Learning to Give, Philanthropy education resources that teach giving and civic engagement

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Where Does It All Come From? Penny Drive

Lesson 1:

From Unit Where Does It All Come From? Penny Drive

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

Kindergarten-2nd Grade

Subjects:

Language Arts, Library / Technology and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ELA:	Chair For My Mother (A); Listening; Vocabulary
PHIL:	3 lesson genOn; Common Good; Donate; Fundraising; Philanthropist; Time/Talent/Treasure
SOC:	Community

Purpose:

The purpose of this lesson is to introduce the learners to the concept that community organizations need resources (money and materials) to help people in need. Students may organize a penny drive to raise funds for a chosen community organization.

Duration:

One Twenty to thirty minute class period

Objectives:

The learner will:

learn the definition of philanthropy and understand themselves as philanthropists.

draw conclusions as to how organizations might get money from a community to support their effort to help those in need.

organize a penny drive.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

The class may hold a penny drive to raise money for a chosen cause. To hold the competition, each class or team competes against all others. Each team has a jar in a central location labeled with the team name and the charity they are raising money for. The idea is to earn the most money for your class or grade. In a penny war, teams try to collect the most pennies, and silver coins count against their total. This creates a competition where other teams try to sabotage the other teams by adding silver coins or dollar bills to the competitors' jars. The value of the coins count against the total, so a quarter subtracts 25 points from a jar of pennies. You can have two winners: one winner is the team that has the most points and another winner collects the highest monetary value.

Materials:

A comfortable chair, similar to the one in the book if possible
Children’s literature book A Chair for My Mother

Teacher Preparation:

donation - a gift or contribution, especially a sum of money given to a charity
philanthropy - giving time, treasure or talents, and taking action for the common good

Instructional Procedure(s):

Anticipatory Set:

If possible have a “comfortable” chair in the room a few hours or even a day before the lesson. Allow the children to take turns sitting in it. Observe their behaviors while sitting in the chair. Before reading the book ask the learners a few questions about the chair. Why did you like to sit in the chair? How did it feel to sit in the chair? Does this chair remind you of a chair you have at home? How do you think the chair got to your home?

Teacher’s Note: While the main point of this story is about the family buying a “chair for mother” this lesson will focus on the idea that the family received help from their community after the fire.

Show the learners the cover of the book and ask them to share what they think the story is going to be about.

Tell them that something bad happens to this family and they are going to learn how the family, with help from others, is able to make it better.

Read the book allowing discussion time as you read. Ask them to listen for details of how the family might have received help from others.

After you have read the book, point out that the bad happening was a fire. Tell them that the community helped the family by donating or giving some of the things that the family needed.

Tell the students that people who help others are called philanthropists. Philanthropy is “giving your time, treasures or talents and taking action for the common good.” Explain that everyone can be a philanthropist.

Ask: “Who or what group of people in our community might be able to help people in need?” Accept reasonable answers but guide them to the idea that individuals as well as communities organizations (groups of individuals) can help people. For example, a soup kitchen or shelter; the Salvation Army; the Red Cross, etc. Be sure to name some organizations that service your local community and whose names might be familiar to the students. Be sensitive to the fact that some of the students’ families might have received or are receiving this kind of assistance.

Ask: “How do these helping organizations get things to give to people in need?” Again accept reasonable answers, but lead the learners to realize that these organizations need donations of money, as well as donations of “things” in order to help those in need.

Ask: “Where do you think these organizations get the money?” People either give some of their own money to the organization or they donate money to support the organization.

Ask: “Have you or your family ever donated money to help an organization?” Be sure answers include things that they may be familiar with on the local level (donating to a faith based organization, Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF, the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle Drive).

Suggest that they can be philanthropists and donate their money by participating in the school Penny Drive.

Learning Link(s): (click to view)

Have an idea for a Learning Link?

Submit your idea here.

If your Link is accepted for publication on the Web site you will be credited with your name, school, and city.

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.

Read: On one hand we have five fingers. We can use our fingers to help remind us about out Penny Drive. Look at your hand. First there is the thumb. It is the strongest finger we have. It helps get things done. Next we have the pointer finger. We use it to show people direction. The tallest finger we have is in the middle of our fingers. It looks over the tops of all our other fingers to make sure they are all doing what they are supposed to do. Next to our tallest finger is the ring finger. It got this name because people who get married wear their wedding rings on this finger to remind them of their promise to each other. The pinkie finger is the smallest finger on our hand. It may be small but its job is very important. Without it our hand would not work as well.

Discuss: During our Penny Drive, our thumb could remind us to do something. We have to bring some of our pennies, nickels and dimes to school. Our pointer finger could remind us to show everyone where to put their money when they bring it to school. The tallest finger could remind us to be looking for other ways to help. The ring finger could remind us of our promise to help. And our pinkie could remind us that even if we are small what we do is important. How will our Penny Drive be like a helping hand in our community?

