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Book Club
2004/2005 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? Celebration
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. |