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Why I Serve

Lesson 3:

From Unit Cultural Diversity in Service

Lesson

Handouts

Academic Standards

Philanthropy Framework

9th-12th Grade

Subjects:

Arts, Language Arts, Philanthropy and Social Studies

Key Words/Concepts click to view

ART:	Visual Arts
ELA:	Audience; Communicate; Creative Writing; Knight scholarship; Listening; Presentations; Reflection; Technology; Viewing
PHIL:	Advocacy; Common Good; Cultures; Diversity; Family; Mission Statement; Motivations for Giving; Reflection; Responsibility; Service; Traditions; Values
SOC:	Civic Responsibility/Virtue; Common Good; Diversity; Good Character

Purpose:

Using the radio broadcast "This I Believe" as a model, students create visual or audio statements of their beliefs about volunteering and serving. Each presentation communicates the culture, experiences, and motivations that influence the learner's attitude about service. After presenting their statements to the class, the learners discuss how to use the presentations as a form of advocacy to promote civic engagement in the community. This lesson incorporates reflection and a demonstration to a wider audience.

Duration:

Three Fifty-Minute Class Periods, Plus time to carry out service-learning project

Objectives:

The learner will:

create and present a visual/audio mission statement that expresses "Why I Serve."
view the presentations of all of the learners.
publish the "Why I Serve" presentations as an act of advocacy/motivation to a wider audience.
reflect on the impact of the project.
share the results of the project with families and the community.

Service Experience:

Although this lesson contains a service project example, decisions about service plans and implementation should be made by students, as age appropriate.

Learners create a presentation that expresses their personal mission related to service. They determine an appropriate place to "publish" their presentation to encourage others to take action for the common good.

Optional Extended Service-Learning Project: Discuss similarities and differences between the students' "Why I Serve" project themes. As students compare and contrast the different perspectives, have them organize the project themes to find common goals and a vision for a whole-group service project. Or you may group students by similar interests or motivations for smaller service-learning projects.

Materials:

Each student brings a completed copy of Attachment Three: Personal Mission Statement from Lesson Two.
Internet access and speakers to play audio file from computer: NPR radio show "This I Believe."
copy of Attachment One: Why I Serve Rubric for each student
various equipment/supplies for audio/visual project based on available resources (e.g., Flip video, audio recording device, cell phone with video capability, computers, paper, markers, etc.)
Optional: copy of Attachment Two: Project Plans for each service-project group or for whole-group planning

Handout 1: Why I Serve Rubric
Handout 2: Project Plans

Teacher Preparation:

For the beginning of Day One, choose an appropriate essay on NPR's "This I Believe" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138 Teacher Note: Browse the current and 1950's stories on the This I Believe site to find stories of service, giving, and dedication to public service. Preview the essays before sharing with students since the essays are intended for an adult audience. Suggestion: "Life Is an Act of Literary Criticism" by Luis Urrea: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103362391

Instructional Procedure(s):

Day One:

Anticipatory Set

Play an audio clip of a "This I Believe" episode. See Teacher Preparation. Have the students pair up with another student to discuss and identify the central belief statement of the episode. Encourage students to share their statements with the group. Discuss details from the audio clip that support that person's central statement.

Introduce the presentation project. Each learner will develop a 3-minute video/audio (or other format approved by the teacher) presentation that shares his or her belief about service--"Why I Serve." The presentation will also include supporting information about the author, such as cultural background, personal experience, and motivations. Discuss expections and due date for the project. See Attachment One: Why I Serve Rubric.
Allow students to get started planning and working. They may work together, but each student creates a separate presentation.

Days Two and Three (when presentations are complete):

View completed student presentations with the whole class. After each presentation, reflect on the central thesis.
Discuss how these presentations can act as messages of advocacy to connect people and make the world a better place. Guide the students to take action to share their visions with a wider and appropriate audience.

