"Work with the entire class or a small group of leaders to decide upon a short message to be spelled out by the card section. An example might be THE FIFTH GRADE SAYS HELLO." Count the number of letters and blank spaces in the message (in this case there are 25 letters and blanks). Have each student who will be in the card section write down the integers from one up to the number of letters on a sheet of paper...Now 'program' the first letter."

"An interesting historical note can be introduced by considering initial (historical) reactions to such items as the telephone or ball point pen. New technology always meets with resistance, and the resistance may be well justified. The technology represents potential change, and often one cannot tell in advance if the change will be for the better".