Blog About Us Community Service Kit National Partners Results Tools Scrapbook   • How to Use This Kit • Teaching Service Learning • Order the Film & Companion Book   The Impact of Cancer on Family Life The Impact of Cancer on Siblings How to Help Your Buddy Doctors & Nurses THE SERVICE LEARNING PROCESS: • Preparation • Community Service • Reflection • Celebration SIBPACKS written by Christy Clawson SERVICE PROJECT OVERVIEW Waiting is something that becomes a part of life for everyone in the family of a child living with cancer. A common scenario is waiting in the hospital during treatments or emergency visits. For siblings the waiting is especially trying because along with it comes a host of difficult emotions. The underlying purpose of this project is to give emotional support to the sibling of a cancer patient. After learning about empathy and effective communication skills, students will study the impact of cancer on siblings. Students will organize a service project where they provide backpacks filled with small gifts and goodies to acknowledge and validate the siblings of children with pediatric cancer. SUBJECTS Language Arts    6 th - 12 th grade Social Studies   Health   NATIONAL STANDARDS1 Language Arts 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process 5. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media   Working with Others   1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group 4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills   Health   3. Understands the relationship of family health to individual health 4. Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health UNIT OBJECTIVES Students will learn about the impact that pediatric cancer has on siblings. Students will learn about empathy. Students will create and perform role-plays to develop empathy. Students will learn that through their actions and community service they can give emotional support to siblings. Students will write for various purposes and audiences (e.g., informal journals, business letters, essays, and reflections) based on the readings and information relating to the sibling’s viewpoint of childhood cancer. Students will organize and implement a service project to fill backpacks with goodies for siblings that will be distributed through a local hospital’s children’s oncology unit or other appropriate organization. UNIT ASSESSMENTS   Depending on your instructional goals, assessments can be taken from a variety of writing assignments, readings, organizational tasks, or skits. In addition, you could choose to ask students to maintain a working portfolio or learning log throughout the service project, and use those as tools for assessment. In addition, a rubric is provided to help you and your students assess the overall project. LESSONS CONTAINED IN THIS UNIT: 1 - OVERVIEW FILM PROJECT AND PURPOSE 2 - WHAT IS EMPATHY 3 - EXPLORE AND ROLE-PLAY SIBLING ISSUES 4 - COMMUNITY SERVICE: SIBPACKS > Fill and distribute backpacks for siblings LESSON 1: FILM PROJECT AND PURPOSE Note to teachers: Students may be interested in learning about how the film was made before viewing the film clip. See the A Lion in the House website for information. Please review the suggested Discussion Questions (PDF) prior to the group viewing. You may need to adjust the questions according to the unique make-up of your group. For most active viewing of the material, please engage your students in both pre-viewing and post-viewing discussions. NATIONAL STANDARDS1   Language Arts 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media LESSON OBJECTIVES Students will view the “Impact of Cancer on Siblings” film clip. Students will participate in a class discussion. Students will write a response to the film and discussion on an exit card. MATERIALS Computer with Web access Viewing equipment (Television and DVD player) Discussion Questions (PDF) Index cards for exit response PROCEDURE   1. Provide an overview of the film project to help students build background knowledge. See the A Lion in the House website for more information. 2. Prepare group for active viewing by leading them in a discussion based on the pre-viewing questions. 3. View the film clip. After viewing, engage your students in a whole class discussion of the Discussion Questions (PDF). 4. Teacher initiates a discussion of how a sibling’s normal life, basic needs, and extracurricular and co-curricular activities might suffer if parents had to be occupied with another child’s serious illness. 5. Exit Card: Ask students to write a response to the film and discussion on an index card at the end of class. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES There are some very good resources available to help you learn about this important topic. Please review all resources before sharing them with your students to ensure their appropriateness for your age group.   Websites: • SuperSibs! Is a national nonprofit organization to recognize, support and honor brothers and sisters of children with cancer. http://www.supersibs.org/ Feel free to contact SuperSibs! toll free at 866-444-SIBS (7427) for additional information to help with your lesson and discussion. • Children’s Oncology Group is an organization dedicated to helping parents and families of children coping with cancer to find educational and support resources. http://www.childrensoncologygroup.org/   Print: Non-fiction: • A LION IN THE HOUSE: Five Children. Six Years. True Stories from the War on Cancer, edited by Margaret McGurk, Orange Frazer Press, Inc. (2006) • National Cancer Institute (2005). When Your Brother or Sister Has Cancer: A Guide for Teens, National Cancer Institutes, Inventory Number p222. This brochure suggests ways teens can help themselves and their families cope with cancer in the family, and to find support. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/When-Your-Sibling-Has-Cancer   Fiction (Young Adult): • Kadohata, C. (2004). Kira-Kira. New York: Athenum Books for Young Readers. • Picoult, J. (2004). My Sister’s Keeper. New York: Atria. • Sonnenblick, Jordan (2005). Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, Scholastic Books. ASSESSMENTS Class participation of Discussion Questions (PDF) Exit Card Back to Lessons LESSON 2: WHAT IS EMPATHY Note to teachers: Empathy is an important life skill. Helping students to develop empathy and to practice it through their relationships with others is an important goal of service learning. Keep in mind that students will be at different points on the continuum of developing this life skill, and each will progress at his or her own pace. NATIONAL STANDARDS1   Language Arts 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes LESSON OBJECTIVES Students will define empathy. Students will compare and contrast empathy and sympathy. Students will discuss their interpretations with a partner. Students will participate in class discussion. Students will write a journal. MATERIALS Writing tools and paper Overhead projector or whiteboard Dictionary PROCEDURE   1. Introduce the idea of empathy by asking students what they think it means to “walk in someone else’s shoes.” Ask students to explain in writing their definition of empathy. 