Making Service Count
Responding to Community Needs
Print this Page- Subject(s): Language Arts & Literature, Social Studies & Geography, Service Learning
- Grade Level(s): 3–5, 6–8
Overview
Students reflect on the importance of community service by reading stories about Peace Corps Volunteer experiences. Students then articulate needs within their own communities and participate in a gallery walk to generate ideas about how to address those needs through service.
Background Information
Service and Service Learning:
Global Youth Service Day
Peace Corps'Coverdell World Wise Schools
The Corporation for National and Community Service
More about Bulgaria:
Peace Corps - Where Do Volunteers Go? - Bulgaria
CIA - The World Factbook - Bulgaria
More about China:
Peace Corps - Where Do Volunteers Go? - China
CIA - The World Factbook - China
More about St. Lucia:
Peace Corps - Where Do Volunteers Go? - Eastern Caribbean
CIA - The World Factbook - Saint Lucia
Objectives
- Students will reflect on the importance of community involvement and service.
- Students will articulate views on the needs of their own communities.
- Students will generate ideas for service projects to address specific needs.
Featured Reading(s)
- Seeds of Change by Valerie Flynn
- How Can Service-Learning Make a Change? by Ivan Hristov
- ICAN Changes a Nation One Person at a Time by Jennifer O. Leshnower
Procedures
- Begin by discussing students' experiences with community service.
- Have you participated in a community service project before? If so, what was the purpose of the project? What was rewarding or challenging about it?
- What does it mean to participate in community service?
- Read stories about service from Peace Corps Volunteers Jennifer Leshnower (St. Lucia) or Valerie Flynn (China), or from Peace Corps staff member Ivan Hristov (Bulgaria).
If you or your students are unfamiliar with the Peace Corps, you can learn more at www.peacecorps.gov. You may also want to share with your students some additional information about the countries featured in the stories (see Background Information, above). - Discuss the importance of volunteering and community involvement to our daily lives. This can be done by researching important projects in your community that required volunteers or through brainstorming how volunteering can make a difference.
- Ask students to think about issues they would address in their community through service. The issues could be issues related to health and safety, education, environment, social issues, or other areas. Create a list of student ideas and have the class vote on the four issues they believe are most important to address.
- Place four large sheets of paper around the classroom with one of the chosen issues written on each one. Beneath each issue, write the question: What could we do? Introduce students to the idea of a gallery walk. For this activity, they will walk around the room and consider each of the four community issues they chose as most important to address. On the sheets of paper stating the issues, students will add their own ideas about how each one could be addressed through service. They can use markers to write directly on the paper, or write their ideas on sticky notes and attach them to the paper.
- When students have finished writing, allow time for them to read other people's ideas before discussing the activity as a class. Given the ideas generated by the students, what do they think would be the most appropriate ways to address the issues they chose? Discuss the steps they would need to take in order to carry out their ideas and the potential impact and importance of the projects they have suggested.
Extensions
- Carry out one or more of the students' proposed service projects. Use the resources available on the Global Youth Service Day, Corporation for National and Community Service, and World Wise Schools websites to help.
- Connect with an existing service opportunity in your community.
- Invite a returned Peace Corps Volunteer to speak to your class about their volunteer experience and projects through Speakers Match.
Framework and Standards
Enduring Understandings
- There are many ways to engage in community service.
- Young people have the potential to make change within their communities.
- Fundamental social goals may often be the same all over the world.
Essential Questions
- Why do people engage in community service?
- What are other people doing to make a difference in their communities?
- What could I do to make a difference?
Standards
Social Studies:
Thematic Strand III: People, Places, and Environments
Thematic Strand V: Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
Thematic Strand IX: Global Connections
Geography:
Essential Element 2: Places and Regions
Language Arts:
Standard 1: Reading for Perspective
Standard 4: Communication Skills
Standard 5: Communication Strategies
Standard 8: Developing Research Skills
Standard 11: Participating in Society