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Grade Level: K-3
Academic Areas: Language Arts, Math, Interdisciplinary
Duration of service: Semester Long
Character Virtues: Giving, Caring
Service Areas: Education/Tutoring, Human Services
Service Learning Project:
Children will be introduced to communities and community helpers
in Social Studies. Children and their families will be introduced
to the concept of Service Learning via letters and conferences.
Once the project is launched, children will work at home on simple
tasks to earn money toward the purchase of books for a local shelter
or children’s hospital. Children will regularly log their
earnings in a journal. They will frequently count and roll their
coins to get them ready for deposit in a local bank. Graphs will
be kept to track individual and class progress. In the spring,
children will use their earned money to buy books at the annual
Book Fair. Students will alphabetize the purchased books and categorize
by genre. At the end of the collection, students will design a
book plate to list donor, school and a short message. We will
invite our fourth grade buddies to read one of our purchased books
and help us create a book poster to display at our celebration.
Community and district leaders will be invited to read to the
class and donate the book to the collection. At the end of the
project, children will host their families and other involved
individuals at a final celebration, when the books will be turned
over to the shelter or hospital representative.
Goals and Objectives
Academic
Learning Goal: Students will learn how to write journal entries
using what they know about letters, sounds and words.
Standard: ELA #1
Learning Goal: Students will learn the value of coins and create
graphs to represent accumulated amounts.
Standard: MST #3
Service
Community need: A local women’s shelter or children’s
hospital has a real need for books for their kids when they arrive.
Having new good books to read will be an appropriate diversion
for families as they try to manage their stressful surroundings.
Community need: Isolated pediatric patients and shelter children
are in need of quiet activities to endure their stay at the hospital
or shelter.
Possible Community Partners: Families, book stores, community
leaders, TV personalities, local politicians, superintendent of
schools, school board members.
Objective: To have children earn money at home, assisting with
family tasks. With the earned money, children will buy new books
for the hospital or shelter.
Objective: Design a book plate to explain donation and to write
a brief message.
Character
Virtue: Caring
Objective: To show concern and interest for children in our community
in shelters or hospitals.
Virtue: Giving
Objective: To donate as many books as possible to the shelter
or hospital.
Key Activities
Key Planning Activities
1. Students will brainstorm different ideas for tasks they can
do at home to earn money.
2. Students will create a sequence chain to show steps and events
to be taken for the entire project. (i.e. First event: Brainstorming;
2. Earning and counting money; 3. Inviting guest readers; 4. Buying
books;. 5. Sorting books;. 6. Designing book plates; 7. Celebrating
and handing books over.
Key Service Activities
1. Students will dictate a personal letter to their families
asking for their help in identifying tasks they can work on at
home.
2. Students will regularly write in their journals to indicate
the amount of money they earned and how they earned it.
3. Students will organize and sort books purchased and design
a personal book plate for the books the buy.
4. Students will design and create “Thank You” notes
for the guest readers.
5. Students will role play appropriate behavior and dialogue used
to greet the guest readers.
6. Students will plan a celebration ceremony to honor their work
on behalf of the shelter or hospital.
Key Reflection Activities
1- Students will have a greater understanding of how difficult
it must be for a child to have to leave the familiarity of home
and stay for a period of time in a shelter or hospital.
2- Students will have a greater understanding of why having access
to good, age appropriate books will help comfort the children
during their uncertain time away from home.
Reflections with photography:
Group pictures of the class showing expressions of concern at
the hospital. Brainstorm words explaining how you would feel at
the hospital. Post words on cutout papers and place with photo.
Photos with guest speakers presenting a book to the class to give
to the hospital or shelter. Caption each picture with a related
quote from the guest about our work.
Group photo of students sorting the books to be donated-brainstorm
and post words used to describe feelings. (accomplishment, happiness,
etc.)
Photos on celebration / donation day.
After the celebration make word cards with all the words brainstormed
and used in the project. Use these words in the classroom after
other major accomplishments or when someone is feeling anxious
or stressed. Reflect on how hard work and perseverance made others
appreciate our efforts.
Reflections through book making:
Write a book using prompts from the teacher. Student will fill
in the blank pages. Examples:
You have been waiting in the hospital waiting room for a long
time with nothing to do. Draw a picture to show how you feel and
what you may be doing.
Many people are in the waiting room--some are hurt, many are sick.
How do you feel and what can you do to pass the time?
The nurse brings in a box of books and says you can use them.
Draw and write how you'd feel then.
The doctor has seen you and you can go home. Write/draw about
something you could do to help other children in the hospital
while they are waiting for care. Explain how you would feel if
you thought of something good for children to do and they thanked
you for it.
Reflections through show and tell:
Objective: To have students try to get an understanding of what
it is like for children to move to a new place and leave behind
their possessions and their security
Procedure: Students bring to school one small item from home that
has special meaning for them. Children share with the class why
it is important to them, where it is kept at home and how they
use it. After everyone has described their item, students tell
the class how they would feel if that item was lost, destroyed
or taken away.
Activity: Students draw a picture of their favorite item. Students
caption their picture with a thought about why it is important
to them and why they would miss it if it were gone. The teacher
is the scribe. All of the pictures will be collated into a class
book which will become part of the class library.
Follow Up Discussion:
Teacher explains to the class how children in the shelter must
leave behind many of their favorite toys and books. Students discuss
how those children must feel, recalling their own thoughts in
the class book.
Inquiry: What could we do, as a class, to make it easier for children
to be at the shelter
Demonstration Activity
Students, parents, shelter or hospital residents, or clinic administrators,
and community members will gather to present the baskets of books
to community representatives. Families of all the students will
also be invited so that they too will have a greater understanding
of how the project of caring came full circle with their support.
The children and community folks will be awarded individual certificates.
As the books are turned over to the shelter or hospital administer,
students will be encouraged to share their personal feelings about
all they accomplished. Refreshments will be served to add to the
celebration.
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