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: This story is about Kirkland. “Kirk”, as his friends called him. Kirk had just been given a three day assignment in his seventh grade English Class. It was all about doing something nice for someone and then writing about it. Later that evening, he shared his assignment with his mother. He asked her what she thought he could do. His mother suggested that he take a cake that she had baked to Mrs. Albright.  Mrs. Albright was known in the neighborhood as someone who was not very friendly. Since he couldn’t think of anything else to do, he agreed to take the cake to Mrs. Albright. When he rang the door bell Mrs. Albright came to the door. But before he could explain that his mother had asked him to bring this cake to her, she took it from him, mumbled something he could not hear and closed the door. Walking home Kirk began to wonder how he would ever begin to write up what just happened. He had expected Mrs. Albright to express some kind of appreciation. Thinking that all of the other students would be sharing how their deed made someone else feel good, he decided that he would try again. The very next day after-school he went to Mrs. Albright’s house and began to rake the leaves in her yard. He noticed her peering out from behind the curtains, but when the job was completed, Mrs. Albright once again said nothing about his efforts. Not to be defeated, the very next day Kirk made his way to Mrs. Albright’s home again. This time he carried a broom to sweep her porch and the walkway in front of her home. But still no response.
   
   When the writing assignments were read the following day in school, it was as he thought it would be. Everyone told how their deed made the other person feel so happy, pleased, and appreciative. When it was his turn to read his writing, Kirk ended his assignment with these words. “While I’m not sure how the person felt about the things I did for her, I do know that I feel a lot better about myself.”
   
   Discuss: Have you ever done something nice for someone and they were either unaware of what you did or they didn’t even say “thank you”? Some would say that Kirk ‘persevered’ or stuck with it for no reason. Would you agree? Is it OK to feel good about doing something nice for someone, like donating nonperishable items to our service event, even though we may never hear a word of gratitude from those who receive these items?
   
    
2. Read: A Soup Kitchen is a place that serves food to homeless people and to those who have very little or no money. These people can go to a Soup Kitchen to eat a free hot meal. Especially during the fall season, things really get busy in these kitchens. So busy that those who work there have to ask for extra food to serve and more volunteers. They need help collecting and sorting the food as well as serving the people who come there. Each year, professional football teams, like the Detroit Lions of the NFL, help their local soup kitchens during the Thanksgiving holiday season. Last year members of the Lions team made a visit to a Soup Kitchen located in their hometown. They collected and helped unload a truck full of turkeys that were included in the Soup Kitchen’s Thanksgiving meal. Some of these turkeys were placed in food baskets that were given to needy families in the area.
   
   Discuss: Why might a professional sports team, like the Detroit Lions, decide to collect and distribute food to a soup kitchen? One of the ways that we can make a difference in our world is by sharing our resources. What resources are we sharing during our service event? How might sharing our resources, help make a difference in our world?
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3. Read: When you see the sun during the day and the moon at night, they look to be about the same size. Actually if the sun were the size of a basketball, the earth would then be about the size of golf ball and the moon, about the size of one small garden pea.  So the sun and the moon, though they may appear to be similar in size from the perspective of the golf ball (the Earth), they certainly are not! So what makes them look similar in size? If you guessed, “the distance they are away from the earth” you are correct. In the scientific world, this is known as “perspective”. It is the way in which objects appear to the eye. Humankind also encounters another type of “perspective”. This “perspective” is how one looks at things based on his /her prior experiences, thoughts, feelings and beliefs. What may appear to be an insignificant situation for one person may be a “big thing” for someone else. Take hunger for instance, it certainly isn’t going to be too big of a concern for someone who has never experienced it. But for someone who is close to it, it takes on a whole new “perspective”.
   
   Discuss: Why is it important to understand the “perspective” of distance and the role it plays in whether or not people choose to get involved in drive-like events? During our service event what are some ways we could use at school to help someone see that even though the issue of hunger may appear to be “way out there” it may, in fact, be closer than we think?
   
    
4. Read: For someone in the “eye” of a hurricane, life can look pretty pleasant. The sun can be shining, the leaves in the trees fluttering, and the birds singing. But only miles away surrounded on all sides, 150 mile-an-hour winds can be blowing and strong thunderstorms can be causing havoc. Destruction of homes and property and the loss of life top the list of these storms. Because there are so many and there can be more than one active at one time, hurricanes are given names. Why is that? To help identify storms and track them as they move across the ocean. Without naming them, it could get very confusing as to which storm is being talked about. Both women and men's names are used and one name for each letter of the alphabet except for Q, U and Z is selected.
   
   Discuss: If we have plenty to eat, why might it be difficult to realize that others around us may not have enough to eat? How might having plenty to eat be like living in the “eye” of a hurricane? Because we don’t always know the names of those who are in need of food, why is it important to have an organization receive the items we collect during our service event? What can such an organization do that we might not be able to do?
   