2. Help students understand that empathy is different from sympathy which they may be more familiar with. Discuss with students the similarities and differences between empathy and sympathy. Ask students to compare the concepts. You may want to encourage students to use a graphic organizer, such as a Venn diagram to help them with the comparison. Ask students to come up with examples of situations from their own experience that involve empathy and situations that involve sympathy. 3. Ask students to discuss their written responses with a partner. 4. Create a class working definition of empathy by going around the room and asking partners to share their mutual understanding of empathy. Write the ideas on the whiteboard or overhead projector. 5. Ask a student to find the word empathy in the dictionary (print or on-line) and read aloud the definition. 6. Compare the class definition and the dictionary definition. 7. Ask students to write a journal that explains in their own words the definition of empathy. Ask them to journal about a situation where they received or expressed empathy. (This could be a homework assignment.) ASSESSMENTS Observation of partner work Class Participation Venn diagram or written comparison Journal EXTENSIONS Start the lesson with a read-aloud. Read aloud excerpts from the books listed under Resources. Create a bulletin board or post quotes around the room about empathy. Have students write poems about empathy. Have students write short stories or personal narratives about situations involving and illustrating empathy. Have students form literature circles and read the recommended novels. Back to Lessons LESSON 3: EXPLORE AND ROLE-PLAY SIBLING ISSUES Note to teachers: Students will be better prepared for this activity if they have viewed the unit film clip and read excerpts from the companion book to the film. NATIONAL STANDARDS1   Language Arts 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process 6. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media Working with Others 1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group 3. Works well with diverse individuals and in diverse situations 4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills Health 3. Understands the relationship of family health to individual health 4. Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health LESSON OBJECTIVES Students will research sibling issues relating to childhood cancer. Students will create role-play situations relating to sibling issues. Students will discuss the kinds of actions they can take to give support to siblings. MATERIALS Writing tools and paper Props (if desired) Sibling Emotions (PDF) You will want to print these and cut them into strips in preparation for the activity PROCEDURE   1. Place students in groups. Each group will be writing and presenting a role-play situation to the class that illustrates their emotions. 2. Give groups a slip of paper with the emotions that siblings often feel. 3. Give groups adequate class time to write and practice their role-play. 4. Have each group present their role-play to the class, and submit a written version of the script for assessment. 5. After viewing the role-plays, discuss as a class how students can relate to the issues facing siblings. Discuss also the importance of interpersonal communication skills and emotional support for people who are going through rough times. 6. Ask students to evaluate in writing whether they have a better understanding (empathy) of the issues facing siblings. 7. Ask students to brainstorm as a class the kinds of actions they can take to give emotional support and other kinds of support to the siblings of children with cancer. Share with students some of the kinds of support organizations offer (see mylion National Partner, SuperSibs!). ADDITIONAL RESOURCES Candlelighters--www.candlelighters.org/justforsiblings.stm--has great resources, including: - The Sibling Support Project, is a national effort dedicated to the life-long concerns of brothers and sisters of people who have special health, developmental, or mental health concerns. Their mission is accomplished by training local service providers on how to create community-based peer support programs for young siblings; hosting workshops, listservs, and websites for young and adult siblings; and increasing parents' and providers' awareness of siblings' unique concern through workshops, websites, and written materials. http://www.siblingsupport.org - The Sibling Slam Book : Edited by Don Meyer, ISBN # 1-890627-52-6. What it is really like to have a brother or sister with special needs Go to CureSearch.org and click on For Friends/Community, then on School Spirit for Fact Sheets on Supporting Patients and Siblings at School. http://curesearch.org/for_community/index_sub.aspx?id=3640 ASSESSMENTS Group work Written script for role-play Role-play presentation to class Students’ written evaluation EXTENSIONS As an alternative, students could create artwork, posters, skits or other types of writing (poems, short stories, etc.) to illustrate their understanding of the issues relating to siblings. Students could present their role-plays, skits, or other products to other classes or display them to the school at large, maybe in the media center or a bulletin board. Discuss the idea of a support system. Ask students who they would consider as part of their own support system. Ask students to consider who would think of them as being part of a support system. How could they be part of a support system for a friend or classmate who lost a brother or sister to cancer? Back to Lessons LESSON 4: COMMUNITY SERVICE > Sibpacks > Fill and distribute backpacks for siblings Note to teachers: There are a variety of ways that you could choose to implement this service learning project. One option is to contact the children’s oncology unit of your local hospital and inquire whether they would be willing to distribute SibPacks. An alternative would be to work through contacts in your community or mylion National Partners local chapters to distribute the filled packs. You could also choose to provide SibPacks for a family in your community, possibly working through a school, church, or community organization. NATIONAL STANDARDS1   Language Arts 1. Uses the general skills and strategies of the writing process 6. Uses reading skills and strategies