Lesson 9
ACTION: Motivation and Final Preparations for
your RYP project or National Youth Service Day-April 26-28, 2002
About this Lesson:
After all the hard work and planning, students will be
eager to carry out their service project (s) or goals smoothly
and successfully. Pay attention to details and develop an agenda.
Final preparations for your project should include a related discussion
about "responsible volunteering". Train team leaders to ensure
that everyone contributes to the best of their ability. For more
information about the topics addressed in this lesson, please
refer to Chapter 2 and Chapter 4 of the RYP/National Youth Service
Day Tool Kit. The Appendix also provides Curriculum Connections
for this lesson. This lesson is devoted to community, but can
be split into two separate lessons. Some students personal goals
will be accomplished over a period of time, and not be centered
around a particular event. So a larger discussion about the completion
of their personal goals of which some may be an ongoing process
should take place, and the attention to the long-term accomplishments
should be noted. Its often just as simple as I want to learn
how to play piano, and the fact they started and continue with
it is what’ important.
Learning Objective:
Students will identify the tasks that still need to be
done for their project. Students will understand what is
expected of them at their event. Students will create an agenda
for their project
Curricular Connection:
- English/Language Arts: reading, writing, communication,
critical thinking skills
- Social Studies: understanding of culture, analyze
conditions to develop understanding, understand mechanisms to
meet needs of citizens; manage conflict
- Visual Arts: understand and apply art media
- Health: Reassurance of a safe environment.
- Mathematics: Problem solving
"Our service project
transformed the way our students and faculty connected and the
way our school and community connected."
-Bob Baines, Principal, Manchester, NH
|
"I became involved with Youth Service Day when I was a
member of City Year, San Antonio’s City Heroes program,"
says Whitney Thompson, from Universal City, Texas. In 1998,
she founded the Jessica Landry Wellisch Heroes Legend Team,
in honor of a friend and schoolmate who died tragically
in a car accident. "That experience helped establish my
continuing interest in service, and it also helped me feel
as though I was a part of a national level of service."
The Heroes Legend Team is a service corps of teenagers.
The first year, 150 corps members completed 2-3 service
projects a month. When Whitney saw what the team could accomplish,
she wanted to share the experience with other young people.
In 1998 she helped establish another local high school's
City Heroes Team -- the Carpe Diem Team. Whitney's Legend
Team has become the model for City Heroes Teams across the
country. Whitney now works with City Year, a national service
corps for 18-24 year olds in 13 cities across the country.
She serves on their City Heroes Advisory Council and helps
them initiate youth corps in cities throughout the country.
Whitney offers this advice to other participants
in NYSD: "I would recommend to others that the little things
that you do are what makes a difference. Also, remember
what you’re there to do." She believes that, "after National
Youth Service Day young people should continue to be involved
because they have made a difference and will continue to
make a difference."
|
"A SIMPLE TASK"
The following is a quick introduction to the lesson that can
be omitted based on how much work still needs to be done to prepare
for the day of the project:
Materials Needed:
- A loaf of sandwich bread
- A jar of peanut butter and a jar of jelly
- A sandwich knife
- Paper towels or napkins
Facilitating the Lesson:
Ask students to carefully review their project
plans, brainstorm key agenda items for the day, and create an
agenda to ensure NYSD is a success. Before they do, however, a
simple and fun activity in giving directions will reinforce the
importance of articulating clear and concise steps.
Directions:
- Seat yourself in front of the class and ask students: "Who
here has made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"
- Ask students to direct you in making a sandwich. You will
do exactly and only what they tell you to do.
- Begin the exercise. Students will probably call out a number
of directions. "Open the bag!" "Unscrew the jar!" Follow their
directions to the letter. If their direction is to open the
bag, but they did not explain how, then begin to rip open the
bag at the seams. If they shout to open the jar, you may choose
to just sit there looking confused because they did not tell
you to pick it up first. Essentially, your moves should be overly
dramatic to emphasize the point that their directions are not
clear. Although students will be shouting all at once, avoid
asking them to talk one at a time, as this will become a key
issue for the lesson in making sure that everyone has a chance
to speak and can be heard.
- After 5 minutes, draw the activity to a close and discuss
what occurred:
- What just happened?
- How successful were your at directions?
- What worked? What did not work? Why?
- What might you have done differently?
- Could you hear one another’s directions? Why not?
- What were the consequences of not being able to hear one
another? How might you change your actions to address this
problem?
- Tell students - On NYSD it will be very important for all
of us to know what to do, who should do what, and when. We need
to have a clear picture in our minds of what the day will look
like and what is expected from each of us. We don’t want everyone
trying to give directions at once or someone not knowing what
to do at all.
"Time Line Agenda"
Materials Needed:
- "Path to Change" poster(s)
- One long sheet of butcherblock paper with the title of your
project on the top and a breakdown of the time frame for the
day (i.e. "8:00am, 10:00am," etc.) with space in between each
marker for students to draw or write. (This should look like
a timeline layout.) You will need one timeline for each project
being done.
- Markers, pens or crayons
Facilitating the Lesson:
Today, students will carefully review their
project plans, brainstorm key agenda items for the day, create
a timeline to illustrate the day’s events to ensure it is a success,
and make sure to tie up any loose ends for the project to be a
success.
Directions:
- Draw students’ attention to the "Path to Change" poster(s)
outlining their service project(s).
- Let them know that the key to a successful project requires
good advanced planning!
- Ask students to list the key events of their event. Be sure
to include volunteer check-in, materials distribution and collection,
clean up, lunch break, and any other important parts of the
day. Write these events on the board.
- Ask students to put the events in order. Write them accordingly
on the board.
- Next, tell students to consider where in the day these events
will fall. Is registration at 8:00 a.m., lunch at noon?
- Once times are established, ask students to transfer the
information to their timeline poster(s) and complete a large-scale,
illustrative agenda that can be hung up during the event.
- Generate a discussion about "How we will know if we are successful
on this day?" Review each event on the timeline and ask students
(for younger students you may want to list the answers to the
questions below on the board or chart paper). You can list the
"what does it look like" items under a large eye and the "what
does it sound like" under a large ear.
- What will it look like if you are participating in this
event? What will you be doing? (if it’s a clean up day... students
should be picking up trash not standing around talking)
- What will it sound like if you are participating in this
event? What kinds of things will we hear you saying? (Be
sure to stress appropriate ways to interact with others
participating in the event)
- Discuss where the project will be taking place, any special
considerations for the service recipients or the service site
(i.e., if you are going off-site, students should be aware of
the rules at the site), prepare students for what they might
encounter at the site (have students go through the project
to think of all the things that might happen and discuss appropriate
expectations and responses), and encourage everyone to enjoy
the day.
Reflection
Reflection occurs before, during, and after
the service-learning activity. In order to accommodate multiple
learning styles, the following activities are suggested for you
to choose from to insert into the lesson.
WRITING
- Respond to some of the following question in a journal:
- Why is it important to plan for your project in advance?
- What are some problems that you are experiencing as you
finalize plans for the project?
- What new skills have you acquired while planning for the
project?
- Brainstorm and record a checklist project tasks which
you are personally responsible.
READING
TELLING
- Give a three-minute class presentation about the skills you
acquired through the service-learning project.
- Turn to a partner and talk about what you think is the most
exciting part of the project.
DOING
- Create a poster-size plan of your project.
- Share your feelings about the project in the form of a skit.
|