    
5. Read: Is breakfast really the most important meal of the day? While it may sound more like a marketing gimmick than a scientific fact, it turns out that this is true. Experts agree that people who eat a normal breakfast each morning consisting of fiber and a protein, like eggs, meat or soy, are healthier than those who do not. Not only does eating breakfast help ward off diseases in the long run, more immediately the benefits include increased energy levels, better ability to stay focused, alert , and able to concentrate. This is especially true and useful information for students in school. Experts further agree that not eating breakfast tends to cause one to binge on snack food and other less nutritional foods bringing up the whole issue of obesity and wellness. Such diets, we have long known, can cause all types of illnesses.
   
   Discuss: Most of us have a choice of eating breakfast or not. Many others do not have this choice. Given what we have just heard from the experts how might our drive help promote better health? When is food not food?  How can we encourage donating of nutritional food for our service event?
   
    
6. Read: What comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas? Bright lights, casinos, shows, glamour and glitz? If this is what you think of when you think about Las Vegas, it’s pretty typical of what others think as well. And yet there is another side to Las Vegas lost in its bright lights. Even in this sunny, high-rolling city, one of eight residents lives in poverty. And when desert temperatures drop into the low to mid 40s many kids still only have flip flops to wear because they are unable to afford better shoes. Thanks to a volunteer program known as the Las Vegas Goodie Two Shoes Giveaway many kids have warm feet in Las Vegas. Each year sponsors and volunteers make it possible for many of Las Vegas’ youngsters to select shoes, as well as school supplies and backpacks.
   
   “Yes, our city is known for its wealth. It’s also known as a city where temperatures often reach over 100 degrees, so poverty and cold feet don’t seem to fit here,” admitted one volunteer residence. “But needs can often be overlooked or ignored because everything else looks so good. It’s especially hard to see needs right where you live. It’s so much easier to see needs in Third world countries than right under our noses.”
   Said another volunteer in reference to the Giveaway, “More than feet were warmed here today.”
   
   Discuss:  Why do you think some people might say that there is no need in our community for a service event such as the one we are having? As we approach our service event what are some of the needs we see right here in our own community? Why might it be easier to see needs in areas like Bangladesh and Haiti than in our community? What might be some ways that we could use to prove to our peers that there are unmet needs in our own community? What do think the volunteer meant when she said, “More than feet were warmed here today”?
   
    
7. Read: Each year Somewhere Middle School participates in the county’s annual week-long nonperishable food drive. The goal of this drive is to get all of the students involved in collecting as many pounds of nonperishable food as possible to be given to local food distribution centers. There is a friendly competition for the “Mayor’s Trophy for Participation” awarded each year to the schools in the county that have 90-100% of their students involved. In addition, there is a friendly competition at Somewhere Middle School. Each grade level seeks to achieve the highest percentage of participation of its classmates.
   
   This year, the 8th grade class had only a couple of students who had not yet participated. Eric was one of those students. One day just prior to the end of the service event he was sharing with his friend Josh why he chose not to participate. “Hey, it’s the principle of the thing", he said.
   
   My dad always said, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
   
   Discuss: How might this student have used this ancient Chinese Proverb to justify his non-involvement? Do you think this is a good reason for not being involved? What would you say to a classmate who might choose to use this proverb or one like it to justify not being involved in our service event? Is it always possible to be able to teach someone to fish? Why might giving someone a fish be the best thing we can do right now?
   
    
8. Read: David was new to his Texas Middle School. He had recently come from Alabama where his home had been completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.  In Alabama, he and his family had lived comfortably. They truly lacked for very little. But Katrina changed all that in a matter of only a few hours. Now staying at a temporary shelter, David saw things he had never seen before. He saw people hungry, and needing everything walking. He saw faces etched with fear and hopelessness. He heard people crying over lost possessions and loved ones. He saw and heard what mattered most to people in times like these.
   
   When his new school announced their annual drive event, David volunteered to represent his class in planning and conducting the event.
   
   Discuss: Why might David have volunteered to take a leadership role in the service event even though he was a new student to the school? Does it always require an experience, as the one David had to motivate people to get involved? What are some ways we might be able to encourage or motivate our classmates to take part in our service event?
   
    
9. Read: I’m sure that you have all heard someone say with conviction at one time or another in your life “Tis’ better to give than to receive.” Do you believe it? That’s not what we hear, see, and read every day in the media. In fact, our consumer mentality would appear to be written on a popular bumper sticker that reads, “He who dies with the most toys wins!”  Do you believe this? Scientists went in search of the truth. And what they found is that giving opens the door for lasting pleasure while getting represents a temporary spike of pleasure at best. Giving typically builds trust and openness. Getting typically builds suspicion and fearful. Giving reduces stress while getting tends increase stress.  One scientist summed up the results of the research by saying, “Giving is just plain good for your brain.” So are you convinced? Or still a bit skeptical? Why not conduct your own experiment?
   
