Projects to Raise Awareness. 1) Host a small fundraising project (If your school allows fundraising projects)

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1 GRADES K-5 Thank you for touring the Visitor Center. We hope that learning about the foundation and partners work enabled your students to see their role in creating positive change! As you return to the classroom, the following activities may help direct your students interest toward further learning. Most of these ideas can be applied across many grade levels with some adaptation. Please check with your administrator before starting a project. Some schools/districts have policies limiting or forbidding fundraising at school, and your class may consider volunteering, using their voice, or contributing in other ways. We encourage you to share your ideas and results with us on Facebook and Twitter (@gatesvc), though please note that The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Visitor Center do not necessarily support or endorse the organizations or links included in these resources. Take-Away Activities 1) Quick Write 2) Raising Awareness 3) Build Current Events into Your Schedule Projects to Raise Awareness 1) Host a small fundraising project (If your school allows fundraising projects) 2) Create a connection with students in another country 3) Encourage students to find an organization with whom they might want to volunteer Hands-On Learning 1) Engineering Design 2) Service Learning Project Post-Visit Activities Grades K-5 Page 1

2 TAKE-AWAY ACTIVITIES Quick Write Have students reflect on their visit using a quick-write process that draws on the following prompts: NO.1 What surprised you about what you saw? What inspired you most about our collaborative efforts for making a better world? What did you know about the Gates Foundation before you visited, and what do you know now? Raising Awareness Have students create an infographic of an issue they care about and share it with someone outside the class (e.g., family, friends, community members). NO.2 Student Take-Aways. Brainstorm with students what they learned at the Visitor Center. For homework, ask them to discuss two stories, topics, or experiences with a parent and report back on the conversation. Or, if you have a buddy class, ask your students to share what they learned at the Visitor Center with their buddies next time you meet. Poster Campaign: Research a few key facts about a chosen issue and design eye-catching posters for your school hallways or videos, for older students, to post on the school website. Discuss how other students and school staff respond to the posters or videos. Share Your Cause Tree. Remember the Share Your Cause tree from the Visitor Center? Help students create their own tree for the class, or even for the whole school. See what students think is important. Contact the Visitor Center if you would like some cards to help get you started. (visitorcenterstaff@ gatesfoundation.org) Build Current Events into Your Schedule Encourage the habit of reading about current issues in your local and global community. Take a break from your regular homework routine at least once per month and ask students instead to find an interesting current events article. Ask a few students to report on their articles and share why they were drawn to that issue. Find more ideas, including news publications and websites for kids, in this helpful blog post written by a 3rd grade teacher: NO.3 Post-Visit Activities Grades K-5 Page 2

3 PROJECTS TO RAISE AWARENESS Host a small fundraising project (If your school allows fundraising projects) Parasitic worms: $0.50 per child per year can provide treatment and help keep students in school. Learn more at: or through World Concern at NO.1 Malaria: Just $1 can provide a treatment and $10 can provide a bed net to help protect a child from malaria. Find information and resources for fundraising at and Education: Help build a school with Free the Children s We Create Change coin drive campaign. $20 = 1 brick. Visit: Hunger: For $10 your class can donate a share of a sheep through Heifer International. Or, a whole sheep for $ Heifer also provides Read to Feed materials for fundraising: A simple coin drive can get your students involved with supporting homeless children through a local program, Kids Helping Kids: Many organizations provide resources and ideas for small fundraising projects. Visit Facing the Future s project database, and click on the tabs to find ideas and links for local, state, or global projects: aspx#.u_1u5mogdrs A little internet searching can help you identify a great fundraising method for your class. Start with this Pinterest board: Create a connection with students in another country Writing letters, exchanging artwork, or videoconferencing with students in another country can be a powerful experience that helps students develop empathy as they see human similarities across cultures and geography. NO.2 Some teachers find partner classes through their own networks i.e., your cousin who is teaching overseas, or a class parent who has family in another country. Organizations like iearn, epals, and World Wise Schools help teachers find partner classrooms for pen pal activities and more. Or, you can find an organization to join using this resource packet from the World Affairs Council ( world-affairs.org/?attachment_id=7162). Some programs are free; others have a cost to join. You may propose a school-wide program by gathering fellow teachers together to watch the film Brownstones to Red Dirt (trailer: or explore for more stories of international class connections. Discuss how your (continued on the following page) Post-Visit Activities Grades K-5 Page 3

4 PROJECTS TO RAISE AWARENESS CONTINUED students might benefit from an international connection. Consider the potential of connecting students in the developed and the developing world. How can the relationship be mutually beneficial and respectful, honoring both cultures? Encourage students to find an organization with whom they might want to volunteer NO.3 Volunteer match connects your interest with your location. Post-Visit Activities Grades K-5 Page 4

5 HANDS-ON LEARNING Engineering Design Have students create a new tool or improve upon the design of a tool they saw at the Visitor s Center. Have them draw it first and then if time permits make a prototype out of everyday materials (e.g., paper, wood sticks, straws, paper clips). NO.1 Service Learning Project Service Learning offers a real-world outlet for students to adopt and adapt many of the lessons they learned at the Visitor Center. The following steps may help scaffold a service learning project for your class: NO.2 Step One: Identify a Topic Brainstorm a list of possible issue in your local or global community. Offer students the opportunity to advocate for their favorite one. Discuss and/or vote in order to select one issue. Then, ask your librarian to help identify age-appropriate reading material to help your class study up on their chosen issue. Topics Talents Project Ideas Step Two: Crowdsource Student Talent Help your students make a list of their strengths and talents. You may ask students to share what they know of each other as friends and classmates before asking students to self-identify their talents. Step Three: Decide on a Project Review the list and generate ideas for using those abilities in support of the chosen issue. For example, if your class is interested in hunger (locally or globally) and has some students who like to draw, they could make bookmarks including their own drawings of healthy foods and facts about hunger and then distribute the bookmarks to raise awareness or sell them to raise money to donate. If your class is interested in malaria and enjoys using technology, they might use a class/school blog or website to raise awareness. Artists in the class could contribute artwork to scan and upload, while those who like to write prepare the informational text. Parents might help by sharing the link through social media. (continued on the following page) Post-Visit Activities Grades K-5 Page 5

6 HANDS-ON LEARNING CONTINUED For more on service learning, see: Jane Gooddall s Roots and Shoots: Download the Formula Toolkit and/or follow the free online, Common Core aligned, curriculum guide to help your students identify an issue in their community and plan an action. Free the Children Junior World Changers Kit: we-school/resources-curriculum-and-lesson-plans/junior-world-changers-kit/ Access the lesson plans as free downloads. Use individual activities or follow the whole kit to learn and take action. Giraffe Heroes Project: Consider starting with their free sample lesson: Find inspiring stories in the hero database: Classrooms with a Cause from Youth Service America (YSA): Sign up on their site to receive a copy of the curriculum, which is adaptable for K-12 classes. Learning to Give: Visit their teacher page to search for lessons or unit plans on different topics by grade level. National Service-Learning Clearinghouse: Search to find ideas and resources on a wide variety of topics and for any grade level. Post-Visit Activities Grades K-5 Page 6