The children tell stories about their family memories and the special “memory items” brought from home. (See Lesson One: Traveling Back in Time.) They meet their senior friend in person or through writing and share and compare memories. 

In this lesson, we broaden our awareness of different cultures and how they celebrate holidays. An optional service project includes writing letters to request diverse holidays be added to the community calendar, if they aren't already observed.

Learners explore personal identity traits and discuss how a community is strengthened by similarities and differences among them. They each write a biographical poem using the provided template and their discussion notes. 

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.

The learners read about two very different Texas pioneers - William Goyens and Mary Maverick - and identify how they earned the trust of others.

We find poetry everywhere: lyrics to songs, commercials, and picture books. Poems express strong emotions and observations of relationships with each other and the world. Sharing their poems to communicate care can be an act of generosity. 

Fairy tales are great stories for helping young people work out complicated moral issues in a make-believe context. Found in countries all around the world, the same story plays out in different contexts. Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters is a "Cinderella" story from Africa in which kindness...

Participants discuss and analyze the solutions implemented by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. The role that philanthropy played in helping to end the Great Depression will be central to the discussion.

Learners talk about the uses of water and understand its importance to our world.