Service-learning: it's a buzzword these days, but what does it mean, and how does it actually work in a classroom? The National Youth Leadership Council defines it this way:
- Picking up trash on a riverbank is service.
- Studying water samples under a microscope is learning.
- When science students collect and analyze water samples, document their results, and present findings to a local pollution control agency … that is service-learning.
It's a rather simple, but potent, idea: connect students to their immediate communities, and to the world at large, by introducing them to opportunities for service and giving. Foster understanding about global communities by identifying pressing issues in those areas of the world. Then develop creative solutions and put all that learning, as Sen. John Glenn once said, into genuine action.
To introduce a group of third grade students we're working with, learning about the nations and people of Africa, to the concept of service-learning, we first arranged for them to meet real providers from non-profit organizations around the city. The driving questions: what is a campaign? How are those campaigns organized and promoted? And what tangible steps should we take to develop our own campaigns? The students met with representatives from Children for Children to talk about the values of helping, and visited the Heifer International office to meet with the good folks working on the ground to provide food and sustainable agricultural assistance to people all over the world. Returning to their classrooms, the students researched issues like the absence of clean water, child labor, health care, food production, and education in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa. Just the other day, I was in a classroom and the students were learning all about mission statements. They had already identified an issue that mattered to them (sustainable water), made educational flyers, drafted logos, voted on a campaign name, and now were beginning to brainstorm mission statements.
Here is a third grade class starting their own campaign to collect funds to build wells in Kenya, and very effectively too! The students are writing persuasively, showcasing their artistic abilities, voting democratically, honing interview and research skills, and focusing on alive issues that matter to them...simple issues that matter, by extension, to the global community that is their classroom. Even though this particular class is focusing on Africa, a Campaign Project could easily be replicated for any unit on a global scale. Anyone have other examples of service-learning opportunities and curriculum tie-ins for elementary students that truly encourage them to understand the work behind making a real difference?
