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: When someone is courteous and considerate of another person, property, or situation we say that they are acting respectfully. When we tease or say put-downs to another person, we are not showing respect for them. When we put graffiti on our desks, lockers, or school equipment, we are not showing respect for our school. When we make fun of how someone dresses, of their heritage, of their race, or religious beliefs, we are not showing respect for who they are or how they choose to live their lives. When people respect one another there are fewer conflicts. When there are fewer conflicts everyone is happier and more helpful.
   
   Discuss: What role do you think respect plays in our service event? How might a respectful attitude result in a successful event? How might what we have planned for this day result in fewer conflicts and happier more helpful people?
   
    
2. Read: The following quotes have been offered as words to live by:
   
   Consideration for others is the basics of a good life, good society. ~ Confucius
   
   If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. ~Dalai Lama
   
   Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it. ~Author Unknown
   
   How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong, because someday in your life you will have been all of these. ~George Washington Carver
   
   Discuss: Sayings such as these are often passed down through the ages, because they resonate with what we all know in our deepest thoughts to be true, right, just, and kind. How might our service event reflect the civic virtues expressed in these sayings?
   
    
3. Read: Do you recall this saying from childhood sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me? While words may never literally break ones bones they surely can break ones heart. In fact, this saying has been rewritten to read sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can really hurt me. To focus national attention on the problem of name-calling in schools and get people to talk about ways to eliminate name-calling in their communities, No Name Calling Week became a reality. It was inspired by a book entitled The Misfits by popular author, James Howe. The book tells the story of four best friends trying to survive the seventh grade in the face of all too frequent teasing and taunts by their classmates. No Name Calling Week‘s slogan is, “No Sticks, No stones, No Dissing.”
   
   Discuss: Why might it be important to be reminded about words and name calling during our service event? How is not taunting or teasing others considered to be an act of kindness? As we think about and conduct our scheduled service event, how are we promoting compassion and understanding in our school? In our community?
   
    
4. Read: Originally known as Ears for the Deaf, Paws for a Cause had its beginning over 25 years ago when Marty Sapp offered to help a friend. The Jansens asked Marty if he would train their Cairn Terrier, Crystal, as a Hearing Dog. Word soon spread and more and more people wanting their independence as people with disabilities showed up to request having their dogs trained. Even though approximately 97 percent of all people with disabilities are not blind; they are physically challenged in some other way, very few dogs were being trained to work with them. Today, however, dogs are also being trained as Service Dogs performing such varied tasks as: pulling a wheelchair, opening doors, retrieving dropped objects as small as a dime, turning light switches off and on and as a brace (should the client fall, the dog provides a brace so the person can regain position.)
   
   Dogs also are trained as Seizure Response Dogs. These dogs are trained to accept behaviors associated with an individual’s seizures. They can be trained to stay with the person or get help. Depending on how close the bond between the dog and his owner, some dogs are even able to alert their owner that a seizure is about to occur.
   
   While there are 100s of dogs in training there are more than 1,500 requests for dogs pending. “People with disabilities are first of all, people. They want to be independent and make a contribution. They want their lives to have purpose and meaning. These dogs go a long way to help them do that.”
   
   Discuss: What do you think might have motivated Mr. Sapp to agree to train a Hearing Dog for his friends? Do you think that he had any idea that his positive response to the Jansens would result in an organization as large and successful as Paws for a Cause? In what ways might our positive response to our service event result in people being treated as people despite physical, social, ethnic, or spiritual differences? How might what we accomplish during our service event result in a success that we could not imagine? How can we keep what we accomplish during this event from just being a one-time event? www.ismi.net/paws/
   
    
5. Read: In the movie entitled, Pay it Forward, there is a scene when the new social studies teacher, Mr. Simmonet (played by Kevin Spacey), asks his class if they ever gave much thought to the world and what it means to them. Sensing from their responses that they had not done so, Mr. Simmonet directed this more specific question to Trevor (a student of the class, played by Haley Joel Osment), “Why is that (…that students didn’t seem to be thinking globally)? Trevor’s response implied that it was because they were only middle school students, after all. Mr. Simmonet then countered with the comment that someday they would all be “free” of school, older and on their own, and what if then they didn’t like their world. What if their world was just one big disappointment. He went on to add that despite their age they could take the things of this world that they didn’t like and do something about them. Then he assigned their semester long project. It was to think of a way to change the world and put that plan into action.
   
   Discuss: How might our plans for our service event meet Mr. Simmonet’s class requirement? In what ways might what we do on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day change our school, home, community, and even our world, for the better? In what ways could we make this a year-long assignment? A life-long assignment?
   
