April 2006 Newsletter Links
BRINGING NEW LIFE TO LEARNING

Example Projects from Augsburg College resource on Service Learning

Kindergarten: Students developed booklets containing activities they had done in their first year of school and felt that preschool children would like to hear about. The kindergarten children read the booklets that they had produced to preschool children so that the preschool children could better understand what kindergarten
was really like.

3rd grade: Students helped the local community library by designing and making new book covers for children's books in the library. Each student read the book and wrote a brief summary of the book as well as producing the new cover.

1st grade: The children combined a science lesson (growing marigolds) with art (decorating pots) to produce unique gifts for senior citizens in a home adjacent to the elementary school. The children presented the gifts individually to the residents of the home.

Primary: Two classrooms as part of their science classes started a school recycling program and acted as resource people for the other classes in the building.
2nd grade - A classroom grew flowers from seeds to give to the seniors along with making get well cards for those that had been admitted to the local hospital.

4th grade: Students established a Kids for Saving the Earth Club. Came about as a result of the
environmental studies portion of the academic curriculum. Kids wrote letters to children who lived in a rain
forest. They started a recycling program in the school and petitioned the local council to make recycling mandatory in their community.

6th grade: After studying the local neighborhood in social studies the students in art made a number of bowls and then sponsored an "Empty Bowls" dinner where community members were invited in to a program designed to raise their conscientiousness and to a soup dinner served in the bowls made by the children. The bowls were then auctioned off and the proceeds were donated to the local soup kitchen. 350 people attended the dinner and $576 was donated.

High School: After a number of household accidents had been reported in a local paper a high school health class designed a set of appropriate safety tips and duplicated then on the back of grocery bags and returned the bags to the store to be used to pack groceries. By this means the safety tips were distributed throughout the community.

A government class researched and designed a place mat that contained voting information and a brief sketch
of the local candidates. They contacted the local fast food restaurants and these mats were used in place of the "usual" mats until after the election was completed.

Biology classes, working under the direction of the city developed and carried out a city wide tree survey. The results of the survey were to be used by the city to plan future planting and tree care schedules.

Math students collected trash and sorted it for recycling. They then compared the cost of recycling versus the cost of not recycling and the impact it would have on the local community.

Additional Project examples:
http://goodcharacter.com/SERVICE/primer-10.html

http://www.nylc.org/objects/DiscoverSL/ElementaryProjects.pdf

http://www.learningindeed.org/tools/examples.html

Web Resources:
National Service-Learning Clearing House

Disney Channel Online Learning to Serve website Service learning information with a focus on students with disabilities

National Youth Leadership Council

Students in Service to America

Community Lessons: Promising Curriculum Practices.Bartsch, Julie. Malden, MA: Massachusetts Department of Education, 2001 A 202 page file filled with valuable information.

Creating High-Performing Schools Through Service-Learning: A Service-Learning Trail Guide 70 page joint publication download and well worth the wait!

Linking service learning to standards:
Service Learning Standards Based Models from Boston Public Schools

Projects linked with standards examples (in PDF files)
Grades Pre K
Grades K-2
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
Grades 9-12

Print resources:
THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO SERVICE LEARNING
Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, & Social Action By Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A.
A wealth of activities, ideas, resources, and more to encourage service learning in K-12 and higher education.

Copyright © 2006 Adrian Reznik