Read: Corey’s mom gave him $.25 to buy milk for snack time. Jason sat next to Corey during snack time. He was crying. His mother had forgotten to give him money for his milk. Corey asked Jason why he was crying. As soon as Jason told him why he was crying, Corey disappeared. He went into the supply room. When he returned he had a paper cup. He poured half of the milk from his milk box into the paper cup. Then he handed the cup to Jason. “Here,” he said. Jason smiled and thanked Corey.

Discuss: What do we call what Corey did with his milk? We call it sharing. During our Penny Drive what are we being asked to share? How might our sharing make other people happy?

Read: Jamie and her brother like to eat watermelon. It was always hard waiting for the weather to get warm after the winter. They knew that their grandfather would plant watermelon seeds during the spring. In the fall he would pick them for eating. Besides tasting delicious, Jamie and her brother liked watermelons for another reason. They loved spitting out the seeds. They would have contest to see who could spit their seeds the farthest. They would have contests to see who could spit the most seeds into a circle or a cup. It was great fun. One year Jamie’s grandfather motioned for Jamie to follow him. They went to the picnic table in the back yard. There Jamie saw them. Watermelon plants were growing where last year she and her brother had one of their seed spitting contests. “You just never know where seeds will grow,” her grandfather told her.

Discuss: Do you think Jamie and her brother knew that this would happen? Sometimes we do little things and later those little things surprise us. Bringing some of our coins to school for our Penny Drive might be a small thing. What might really surprise us? How is our Penny Drive like planting seeds? How do you think you will feel when you give some of your pennies, nickels and dimes to our Penny Drive?

Read: In many parts of the world there are four seasons in each year. Can you name them? If you said spring, summer, winter, and fall you are correct! Here is a poem about the seasons.

Four seasons there are each year,
Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall.
Four reasons there are to share,
To give, to help, to love, to care.

Discuss: What is your favorite season of the year? What are some reasons why we would want to bring some of our money to give to our Penny Drive? Is it important that everyone share? Is there one season better than another for giving, helping, loving or caring?

Read: According to a legend, this happened a long, long time ago far, far away. A poor woman sat in her chair at night. All of her children were finally in their beds. She felt very sad. A special day was coming. Tomorrow would be Easter. The children would wake expecting a party. But she had no sugar to make candy. She had no flour to make cakes. “Dear oh, dear,” she said to herself, “all I have is eggs.” She drifted off to sleep in her chair. When she awoke the sun was just beginning to come up. The sky was painted in beautiful blues, reds, greens, yellows, and golds. Suddenly she had an idea. She rushed to the ice box. She took out the eggs. She cooked them and let them cool. Then she painted them with food coloring. She painted them all the colors of the beautiful sky she saw when she awoke that morning. After the paint had dried she took them outdoors and hid them all around. When the children awoke they went out to play. They were playing a game when a rabbit leaped across the yard. The thought that the rabbit might have left her little rabbits behind. They went in search of the rabbit’s nest. It was then that they began to discover the eggs that their mother had hidden that morning. With giggles and laughter they called out to her, “Come look what the Easter bunny brought to us, mommy.”

Discuss: Legends are not always true. But they try to explain some things that are. The children were hoping for candy and cakes, but got colored eggs instead. Do you think that the children were happy or sad on this day? We are hoping to collect lots of money during our Penny Drive. Do you think whoever we give our money to will be sad if we are not able to give them a lot of money or do you think they will be happy and say “come look what the children brought us!”?

Read: Once upon a time there was beautiful flower. But it was sad. It lived all alone along a busy highway. Even though thousands of cars passed it each day no one stopped to look at its beauty. No one stopped to smell its sweet smell. Everyone seemed to be too busy. Then one day a young boy was riding his bike along the side of this highway. He was being really careful to be safe when he spotted the beautiful flower. He decided to pick it. He took the flower home with him. He gave it to his mother who was not feeling well. It made her very happy. It made the flower very happy to finally have someone who took the time to see its beauty and smell its sweet smell. That’s what flowers are for.

Discuss: Thousands of cars passed this little flower every day. No one realized how valuable it was. No one took the time to appreciate its beauty and its sweet smell. After all it was just one little flower. Sometimes we look at our pennies and we think they are not valuable. Why is even one penny valuable to our Penny Drive? Do you think the people who we give our money to will be happy? What is money for?

Read: The hippopotamus is a very big animal. It can weigh as much as a car. Some are even heavier than a car. A hippopotamus lives in the water like a fish and it live on the land like us. It eats grass like a horse. Sometimes they are called “water horses”. Sometimes people call them by their nickname “hippos”. Many kids like the hippopotamus. When they appear in cartoons they usually are dancing and they are very funny. They don’t need much too really be happy. They just need some grass and pool of water. Baby hippos ride on their mother’s back until they can swim on their own. That’s because father hippos can’t swim very well.

Discuss: Like the baby hippo sometimes people need help. They can’t do some things because they don’t know how yet. Sometimes they don’t have what they need to do what they want to do. How is our Penny Drive going to help people do what they need to do? Will everybody be able to help in the same way?

