How might you identify and use service learning opportunities to help students understand more about their own community?
How do you plan for a guest speaker in your classroom? How do you prepare students for a guest speaker? How do you prepare the speaker?
What are some different skill level issues that you address in your own classroom? What strategies have you found most successful in addressing these issues?
What advice would you give to a teacher who is planning to engage students in identifying a community-based project?
Taking It Back to Your Classroom
Ask students to research a topic and develop a way to present the information to others. For example, students might create a booklet on Black History Month to display in the library.
Have students share what they have learned about the topic with younger or older students. Then ask your students how sharing their knowledge can be a service to others in their school community.
Have students collect newspaper articles about individuals or groups involved in a community project. Make a bulletin board or display titled People Who Make a Difference, and ask students to nominate classmates, schoolmates, or people in the community to include on the bulletin board.
Ask students to identify contributions they can make in their classroom, school, and community, and then have students make that contribution as part of a class project.
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