Learning to Give, Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement
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Unit Overview:
Using literature as a starting point, the students will discuss the benefits of sharing and contributing for the common good. This unit can be used during read-aloud time each day. They will use the vocabulary of philanthropy and find ways that they can contribute to the community through sharing, giving back, and being open to diverse people. Students will discuss the relationship between good personal conduct/honesty and a civil society. And they will practice sharing in a situation where there is a scarcity of resources, specifically in a book drive.
Unit Purpose:
By exploring the concepts and vocabulary of philanthropy, the students will be able to better understand what it means to help each other and be altruistic.
Focus Question: What can young people do to make the community a better place for all?
Unit Duration:
Seven 30-minute class periods, plus time to carry out a service project (book drive or other literacy project)
Unit Objectives:
The learner will:
- participate in creative brainstorming.
- describe how Rainbow Fish felt at the beginning, middle, and end of the story.
- discuss how sharing helped solve a problem.
- identify characteristics associated with good citizenship.
- identify personal treasures to share.
- state the lesson of the story.
- tell an oral story (may use a storybook that doesn't have words).
- compare the lion/mouse relationship with an adult/child relationship.
- brainstorm the time, talent, and treasure children may have that can make a difference in the world.
- describe the concepts of "giving back" and "paying it forward."
- state that what something looks like on the outside may not tell us what the inside is like.
- compare examples of tolerant and intolerant behavior in a story.
- brainstorm things that may be scarce in some children’s lives, including books.
- list the values of books in our lives.
- brainstorm ways to collect books for donation.
- plan the steps of the service project.
- contact partner organizations with the help of the teacher.
- carry out the service project.
- read and respond to the book A Weed Is a Flower.
- list major contributions made by George Washington Carver.
- define philanthropy as giving or sharing time, talent, or treasure and taking action for the common good.
- share the collected books with the partner school or organization.
- reflect on the service project.
Service Experience:
In this unit, students carry out a book drive or other service project related to literacy. The book drive has a theme of paying it forward. Students who donate or receive books read them, write their name on a sticker (inside front cover) and pass it on to someone else. The books are donated to a local agency that supports community literacy.
Unit Assessment:
Students will demonstrate positive community behavior, such as sharing. They respond to literature in discussion and other activities.
School/Home Connection:
Copy-and Paste Class/School Newsletter Information Insert:
Our students are learning what it means to be a philanthropist. A philanthropist is someone who gives time, talent, or treasures to someone. We are reading a variety of books that provide examples of caring for others, sharing, being unselfish, and working for others in the community. Our books will take us to faraway places and times and to the world of make-believe, but the lessons will be real. We can make a difference in the world with our kind acts and unselfish behavior.We are organizing a book drive and donating books to a local charity that supports community literacy. Children may donate new or gently used books. Please look in your child's library together to find books suitable for donating to help the children recognize they have treasure they can share for the common good. You may also ask friends and colleagues for book donations for this project. During this unit, we discuss the importance of reading for individual success and the success of the community. Please encourage your child to read daily, and spend time each day reading with your child.
Notes for Teaching:
See individual lessons.
Bibliographical References:
- Aliki. A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1985. ISBN: 0671664905.
- Herman, Gail. The Lion and the Mouse. Illustrated by Lisa McCue. Random House (Paperback), 1998. ISBN: 0679886745.
- Jones, Carol. The Lion and the Mouse. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1997.
ISBN: 0395869560. - Pfister, Marcus. The Rainbow Fish. Translated by J. Alison James. English Translation, New York: North-South Books Inc., 1992. ISBN: 1558580093.
- Pinkney, Jerry. The Lion and the Mouse. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2009. ISBN-13: 978-0316013567
- Raffi. Singable Songs for the Very Young: Great with a Peanut Butter Sandwich. Troubador Records Ltd., 1976. ISBN: 1-886767-30-0.
- Permission to use this out-of-print paperback picture book in lesson 3: Colors and Trouble kindly granted by the publisher, Scholastic, Inc. The title was originally published under the following: Klamath County YMCA Family Preschool. The Land of Many Colors. Scholastic, Inc., 1993.
State Curriculum and Philanthropy Theme Frameworks:
See individual lessons for benchmark detail.
Lessons Developed By:
Betsy Flikkema
Associate Director
Learning to Give
All rights reserved. Permission is granted to freely use this information for nonprofit (noncommercial), educational purposes only. Copyright must be acknowledged on all copies.