to understand and interpret a variety of informational texts 8. Uses listening and speaking strategies for different purposes 9. Uses viewing skills and strategies to understand and interpret visual media Working with Others 1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group 3. Works well with diverse individuals and in diverse situations 4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills Health 3. Understands the relationship of family health to individual health 4. Knows how to maintain mental and emotional health LESSON OBJECTIVES Students will participate in a service project to fill backpacks for siblings. Students will work collaboratively to organize and implement the service project, including decisions regarding materials, requests for community involvement, and distribution of finished backpacks. Students will apply their understanding of the impact of cancer on siblings through engagement in the service tasks and writing assignments related to the project. Students will demonstrate their understanding of empathy through writing tasks, discussions, and engagement in the service tasks. MATERIALS Writing tools and paper Computer with Web access Names and Addresses of possible contributors within your community (You may want to contact your local Chamber of Commerce.) Backpack(s) to be filled Printed Rubric PROCEDURE   1. Explain to students that the purpose of filling SibPacks is to provide emotional support to siblings of children living with cancer. Review some of the ideas included on the SuperSibs! website about showing support to siblings. Discuss some of the issues learned in previous activities and through viewing the A Lion in the House film clip, “Impact of Cancer on Siblings.” 2. Brainstorm ideas of items to include in the backpacks. Students may find that imagining the person receiving the backpack – their age and interests, for example, helps them to engage in the activity and to come up with better ideas of what to include to make the gift meaningful. You might want to come up with themes for the packs. For example, try to imagine the interests and personality a younger sister might have and fill a pack with appropriate goodies. As students brainstorm their ideas, create lists of items to include. Some discussion points: • Help students develop empathy skills by asking them to think of the person who will receive the pack they are filling. • Try to imagine they are filling the pack for someone they know personally (if it were your brother or your sister or your friend). • What kinds of things do you do when you’re waiting (e.g., play games, read, write, draw)? • What kinds of small gifts would make you feel happy to receive? • What are some useful things you could put in a backpack? • What could you include in the pack to make it really special? A note? A card? A drawing? 3. Ask students to decide how they want to come up with items to fill backpacks. Do they wish to ask for item donations, cash donations, or donate items themselves? Probably a combination of all of these ideas would work best. How will they request donations? One option is a letter-writing campaign. If students request donations for the backpacks, it would be helpful to include a list of suggested items, developed during the brainstorming session. 4. Will they continue the project for a long period of time? If so, they may want to develop brochures to solicit ongoing item donations, including backpack donations. 5. If students want to encourage other groups to create backpacks, they could develop a training brochure that gives directions on this project that they could provide to other organizations. 6. Should a friendly note or letter be included with the pack? Does the distribution organization (hospital, for example) have anything they wish to include in the backpack? There may be informational pamphlets or other items they may wish to include. 7. Have students gather supplies in the decided manner. Before actually filing the packs, student should complete a list of the items that will go into each pack. Include a suggested age range for the pack. If the pack is developed with a special interest, include information about that. 8. Fill backpacks. Encourage students to actively engage their newly honed skills of empathy while filling the packs. Emphasize that this will be helping a real person, with real needs. 9. Take SibPacks to the agreed-upon distribution center. ASSESSMENTS If students have written business letters to request donations, or letters to local hospitals explaining the project and asking to distribute backpacks, use the letters for assessment. Students could write and practice short oral presentations to explain the project and request donated items or cash donations. These short speeches could be presented to other classes in the school, or to community organizations to gather support for the project. Assess the students on persuasive writing and oral presentations. Overall project - see Rubric EXTENSIONS Backpacks could be developed around different themes and/or for different age groups. Students could organize the larger school and community in the preparation of backpacks to reach a larger number of siblings and to promote awareness of the issues. Students could develop an awareness campaign to go along with their service project. This would be a fulfillment of a health advocacy standard. They could write Public Service Announcements, create posters, ads, skits, and present them to a larger audience in the local community. Back to Lessons UNIT REFLECTION Ask students to talk about or write about the following: 1. What kinds of skills did I develop while performing this project? 2. How will this project help siblings of children living with cancer? 3. What else could I do to help support siblings? Talk about some specific suggestions. Give your students concrete ideas to work with, maybe even practice. • Refer to the siblings by their own name. • Be interested in their life – don’t just ask about the ill sibling. • Be supportive – maybe help them get to an activity or be an “audience” for a special event. • Ask them how they are doing and then really listen. 4. If possible, take photographs during the project and share them on the mylion Scrapbook. Remember to get the appropriate releases from students. 1 All standards from Mid-Continent Research for Educational Learning (McREL) at http://www.mcrel.org/     A Lion in the House is a co-production of Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert and the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Executive Producer Sally Jo Fifer.            blog About Us community service kit national partners results tools scrapbook            Website hosted by DONET.COM                     © 2007, A Lion in the House, LLC.