Inspiring people to practice kindness and pass it on to others
Lesson Plans & Pilot Program
Learn about our new pilot program to effectively teach kindness in schools.
LEARN MORE
My Name is Not Homeless
Andrea DeMink, Indiana
Video Synopsis:
Andrea DeMink is the founder of The PourHouse, a street-based outreach program in Indianapolis, Indiana. Like many outreach programs for the homeless, The PourHouse provides food, coffee, clothes… but what sets Andrea DeMink and her vision apart is that this program is about building relationships and helping people fulfill their dreams.
Suggested for: Traditional schools, alternative programs, youth groups, community centers
Suggested grade use: 5-12
Quick Start
Pre-video Discussion points: Time: 10 min21st Century skills used: LIS-CT, LIS-CI, CS-CL, CS-EL
- How would you describe community?
- Who is part of your community?
- What would you do if you saw someone digging through the trash for food?
- What comes to your mind when you think about homeless people?
- Do you think it is your community’s responsibility to help the homeless? Is it your responsibility?
- What do you know about Indiana? Is your state similar to Indiana? Do you have homeless people in your state?
Video Links: Please scroll down to view the video here, or click on the link below.
http://www.50in52journey.com/states/Indiana5.asp Time: 9:22 min
Post-video Discussion points: Time: 20 min +
21st Century skills: LIS-CT, LIS-CI, CS-HL
- What do you think about Andrea? What about Chad?
- How did Andrea’s choice change the lives of others?
- How do you think Andrea’s parents impacted the risks she took? What foundation was she given as a child?
- Do you think Andrea is doing the right thing for the homeless in her area?
- What would you have done differently?
- What problems do you feel Andrea is solving?
- Would you consider Andrea’s actions Kind actions? Why/Why not?
- What is Andrea’s community, who is in it?
Action: Time: 40 min 21st Century Skills: CS-CL, LIS-CT, LIS-CI,
- Define as a group what your community is and who is in it
- Explore things that could be improved in your community.
- Tip, this is accomplished best as a brainstorming session. One suggested method: Give each student a post-it-note pad and a pen. Depending on attention span provide 1-5 minutes for the students to write one idea on each sheet, not fleshed out, just concept. Encourage student to write as many ideas as come into their head. At 5 minutes, or when they stop writing, collect all of the notes and begin grouping them by sticking them on the wall. Create a separate line for each similar idea/category/theme. Have the group determine which line has the most suggestions and choose that as the area your group will explore to provide a solution.
- After agreement has been reached discuss an activity/program/project the students can create to work on that problem.
- Develop groups to tackle the different sections that need to be researched, designed, developed. Be sure to utilize all possible new media tools in the project design as appropriate.
Create Kindness based community action: 40 min 21st Century Skills: LCS, LIS-CT, LIS-CI, IMT-ML, IMT-T
- Breakout into groups to do the groundwork for the class chosen activity.
ACTIVITY: Time determined by class
Post-activity: Time: 60 min 21st Century Skills: LCS, IMT
- Be sure to capture a video or photographs of the students in action and have the students develop a blog entry utilizing video and photos to report their results and how the project made them feel. Submit to RAK!
Life lessons explored:
- Overcoming obstacles
- Being aware of the communities around you
- Personal passion
- Connection to community
- Taking risks
Community lessons explored:
- Determining a need
- Building from the ground up
- Finding support
- Building a team
- Service to others
Kindness lessons explored:
- Care for another
- Doing over and above the expected for another
- Living with awareness of all in your community
- Learning to expand the boundaries of your community
21st Century Skills Explored:
Life and Career Skills (LCS)
- Initiative and Self Direction - Manage goals and time
- Social and Cross-Cultural skills - work effectively in diverse teams, work w/people in a range of social and cultural backgrounds
- Productivity and Accountability, manage projects, produce results
- Leadership and Responsibility - guide and lead others, be responsible to others
Learning and Innovation Skills (LIS)
- Critical thinking (LIS - CT)
- Systems thinking - analyze how each part interacts to create the outcome
- Make judgments through analysis, interpretation, reflection
- problem solving
- Creativity and Innovation (LIS - CI)
- use a wide range of ideas
- create new ideas
- be open and responsive to new ideas
- understand the real world limits of adopting new ideas
Information, Media and Technology Skills (IMT)
- Media Literacy (IMT - ML)
- Create media products using appropriate tools and effectively communicate to a diverse audience
- Technology (IMT - T)
- Use technology as a tool to research, organize, communicate
Core Subjects and 21st Century Themes (CS)
- Civic literacy (CS - CL)
- Civic engagement as defined "Individual and collective action designed to identify and address issues of public concern." "Civic engagement", American Psychological Association. Retrieved 11/26/07
- Video projection
- Internet
- Basic video editing software
- flip cameras or other basic video camera
- Additional materials as required by students for their impact/kindness project
Suggested Materials:
Time:
Video watching: 10 min
Discussion time: 40 min
Group break-out: 60 min
Community/Kindness project: Time determined by group and action chosen
Report creation: 60 min
®2010, The Random Acts Of Kindness Foundation
1727 Tremont Place, Denver, CO 80202 • Phone: 800-660-2811 • Fax: 303-297-2919
www.randomactsofkindness.org
Guiding principles of 21st Century Skills from Partnership for 21st Century Skills: www.p21.org
Videos courtesy of 50 in 52 Journey (c) 2009
Comments
No one has commented on this item yet.