    
6. Read: In his book entitled Under the Overpass, Michael Yankoski gives a first–person account of living as a homeless person. He along with his traveling companion, Sam Purvis, went to live like the homeless in six American cities. His book follows their five–month journey — hearing the stories of the homeless, constantly struggling to find food, a place to sleep, and a bathroom. In reading this book, one gains empathy for what the homeless go through. Perhaps most interesting of all is his re–entry back into his old life and the culture of consumption. He writes about how the terrible dangers of lacking nothing became clear to them. How having just about everything a person needs to live can numb and blind the human spirit to the needs of others.
   
   Discuss: What do you think would motivate someone like Michael and his friend Sam to do what they did? What might be some of his reasons for choosing to write a book like this? What do you think Michael was referring to when he talked about the stories the homeless people’s struggle to find compassion? How might lacking for nothing numb and blind the human spirit? How might our service event help make us more aware and better able to see the need for compassion?
   
    
7. Read: All professional sports require a standardized field for play. There are football and soccer fields, basketball, tennis, and volleyball courts, baseball diamonds, swimming pools, wrestling mats, hockey arenas, boxing rings, etc, all whose measurements and dimensions must equal the required standard for that sport.
   
   Then too, all professional sports have their own set of standardized rules and regulations. They are not always the same for each sport. In hockey you can legally throw a cross-body block in an attempt to up-end your opponent while attempting to gain access to the hockey puck. However this is not allowed in basketball while attempting to gain access to the basketball when your opponent has it. So who gets to set all these standards and rules in professional sports? Each sport maintains its own official governing board whose responsibility it is to make, oversee, and interpret the rules of the game they represent.
   
   Most situations in life are governed by specific rules and regulations as well. They are set up by law makers and overseen and interpreted by law enforcement officials and courts. For example, it is against society’s rules to rob or murder anyone, to speed or run traffic lights, to not pay taxes or cheat on an exam, to use a fake ID or abuse alcohol. There are some situations that we encounter in life however, for which there are no specific rules set down by governing boards. For example there are no hard and fast written rules for kindness and thoughtfulness; for compassion and caring.
   
   Discuss: So what about kindness and thoughtfulness, compassion and caring? If there are no hard and fast written rules concerning them why are they still very important? Who sets the “standards” for kindness and thoughtfulness, compassion and caring? Do we each get to decide how much we want them to be a part of our life? As we think about our King Day event what role will kindness and thoughtfulness, compassion and caring play in it? If we operate within society’s written rules is that always enough? Why or why not?
   
    
8. Read: Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, but his road to the presidency was by no means a smooth one. He did not learn to read until he was about 12 years old. Some experts indicate that it was due to dyslexia or A.D.D., but as a teenager he taught himself to compensate and was able to achieve academically through determination and self-discipline. Historians agree that Mr. Wilson’s mother was probably a hypochondriac, meaning that while she may not have always been sick she always felt and acted as if she was. Maybe that explains why Mr. Wilson often seemed to think that he was often in poorer health than he really was. However, he did suffer from high blood pressure at a relatively early age and may have suffered his first stroke at age 39. He cycled regularly until he was no longer able to do so. Then he took to playing golf, although he played with more enthusiasm than skill. White House correspondents reported that during the winter the Secret Service would even paint some golf balls black so Wilson could hit them around in the snow on the White House lawn. His determination and self-discipline continued to support him in the presidency. Making and maintaining friendships was one way he found to smooth out the rough spots. All through his life friends were very important to Mr. Wilson. He spoke openly about friendships and their importance both at home and abroad to lasting peace and prosperity. "Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together’” he announced.
   
   Discuss: Through determination and self-discipline. Mr. Wilson was able to overcome his disabilities. How might determination and self-discipline have a role in our service event? In what ways is our service project an attempt to develop friendships? In what ways might what we have planned for our event help to bring and cement our school together? Our Community?
   
    
9. Read: Palindromes are words or phrases that can be reversed to spell the same word or sentence. Some examples are: racecar, radar, mom, dad, and the phrase: never odd or even. When Mrs. Peel, the Eight Grade Social Studies teacher at Somewhereville Middle School challenged her class to come up with a palindrome phrase that could be used to promote civic responsibility, one of the students pointed out to her that the word “civic” was also palindrome! (which of course she knew). While the students went right to work, they soon found the assignment harder than they thought it would be. The following day when Mrs. Peel asked if anyone was able to come up with a phrase that highlighted a civic responsibility, Ana was the only one to raise her hand. Asked to share her palindrome phrase with the class, Ana read, “Rise to vote, sir.” (P.S. Maybe it helped that her name was also a palindrome!?)
   
   Discuss: Driven by an intense race for the presidency, a greater percentage of Americans voted in the 2004 election than at any time in more than three decades. Yet only a little over half of eligible voters actually rose up to vote. How might Ana’s palindrome be a good reminder of our civic responsibility? How might involving ourselves in the decision-making process, the planning process, as well as in the actual work phase of our service project be fulfilling some of our civic responsibilities? How can we persuade others to rise up with us?
   
