Learners write personal narratives to document activities, insights, research, impact, and discoveries of their firsthand experience with civic engagement, service, and volunteerism. By explaining involvement in action for the common good, learners raise awareness of a social issue, the need for...
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Unit: Mighty Pens: Writers for Positive Change
Unit: Character Education: Respect (Grade 8)
Learners acknowledge that aligning with groups can promote belonging as well as conflict and power struggles. They discuss and write about ways to include and show respect for people with different identity traits.
Unit: Character Education: Perseverance (Grade 7)
Learners use a decision-making model to identify the issues they feel most concerned about. With those in mind, they explore how perseverance and doing their personal best are more effective ways to address needs than looking at the short term.
Unit: Roots of Philanthropy (Teen)
Youth Activity: Participants are playful with the meaning of the word philanthropy and philanthropic acts. This activity follows discussions about the many forms of philanthropy.
See the handout for supplemental faith-based discussion questions.
“If every American donated five...
Unit: Tzedakah: How Can We Help? (Tzedakah) (Private-Religious)
This lesson will raise awareness of what constitutes a nutritious meal as well as the price of a healthy meal. Students will learn that some people lack the funds to pay for nutritious meals. It will also motivate the students to raise money to pay for meals
Unit: Lights! Camera! Take Action!
The purpose of this session is to plan and develop a video documentary. Modeling their documentary after the West Michigan documentary The Gift of All, youth interview local philanthropists and create a multi-media story of their community and local philanthropy. Creating and sharing...
Unit: Kwanzaa: Unity Within Community
This lesson introduces the origin and purpose of Kwanzaa. Young people make a kinara, or candle holder, to use for the rest of the unit as they learn about the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
Continuing from the previous lesson, the young people learn the next four of the seven principles of Kwanzaa. They are challenged to apply the principles to their everyday lives in a way that enhances the communities to which they belong.
Unit: Grow Involved 6-8
Young people learn about environmental stewardship and its importance to all people. They carry out a service project that demonstrates environmental stewardship.
Unit: Our Unique Legacy of Giving
In this lesson, the learners write a story about philanthropists, modeled after the documentary The Gift of All. They research or interview a local philanthropist. Each learner writes a biography telling the story of the philanthropist. They share the completed biography with an...