Financial Literacy Resources
Creative lessons and resources teaching financial literacy to youth K-12.
Paw Prints to Learning
Teach young people about animal welfare and how they CAN make a difference in animals' lives.
Activity
At-a-Glance
Time:
45 - 60 minutes
Materials:
- Values Survey for each participant
- Pencils/pens
- Construction paper with numbers l-12 (one number per page)
- Masking tape
Physical Setting:
Room with writing space for all the participants
Sequence:
- 5 minutes for an introduction
- 20 minutes to complete the survey
- 20 minutes for the activity
- 10 minutes for processing
and application
Youth as Philanthropists
Objectives:
- To introduce the values that are important to the participants in their development of Habits of Giving and Serving
- To begin a discussion of ‘guiding principles’ and the importance of these to one’s life
Activity Theme:
“Responsibility is the price every person must pay for freedom.”
~ Edith Hamilton
The facilitator explains that in this activity we are going to ask participants to spend some time thinking about values. “Values are those things that very important to us. They help us choose our actions and guide us. Values help establish the guiding principles which direct our actions throughout our lives. Individuals, organizations, communities or even countries can represent values. As the quote illustrates: “Responsibility is the price every person must pay for freedom.” Living in a free country requires the value of responsibility from every person.”
Activity:
The facilitator explains the Values Survey to the participants. It is comprised of 12 values listed in alphabetical order. The participants are to read over the values and determine which ones are important to them. The task is to arrange the values in the order of their importance to the PARTICIPANT, as guiding principles in HIS/HER OWN LIFE.
The facilitator encourages the participants to study the list carefully. Then, place a 1 next to the value that is the most important to them; place a 2 next to the value that is second most important to them, etc. The least important value, relative to the others, should be ranked twelve. Work slowly and think carefully. Participants can feel free to change their minds and rearrange the answers. The end result should show the participant what he/she truly values.
After the group is finished with the handout and the numbers 1-12 have been posted around the room, the facilitator calls out the different values and the participants move to the number that they rated for that value. The facilitator asks for volunteers to comment on why they rated the value as they did, in particular, those who gave it a very high rating or a very low rating. The facilitator repeats this with several values and then asks the group to select some of the ratings of the values.
Processing:
The facilitator discusses this activity with participants using the following questions as guides:
- What did you discover about yourself through doing this activity?
- What did you discover about others in the room?
- How did you feel about sharing your values publicly with the group?
- How did it feel when you were standing alone?
- What did we learn about how people view things differently from this activity?
- Were there other values that you would have liked to list?
- In what ways do your values influence what you do? Give examples.
- Which values are weak or strong in your organization or community?
- What could you do about strengthening the weak values?
Application:
The facilitator ends the activity with a discussion of “Guiding Principles” and how these can
lead to the development of philanthropic values. Ask the participants to consider one value that
they would like to promote with their friends. Ask for examples on how they might do this.
An example is a story that represents the value of civil society and littering:
A mother and her two young children were riding in a car with a friend and her young child. They had just completed eating a fast food lunch. The visiting mother collected all the trash from the children in the car, stuffed it all in a bag and proceeded to roll her window down as if she were going to throw it out. The mother who was driving the car responded with a gasp and said, “What are you doing?” The visiting mother said she was getting rid of the trash. The mother driving the car explained her feelings on littering and how it affects everyone else who lives in this community. She asked the visiting mother what she thought about how the community would look if everyone just pitched their trash out the window. The visiting mother said she had never thought about it and apologized. Sometimes people just don’t think about their decisions and how they affect the common good until someone shares their value of considering the common good.
Values Survey
Complete the following survey. Number 1 to 12 with one being the most important value to YOU and 12 being the least important. You may change your mind and feel free to change your answers.
_____ A CIVIL SOCIETY — living in a society where people care about and make decisions based on what is good for all
people.
_____ CARING, COMPASSION — taking seriously and being concerned about the reality of others
_____ EQUALITY — equal opportunity for all where no one is judged by race, creed, religion, gender or handcapping
condition
_____ FREEDOM — independence, free choice
_____ GENEROSITY — constant openness to the interest, needs, and desires of others
_____ HAPPINESS — an inner feeling of personal satisfaction, joy, willingness, cheerfulness, or contentedness
_____ HONESTY — to be real, genuine, or authentic, fairness of conduct, integrity, uprightness of character or action
_____ LOVE — true love, unselfish concern that freely accepts another and seeks that person’s good
_____ PHILANTHROPY — ntentional, ongoing giving of your time, talent, and treasure for the common good
_____ RESPECT — willing to show consideration, appreciation, tolerance for others
_____ RESPONSIBILITY — to be reliable, able to be depended on and accountable for something
_____ WISDOM — the ability to discern (discover) inner qualities and relationships, having insight and good sense