Read: Carey was six years old. Her favorite thing to do was to help take care of her three year old baby brother. They loved to play the game of hide-and-seek. Carey would put her favorite blanket over her head and pretend to hide. When her brother would pull the blanket off her head, Carey would say “Peek-a-boo”. Then her brother would giggle and say, “Do”. This meant that he wanted her to play the game again.

One day at school Tanya, Carey’s best friend, told the class that her baby brother had to go to the hospital. He had to have his tonsils taken out. Carey wanted to do something to help. She knew that Tanya loved her baby brother just like Cary loved her baby brother. The next day Carey decided to bring her favorite blanket to school. She gave it to Tanya and told her how it always made her brother laugh and giggle. “Maybe it will help your brother feel better,” she said as she handed Tanya her blanket.

Discuss: Why do you think Carey would give away something as “valuable” to her as her favorite blanket? How is giving some of our money to our Penny Drive also asking us to give something that may be “valuable” to us? How are we helping people by giving them some of our money?

Read: A Penny here. A penny there. If you look you’ll find them everywhere. Sometimes people drop coins on the ground. They reach their hand into their pockets to get something. When they pull it out sometimes a coin will fall out too. Often the person doesn’t hear the coin land on the ground. So it stays there until someone finds it or it is covered up and buried deeper in the ground. Many lost coins are never found.

Discuss: If our Penny Drive could talk, what would it say to us about the coins we find on the ground or in our pockets? Coins that are lost and never found have no value. They can’t buy anything or help anyone. They just lay there in the ground. How will our Penny Drive buy something or help someone?

Read: Everyone has wishes. Wishing is hoping that something will come true. Sometimes we tell people what we wish for. Sometimes we keep it a secret. For birthdays, some kids have a cake with candles on it. Someone will the light the candles. Everyone will sing Happy Birthday. Then the birthday person is told to make a wish and blow out the candles. Sometimes people throw coins into a wishing well or fountain. Hoping that doing so will make their wish come true. Sometimes we are told to wish on a star. Sometimes we have a holiday wish for certain presents. Sometimes we cross our fingers to make a wish. There are all kinds of ways to wish. There are all kinds of wishes we can make.

Discuss: What wish are we making for our Penny Drive that we hope will come true? Why is it important that we tell everyone about this wish? What can we do to help make this wish come true?

Reflection: (click to view)

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:
Have the students share what they know about quilts (e.g. they are warm, soft, cuddly, usually made out of pieces of materials sewn together, etc) as you provide the students with 4 ¼” by 5 ½” sheet of paper-- an 8 ½” x 11” sheet of paper cut in half. Tell the students that they will be helping to make a “quilt” and that each person will contribute one piece to be added to the quilt. Have each student draw a picture of what they did during the Event activity using crayons or markers. When they have completed their drawings have them take turns bringing their “quilt piece” to you and telling the class about their drawing which will then be added to the “quilt.” Display the “quilt” as it is being sewn together to form a “Caring Blanket.” When everyone has contributed their piece to the blanket, ask the students how their “Caring Blanket” may have made someone feel warm inside.

ACTIVITY TWO:
Provide each student with a yellow cutout of a happy face and a sad face. Have the students decide which face represents how they felt as they were helping during the Event activity. Have each student bring their chosen “face” to the display area entitled “Our Faces”/”Our Helping Mirror.” As the students hand you their “faces” display them in as much of a circle as you can. When everyone’s face is displayed, ask the students if most of the faces were happy or sad. Using black heavy string or yarn and common pins/tacks, make the mouth of the face, over the ‘sea of faces’ that represents how the majority of the students felt.

ACTIVITY THREE:
Playing the game “Duck, Duck, Goose,” model for the students how the person who is “IT” will walk around the circle of students tapping them lightly on the head saying, “caring” “sharing” “helping” “giving,” or any combination of these words. However when the person who is IT taps someone on the head and says “philanthropy” or “philanthropist” that person is now IT and must stand and tell the class how he or she cared, shared, helped, or gave to someone during the Event. The new IT person now walks around the circle following the model. If some is dubbed “Philanthropist” and they have nothing they can think of to share, have the IT person continue to follow the model until he or she finds someone to be IT who is willing and able to share. (NOTE: Make every effort to be sure that everyone has an opportunity to be IT and to share.)

ACTIVITY FOUR:
Cut out an outline of a star on yellow construction paper for each student. Have each student come to the front of the class in turn and whisper to you what they did during the Event. Write what they did on their star. Have the student hold up his/her star while you tell the class the word(s) that is written on it. Celebrate each recipient as they hold their star with hand clapping/a cheer, etc. Have each student then place his or her star on the display board entitled “Super Stars.” After everyone has had a turn, ask the class if they think that the stars in the sky help to make things a little brighter at night. Draw a comparison as to how all of their deeds certainly helped to make the world a brighter place. Thank and applaud the students as a class.