Story Name:  Social responsibility and giving back

Teacher’s Notes:

a.  Key topic

Through this story we describe to kids the concepts of social responsibility, philanthropy and volunteerism and how we can all make a difference if we become socially responsible citizens.  We further explain that social responsibility has to do with preserving our planet, volunteering for common good causes and helping people in need.

b.  Concepts Introduced to the kids through the Story

• Understand the concepts of philanthropy, volunteerism and social responsibility
• Find out how kids can be socially responsible
• Understand that becoming a community volunteer is quite easy and rewarding

c.  Learning objectives for the Kids

• Discover the benefits associated with doing community work/social service
• Develop their sense of community and their confidence that they can make a difference in the world
• Realize that the world is interdependent which means that what happens in one place of the world can affect the rest of the world

d. Tips for Teaching through Storytelling

When teaching youngsters we need to use a slightly different approach than when teaching adults, meaning that youngsters relate better to visuals, examples and stories (real life examples/stories are even better) and interactive technology.  Also, young kids do not need a lot of jargon, they need a much simpler vocabulary that they can understand.  In addition, the teacher has to figure out a way to relate to the kids and there are a number of things that can be done in this direction from the type of clothes the teachers wear, to the language they use, the way they move about in the class, etc.

Storytelling is more than just reading the words of a story out loud.  It takes other skills as well.  It is important for teachers to use different tones in their voice when they are telling a story.  If the teacher’s voice stays at the same level it becomes boring!  The teacher will want their voice to go higher and lower, louder and softer.  Teachers should try to use different voices for different characters and make sure that they speak loud enough so that everyone hears them, and say the words clearly so that everyone can understand them.

Teachers should also have in mind that storytelling is not just words; it is motion as well.  They will have to move around when they tell their story; they should use their arms, legs, hands and their face to tell the story.  In addition, they have to make sure to maintain eye contact with their audience.  Eye contract is one of the most important non-verbal ways to connect with other people.  It helps keep the attention of the audience and it also conveys a sense of confidence and truthfulness.  It is best that teachers always look directly into the kids’ eyes; they will connect with them and keep their attention longer.

e.  In-class discussion after the storytelling

• Define social responsibility and ask the kids for some examples from their life.  Follow with a discussion of their examples.
• Define philanthropy and ask the kids for some examples from their life.  Follow with a discussion of their examples.
• Ask the kids the following questions and discuss their answers.  Usually there is time to take and discuss the answers of 2 to 3 kids.

• • What do you think of the way Madya and her family spent their Saturday?
  • Would you like to do something similar with your family and why/why not?

The Story

The Soccertopia Eagles kids are getting together for their weekly session with Mr. Soccerball, right after practice.  Madya, along with Lucius and Fiducius are chatting happily and Madya looks especially excited as she is talking to her friends.

-It was so great guys, we had the best time!  When mom suggested that we do that as a family last Saturday, I was not at all happy about it, I would much rather stay home and relax, said Madya in an excited voice.

-What was so exciting Madya? Asked Mr. Soccerball.  Your eyes are shining and your whole face is smiling.  Whatever it was, it must have been very good!

-Oh Mr. Soccerball, it was the greatest experience, said Madya.  Last week, mom had suggested that we do something together, the whole family.  We all thought that we would go to the zoo or something like that.  But mom had something totally different in mind.  Her idea of a fun day with the family was joining the people from our local community center in cleaning our neighborhood park!

-What? Said Fiducius.  Is your mom for real?  That’s her idea of fun?

-But Fiducius, replied Madya, even though I thought the exact same thing in the beginning, it ended up being so much fun.  They split us in teams of 10 which included two other families plus ours, and we were given a specific area at the north of the park to clean up and tidy.  Our team was made up of 5 adults and 5 kids.  We really hit it off with the other kids and the truth is that picking up trash ended up being so much fun!

-This sounds great Madya, said Mr. Soccerball. What a great way to spend family time with your brother and parents.

-Yeah, and I have made new friends, as a matter of fact my whole family made new friends and we did something good for our community.

-Kids, I want you all to pay attention to what Madya just said about doing something good for the community.  Do you know what we call that?

-Well, my mom said that volunteering to clean up the park is an act of social responsibility and that we all have an obligation to act in a way that has a positive impact on our community, said Madya.

-Exactly, this is what it is:  Social Responsibility, added Mr. Soccerball.  He then continued:  With small acts of social responsibility we can all become change makers.  Our daily actions are creating the world as it is and as it will be.  You all have the power to change things and imagine, if you all pull together, that power multiplies and you can really change things for the better.

-This sounds really cool sir, said Fiducius.  By doing something small, we can make a difference in the world.

-I have an idea, said Lucius.  Why don’t we, our soccer academy team, do something together? It would be great if we could meet up once a month and volunteer to do something good for our community.

-I can think of a few things we can do, said Fiducius in an excited voice.  We could have cleanup days too and we could clean parks or our school or our neighborhood.  Or we could perhaps help needy children by organizing a toy collection day and we could all bring old toys that we don’t want anymore; or we could visit a local dog shelter and feed the dogs and play with them!

-Of course, there are a lot of things that you kids can do to show that you are socially responsible said Mr. Soccerball.  But in addition to that there are small things you can do on a daily basis which can have a positive effect on our environment.  Can you think what these might be?

-My mom tells me that I should be careful not to leave the tap water running, it is such a waste, said Lucius.  She keeps reminding me that there are a lot of places in the world where they don’t have running water so we should be careful not to waste it.

-And she is absolutely right Lucius, replied Mr. Soccerball.  It is indeed such a waste, so you should all be mindful not to waste water.

-Sir, we should also make sure that the lights are off when we leave the classroom or our room, said Lucius.  This way we save energy.

-That is a great one too, Mr. Soccerball said with a smile.  Saving energy is quite important for our planet.

-We can also be friendly to our environment by limiting the use of plastic bags and recycle both at home and at our school, said Madya.  When we go to the supermarket with my parents we take our reusable bags with us, and we don’t use the supermarket plastic bags.

-These are really great ideas guys, said Mr. Soccerball and they are so easy to do.  If we are mindful to do these things every day, then they will become a habit and we will do them automatically.

-So, let’s get started Mr. Soccerball, said Madya and started singing.

I want to do good

I want to do more

But I can’t change the world alone

Individual actions do not go to waste

Together we can make a change

And make our world a better place

All the kids were excited and Mr. Soccerball looked very pleased.  He turned to the kids with a smile and said:

-Let’s get started kids, let’s see how we can do our bit to make a difference in our community, to make a difference in our world!