adopt a cop

Care and Share

Grade Level: 2

Academic Areas: Language Arts, Math, Social Studies, Art

Duration of service: 6 weeks

Character Virtues: Giving, Caring

Service Areas: Education/Tutoring, Human Services

Materials Needed: writing materials, crayons, markers, construction paper, wrapping paper

Total Cost of Project: Under $50.00

Time Needed for Project: 6 wks

Time Needed for Teacher Preparation: 10 hours

Experience Needed in CE: Moderate Training

Experience Needed in SL: Moderate

Service Learning Project:

Children will be introduced to the writing process in English Language Arts. Students will develop a book drive for the Christmas Bureau. They will write letters to solicit book donations from family, community bookstores, and the school community to help children who might not be receiving holiday gifts. They will write a short book review for the recipient. In Math, students will create graphs to show the genres of books and the favorite books received. The children will also hold a bake/popcorn sale to provide a monetary donation. If possible, the children will visit the Christmas Bureau to deliver the books and money or present them to a representative at a school assembly. It is suggested the collection be completed by December 1 to present the gifts and money to the Christmas Bureau for the holiday delivery. The students will present these books and money in place of a gift exchange in our classroom.

Goals and Objectives

Academic

Learning Goal: Students will learn how to write friendly letters, using correct grammar and punctuation. Students will learn to alphabetize to the third letter.

Standard: ELA #1.#3

Learning Goal: Students will learn how to create and interpret graphs. They will also learn to add money to $1.00 and recognize the different coins and their values.

Standard: MST #3

Service

Community need: Our local Christmas Bureau has a real need for Christmas gifts (both books and money to buy gifts) for children in our county. We have many families who are unable to provide holiday gifts for their families.

Possible Community Partners: Christmas Bureau, class, school community

Objective: Each child will donate a new book for children in need as designated by the Christmas Bureau. They will write letters asking for book donations. They will write a book review for the donated book.

Character

Virtue: Caring

Objective: To show concern and interest to children in our community who receive no gifts for the holiday.

Virtue: Giving

Objective: To donate books to children in our in area in place of a gift exchange in our classroom

Key Activities

Key Planning Activities

1. A representative from the Christmas Bureau will come to the class at the beginning of the program to give background information about the Bureau to students.

2. Children will think about and plan different ways to hold a book drive and plan for a bake or popcorn sale.

3. Students will create a sequence chain to show steps and events to be taken for the project (i.e. 1. Discussion of community needs 2. Devise plan to assist the children not receiving gifts. 3. Collect books. 4. Write book reviews. 5. Present books to the Christmas Bureau).

Key Service Activities

1. Students will plan all procedures necessary for a bake/popcorn sale, including asking parents to come in and do some cooking projects with the students for the sale.

2. Students will develop and organize a book drive including writing or dictating letters to families and local bookstores and school community members.

3. Students will sort and organize the books. They will write a book review for the donated book.

4. At the end of the project, students will place books in alphabetical order by author’s last name and create graphs by genre and favorites.

Key Reflection Activities

1. (oral) Objective: To have students try to understand what it is like to have no gifts at holiday time.

Students will bring to school one small gift previously received that has special meaning for them. Children tell why it is important to them and how they felt when the received it. Children would then discuss how they would feel if they had not received any gifts for the holiday.

Additional: Reflect on feelings during the holidays.

Student observes his/her reflection in a hand held mirror and chants, “I look in the mirror and what do I see?” An explanation is then briefly given on how they would feel receiving and not receiving gifts.

2. (written) Objective: Show feelings during the holidays.

Students and teacher will collect advertisements from newspapers and magazines of gifts people might receive at the holidays. On 1/2 sheet of drawing paper, students glue pictures of gifts they might like to receive and write why they want the gift and how it would make them feel to open it on their holiday morning. On the second half of the paper, they draw a picture of a holiday decoration and no gifts presented. They would then write their feeling on the second half of the paper.

3. (performance): To recognize feelings of self worth having helped another child.

Procedure: Collect a large ball of red or green yarn. Pass the ball to make a web while children discuss feelings having helped others in our community. The web will then be raised to show there is strength in numbers when we work collectively to help others.

Celebration Activity

Students, parents, school community and Christmas Bureau representative will celebrate success at the December School Is A Feeling Assembly. The superintendent and members of the Board of Education will be invited to join us.

Second Suggested Activity: Several children in the class will be selected to present our project to the Board of Education in the SPOTLIGHT portion of their monthly meeting.