    
10. Read: Have you ever heard of the collection of stories entitled the Arabian Nights? These stories are said to have been compiled over thousands of years by various authors, translators and scholars. Though an original manuscript has never been found several versions date the collection's beginning to somewhere between 800-900 CE.
    
    The main plot of the story concerns a king and his new bride. The king upon discovering his former wife's infidelity, had her executed and then declared all women to be unfaithful. He begins to marry a succession of women only to execute each one the next morning. Eventually the king’s advisor cannot find anymore young women for the king to marry, and so he must offer his own daughter. She agrees to marry the king, and, on the night of their marriage, tells him a tale, but does not end it. The king is thus forced to keep her alive in order to hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as she finishes the tale, she begins (and only begins) another. So it went for 1,001 nights.
    
    The stories proceed from this original tale; some are framed within other tales, while others begin and end of their own accord. Some editions contain only a few hundred tales, while others include 1001 or more stories.
    
    One of the leading characters in these tales is an oriental ruler who became head of the Moslems and Baghdad in 786 AD. History claims his leadership effectiveness to be derived from his ability to walk among his people, in disguise, in order to learn of their conditions and needs. He would then be in a better position to help his people and meet their needs.
    
    Discuss: How might our being able to ‘walk among our peers’ help us to promote our King Day event? Why is it important that our story not end at the conclusion of our planned service events?
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
    The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights

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 10-12 small sticky notes.  Have the students write a word or phrase on each sticky note that comes to mind as they think about their involvement with the Event.  Allow 2-4 minutes for their writing. (NOTE: Be prepared to hand students additional sticky notes if they ask for them.)  As the students are writing place a four-column grid on the display board and label the columns: Feelings, Activities, Affects/Effects, and Misc. At the end of 2-4 minutes, have the students decide which column their words or phrases best fit and then have them place their sticky notes under the proper heading. When all of the notes have been posted, read the notes under each column to the students. Have them look for similar comments in order to synthesize and condense the number of sticky notes and eliminate duplication. Lead students to draw some conclusions about their service event experiences based on this activity.

ACTIVITY TWO: Have each student draw a Venn Diagram.  In the circle on the left have them place single words that come to mind when they think about how they were feeling during this Event in which they were just involved.  In the circle on the right have the students place single words that come to mind when they think about how they were feeling during earlier Events or involved in similar philanthropic activities that they were part of at an earlier time.  Have the students look for those words that appear in both circles and have them place those words in the “overlap” of the two circles.  Have each of the students, in turn, call out the words found in their “overlap” and place these on the display board for all to see.  Ask the students, “What conclusions might one be able to make about being involved in philanthropic activities as a result of completing this exercise?”

ACTIVITY THREE: Tell the students that they have been selected by a major toy company to come up with a design for an “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot to be used to “promote” this Event next year. Ask the students, when coming up with their “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot, to consider what it takes for someone to be involved in an Event like the one they just completed and what types of personal characteristics/ attitudes would it be helpful for someone to be involved in Events like these.  Working in pairs, have the students design and draw their “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot.  When finished, have each group share their idea for their “Action Hero/Heroine” or mascot. Display the Action Heroes/Heroines or Mascots under the heading “Our Action Heroes/Heroines” or “Our Mascot” or, etc.

ACTIVITY FOUR: Provide each student with three shiny coins (pennies). Play (or tell them) about the song entitled “Three Coins in the Fountain”.  Share the lyrics of the first verse. http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/frank-sinatra/55254.html.
 

Ask the students what they know about wishing wells.  Ask for volunteers to share how they were involved in this service event: what activity (-ies) they performed, how they felt about this service event, what impact they felt this service project had on those involved, etc. Challenge the students as a class to determine how tossing three coins into a fountain might be a lot like participating in this service project using the following prompts:

Discuss how the author of this song might have felt as he tossed his three coins in the fountain and have the students compare his feelings with their feelings about getting involved in this service project.

Discuss what the author of this song might have been hoping would result from his tossing the coins into the fountain and have the students compare his hopes with their hopes for what might result from their involvement in this service project.

Discuss how the author of this song might have felt as he walked away from the fountain after having tossed his coins into it and have the students compare his feelings with their feelings after having been involved in this service project.

Finally, ask the students if they think they will ever know the end results/impact of what they did during this service project. Have them share why or why not.  Tell the students, if they would like, they could make a wish and drop their three coins into a “wishing well” (box) placed on your desk. Tell them if they prefer not to make a wish and put their three pennies in the “wishing well,” that your wish for them is that they will put the three pennies to good use.