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8th Grade Random Acts of Kindness Assignment – August Instead of doing writing prompts each month this year, we will be studying and completing “random acts of kindness” and “secret services.” The first part of this assignment requires you to do some thinking and writing. First it is important to note that random acts of kindness occur when we go beyond our own duties and what is expected of us to reach out and help another person or group of people. These acts involve giving for the sake of giving, not in order to receive something in return. One example of this is making donations to people or places. Many times the individuals who perform these acts are not given recognition and they do not want it, which is one reason why the word “random” is in the title. This will be a yearlong study, but this month you will need to complete the following: Write an extended paragraph (at least 8 sentences) defining the word kindness. You may look up the definition in the dictionary, but put the term into your own words. After giving the definitions explain what this word means to you. Share examples of how you are kind or have seen kindness at school throughout the day. Remember to have a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a closing sentence.Make a list (in complete sentences) of 15 random acts of kindness you, your family, or our class could do in order to complete our “secret service” missions.Write an extended paragraph about why kindness is important to our school, society, and world as a whole.These three parts of the assignment are due on Friday SEPTEMBER 5th."Kindness is one of the most powerful interpersonal tools that we, as human beings, use to connect with one another. When we sense someone's need, we either choose to help in some way... or we choose not to. If we act from empathy, we will offer kindness, and in that moment a surprising, gracious, humanitarian connection is made. This is the positive power that each of us -- including children -- possess."Extra Credit: Write a paragraph explaining your interpretation of the above quote.Random Acts of Kindness – September The second part of this project will include looking through newspapers and online news sources. Get started on this right away as you will need to search throughout the month!You will need to find three articles from the newspaper or an online news sources in which individuals or groups of people were conducting kind acts towards other people or groups of people. This can be in the community or other cities, states, or even countries.Write a summary of each article. It should explain what the article was about and who was involved. In addition, it should describe in details how these people were demonstrating kindness towards others without expecting anything in return.Staple the paragraph summary and descriptions to each of the articles.After completing this part of the assignment you should have three extended paragraphs each stapled to the correct newspaper article. If you found your article online, you will need to print this article somehow. Due Date = Wednesday October 1st Random Acts of Kindness – OctoberThis is the third part of your Random Acts of Kindness project. For this part of the project, you will need to do some research and discuss with family members.Part 1: Research a person in history who displayed kindness towards others.Write a paragraph biography of this person.Write another paragraph explaining the acts of kindness this person demonstrated and why these acts were important. Be very detailed and do not forget to cite your work.Part 2:Interview a family member about kindness and “random acts of kindness.”Write down the questions that you asked and the answers that your family member provided.You should have at least 5 questions and answers all written in complete sentences.Due Date = Monday November 3rdRandom Acts of Kindness – NovemberFor the fourth part of this assignment you will be writing a short fable. Fables are brief stories told to teach practical lessons about human life. They usually use animals as characters and state the moral, or statement about how one should behave, at the end of the story. Examples of common fables are “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and “The Lion and the Mouse.” Complete the fable writing planner. Use this planner to create a fable that teaches a lesson. We will share these fables in class and with the younger grades as well. Be sure that yours definitely teaches a lesson.?FABLESPRE-WRITINGWhat lesson would you like to teach? Jot down some ideas.______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What animals do you think you might use to get your point across to the reader?________________ ________________ _______________________________ ________________ _______________Possible settings:__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Briefly describe the plot of your fable:First:________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Next:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the end:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Now think of details you want to include in your fable:????***Possible suggestions for your fable include: story book with illustrations, pop-up book, video, or audio recording.***?Random Acts of Kindness – DecemberDecember is known as the month of giving and caring because of all of the holidays. For this part of the assignment you will:Complete two “random acts of kindness.” These acts need to be meaningful and heartfelt. You should not expect anything in return.For one of the acts write a paragraph explaining your acts. Give all the details including what you do, who was involved, how you felt doing it, why it was important, etc.For the other act, write an article as if you are a reporter documenting the act you completed. This will be written in third person (he, she, they) rather than first person (I, me, my) like the other paragraph. Include the people involved and the act/acts that were performed. ................
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