First, discuss values, goals decision-making and social responsibility. To assist students with better understanding the concept of values, bring something in that you valued as a teen. Talk about how important the item is in your life currently and the way in which your values have evolved. Then, provide students with two worksheets. The first will list about 20 values you provide for them to rank in terms of importance. For the second worksheet, values will be listed in a column under four rows: community, family, teachers and friends. Instruct students place to place an X in each column for those people who have influenced certain values in their lives. The UEN website has worksheets you can use for this exercise.
For high school students, bridge the values of kindness and consideration into a project to help a global community. To start, teach students about micro finance and inform them of the needs of various communities. Then, set up different fundraising activities. Fundraising activities may include a bake sale, car wash, a white elephant sale, school dance, and so on. Once the fundraising goal is met, donate the loans to a micro finance institution or make the micro loan. Track the repayment process and, once fully repaid, donate the money to a charity.
Teaching students the value of gratefulness is important to their ability to persevere in difficult situations and build stronger connections with people in their lives. To conduct a gratefulness learning activity, start by reviewing the manners around receiving a gift. Ask students what a person should say when receiving a gift --- prior to opening it, what to say if the person does not like a gift and how to express appreciation for something received when the giver is not present. Then, make it fun by wrapping up different "odds and ends" items. Alternate the roles of giver and receiver among all students and have them act out the expressions of gratefulness.
Share stories about heroism with students and teach them about heroic qualities. To incorporate heroic figures from the school, community and historic or current events, print pictures from the Internet and discuss the selfless acts and courage exhibited by the selected heroes. Educate students on how they can give time and efforts to others through charitable work and serving others. Then, challenge students to serving their community through bringing items to class for recycling, volunteering at a local nursing home or reading to a younger class of students. Additionally, you could set up a chart to track monthly heroism where points are based on heroic acts of kindness. At the end of the month, recognize students through a certificate or lunch celebration.