. “It’s a talking card!” she said with a smile.
   
   Discuss: What are other talents students might have that could be used to cheer people up? As we prepare for our Art from the Heart event, how are we planning to use our talents? In what ways might our Art from the Heart event be more fun if everyone was involved?
   
   
8. Read:  Everyone seems to enjoy a rainbow. Multi-colored stripes hanging in the sky in the shape of an arc. A rainbow does not actually exist at a particular location in the sky. Its location depends on where the person is standing and where the sun is. The color pattern is always the same, however. The color red forms the top stripe. The color orange fills in beneath it. Yellow, green, blue, and indigo are next. Finally violet forms the bottom stripe.  Rainbows are often seen right after the sun reappears following a rainstorm. Sometimes they can be seen around waterfalls.
   
   Because it is so beautiful and people didn’t always know what caused it, many religious beliefs and legends surround it. One legend is that leprechauns hide their pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. The place is impossible to reach, however, because the rainbow is an optical illusion or a trick of our eyes. When you move towards it will move farther away. While the treasure might be at the end of the rainbow,  no one can ever get there. One religious belief is that the rainbow represents a promise made by the creator of the earth to always watch over and protect the people of the land.
   
   Discuss: People love a rainbow because it is beautiful. Anything that adds color to life gets everyone excited. How might our Art from the Heart event “add color” to people’s lives? In what ways might it be like a real “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow? What about a “promise”? Unlike a rainbow that moves away as we move toward it, how might our event help us move closer to those who receive our cards, letter, notes, etc.?
   
   
9. Read: Have you ever played the “telephone” game? It’s a game where one person whispers a message to another person. He or she then passes that message on by whispering what he or she heard to the next person. That person then passes it on to the next until everyone has received the whispered message. The last person to receive the whispered message tells aloud what the message was that they heard. Usually what the last person says they heard is very different from what the message was at the beginning. It’s a game that is lots of fun. In the end everybody usually enjoys a good laugh.
   
   Discuss: In what ways is our Art from the Heart event a way of “passing on” a message? What message are we hoping that everyone will hear? Is it okay to have fun and enjoy ourselves as we participate in our Art from the Heart event? Why or why not?
   
   
10. Read:  If I were to give you a regular sized candle, how many candles do you think you would be able to light from that one candle before it burned itself out? If I were to give you one seed from an apple, how many apples do you think might grow from that one seed if you were to plant it? One candle isn’t much or one apple seed isn’t very big, but we can never know for sure what difference small things can make in the world.
    
    Discuss: How might what we do for our Art from the Heart event seem like a single candle or one small apple seed?  Is it important that someone light candles and plant apple seeds? Why or why not? Is it important that we involve ourselves in our Art from the Heart activity? Why or why not? What difference do you think we can make?

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 write a paragraph about their personal Event experience using this prompt, or something similar:  “This Event was like a chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk because…”

ACTIVITY TWO: Toss a tennis ball to a student and have that student use one word or phrase to describe or summarize how they felt about their LEAGUE Event experience.  After a student has had an opportunity to respond, have him or her toss the ball back to you.  Continue the process until everyone has had an opportunity to respond.  As always, allowing a student to pass (not respond) is permissible.

ACTIVITY THREE: Give each student an 8 ½” x 11”-sheet of multi-colored construction paper, a pair of scissors, a glue stick/paste and a variety of old magazines and newspapers.  Instruct them that they will have a certain 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, instruct 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. If time allows, have each student share the contents of his or her collage with the rest of the class.

ACTIVITY FOUR: Provide each student with a sheet of construction paper, preferably of five different colors.  Have the students cut from their sheet of construction paper, five different geometric shapes; namely, a square, a circle, a triangle, a cone, and a rectangle.  Provide each student with a wire coat hanger and pieces of string.  Collect all the squares in one pile; all the triangles in another, and so forth.  Invite the students to select one of each shape from the piles.  On the circle have them draw a face showing how they felt doing the service project on the reverse side have them write a word or two describing how they felt during the Event activity.  On one side of a triangle have them draw a picture of what they did during the Event and on the reverse side write a brief description.  On the square, have them list what they think were the affects/effects of the Event project. On the rectangle have them draw another act of giving or caring they would like to do and on the reverse side ask them to describe what they drew. On the cone have them place their name. Then demonstrate how the students are to attach the strings to each shape and tie the shapes onto the coat hanger to make a mobile.  Display the mobiles in the room. If time permits, ask for student volunteers to explain their mobile.