   Discuss: In what ways could our service event be like a personal experiment? In what ways might the things we receive cause us to become suspicious and fearful? How might “getting” cause more stress in our lives than “giving”? How can we use the Arab Proverb “If you have much, give of your wealth; If you have little, give of your heart” to encourage everyone to become involved in this event?
   
    
10. Read: The Amazon jungle is the home of 900 different species of wasps. Each of these wasp species pollinates a different shape and species of fig tree. These fig trees are the main food source of nutrition for many smaller animals. These smaller animals, in-turn, provide the basis of life for larger animals, like monkeys, jaguars, and wild pigs. Many of these larger animals are food sources for the natives of the Amazon. It can be said that each species of wasp keeps a chain of other animals and humans alive.
    
    Discuss: Fortunately, we are at the top of the food chain! Unfortunately many of us are still lacking needed food and nutrition. In what ways is our drive event an attempt to provide nutritional food for others at the top of the food chain? Like the 900 different species of wasps each of us has an important and unique contribution to make. What important and unique contribution can we make during our drive event? Why is it important that we all do our part in sharing our food with others?

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: Give each student four sticky notes. On one of the sticky notes have the students write their response, using one or two words, to the question, “How did you feel about participating in the event prior to actually being involved?” On the second sticky note have the students write their response to the question, “How did you feel while being involved in this Event?” On the third sticky note, have the students respond to this question, “How did you feel after the Event was over?” And on the fourth sticky note have the students respond to the question, “What could I do differently in the future?” 
Place the following headings on the display board: Before, During, After, Future. Have students come and place their sticky notes under the appropriate heading on the display board.  Allow time for them to walk around to view and read the comments of others. Encourage them to note similarities and differences.  Involve the class in a discussion using the prompt,”What did you learn from reading everyone’s comments?”

ACTIVITY TWO: Give each student three sheets of multi-colored construction paper, one sheet of white construction paper, a pair of scissors, and a black marker (assorted colored pens are optional).  Using one of the sheets of multi-colored construction paper for each shape, ask each student to draw and cut out the following shapes: 1) a head, with a “light bulb” drawn in it; 2) a body, with a “heart” drawn in it, and; 3) limbs-two arms and two legs.  Ask the students to think about what the “light bulb” and “heart” might represent. (NOTE: The ‘light bulb” is an icon often identified with “ideas”. The “heart” as an icon is often identified with “feelings.”) Ask the students what they think the “arms and legs” might represent. (NOTE: Arms and legs are often associated with going places and doing things.) Now have the students use their sheet of white construction paper to cut out three “word bubbles.” (See Example) Have them write words or phrases that represent how their head (mind), their body (heart) and their arms and legs were involved in the Event.

Said another way, one ‘bubble’ for the head (what they thought about the Event),
one “bubble” for the body (how they felt about the Event), and one ‘bubble’ for the limbs (what they did for the Event).  When completed, call the first student to the bulletin board-type display area entitled  “Join the Crowd” (or some similarly appropriate title).Have each student, in turn, pen his/her designed cutout head along with its “bubble” on the display board. Share some of the responses. Now have each student come and pen his/her cutout body beneath their head along with its bubble. Share some of the responses. Finally, have each student pen his/her designed cutout arms and legs on their body along with the “bubble.” Share some of the responses. Have students walk past the ‘crowd’ and read the “bubble”. Discuss findings, comparisons, and final thoughts.

ACTIVITY THREE: Assign the students to one of four groups and distribute a white sheet of square paper, preferably 21.5” x 21.5” (the official size of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base in Major League Baseball), a pair of scissors for each student, a glue stick/paste and a variety of magazines and newspapers.  Tell them that they are to go look through these magazines and newspapers to cut out pictures and /or words that could be used to describe their involvement in the recent service event. Once they have cut out as many pictures or words as they can, in the allotted time, as a group they are to decide which pictures and/or words will be included on their group base. Tell them to glue the pictures and/or words to their base.  When completed they are to offer their base for display in the area marked “Let’s Play Ball” or “Covering All the Bases,” etc (Note: You may wish to display the base in the traditional diamond shape to add more realism and invite interested students to complete the ballpark design. If time allows, ask the students how participating in this service project is like playing baseball/participating in sports.)

ACTIVITY FOUR: Using the name of the service project, have students brainstorm words or short phrases, the letters of which when properly placed, form some sort of crossword puzzle-like creation.  These words should ‘describe’ the activity, the feelings, and/or the impact of the Event for the individual student involved.   

When the students have each completed their own crossword puzzle, instruct them to draw an outline of the pattern around their words (See above), have them shade-in the interior of the form with a light color pencil or crayon, so as not to cover up the words, and then cut out the form along the outline. Display these crossword puzzles forms in an area entitled, “The Shape of Our Service” or “We’re in Great Shape”, “Join the Crowd” or etc.