Next Steps:

Continue to reflect and guide the students as they publish their "Why I Serve" presentations. Help them find venues, community partners, and publishing options. Have the learners collect data and measure impact, if available. After the presentations are public, have each student write a reflection about their learning.
Work with the learners to design an appropriate demonstration to a group of students, families, and/or community members. The demonstration includes showing the students' presentations and communicating the impact the learners have made on themselves and others.
Reflect and make plans for the next steps. Brainstorm with the students a variety of head gear types: sombrero, knitted cap, chef hat, baseball cap, Indiana Jones hat, straw hat, football helmet, bike helmet, etc. Pick out four or five diverse styles and write one on each of four or five sheets of paper. Hang up the hat styles around the room. Tell the students they are going to choose a hat style that symbolically represents their approach to taking the next step in their "Why I Serve" presentations. Have them stand by that hat style. Once they are there, they discuss with the others who chose that hat style why that hat style suits their next steps. After ten minutes, debrief with the whole class.
Optional Extension: Discuss similarities and differences between the students' "Why I Serve" project themes. As students compare and contrast the different perspectives, have them organize the project themes to find common goals and a vision for a whole-group service project. Or you may group students by similar interests or motivations for smaller service-learning projects. See Extensions for developing this into a student-led service-learning project.

Assessment:

See Attachment One: Why I Serve Rubric for assessing student presentations.

Cross-Curriculum Extensions:

Say, "Our group has similar goals and motivations for making the world a better place." Tell the students to write a sentence reflecting on what this group could accomplish (based on the statements they heard in the "Why I Serve" presentations). Allow the students some time to write. Ask a few volunteers to share their thoughts.

Project an image of Attachment Two: Project Plans onto the wall screen. Use it as a guide to plan a service-learning project. Discuss and come to consensus for a service-learning project based on community needs and learner motivations, especially related to promoting justice and rights of others. Note: It may take several days to collect data and design the best project for the group.
Carry out the project plan, gathering resources, conducting research, and setting goals.
Before, during, and after the project, reflect on the goals and progress, adjusting expectations and plans for improvement.
Have the students present the data from the project in an appropriate format.
Invite guests to a demonstration event. Have students show their presentations, describe the service-learning project, and report the impact results.

Reflection: (click to view)

Bibliographical References:

Pathfinder Middle School Pledge video http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLEAGUEMichigan

NPR. "This I Believe" http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4538138

Scholastic. "Tech How To: Podcasts" http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3752278

Lesson Developed By:

Betsy Flikkema
Associate Director
Learning to Give

Barbara Dillbeck
Director
Learning to Give

Handouts:

Handout 1Print Handout 1

Why I Serve Rubric

Demonstrate the importance of connecting people by sharing your motivations and interest in serving. Create a visual/audio presentation that answers the question, “Why do I serve?” Communicate your goals for improving the world. Present what you would like others to know and do to connect to people in this diverse world.

Use one of the following formats

Create a Keynote, PowerPoint, or Google Docs presentation.	Create a movie using a FLIP video camera.	Make a poster (on paper or using glogster.com).
Create a Website.	Blog about a topic.	Create a comic strip (on paper or using Comic Life).
Write a letter of advocacy.	Create a podcast.	Write a poem, song, play, or puppet show to perform.

Rubric Outline:

Presentation has a clear audience.

The audience is identified and matches the tone and message.
The audience is not identified, but the tone and message are clear.
The audience and message do not match.

Use correct grammar, spelling, and style.

The grammar, spelling, and style are grade-level appropriate.
The grammar, spelling, and style are 80% accurate.
The grammar, spelling, and style are 50% accurate.

Be creative and create something new and innovative.

The presentation is new and different.
The ideas are new, but the presentation is familiar.
The presentation is unique, but the ideas are familiar.
The presentation and ideas are not new.

Use effective communication.

The main message “Why I Serve” is communicated clearly and fits the goals of the project.
The message and goals are inconsistent.
The message is unclear.

Make your motivations and perspective clear.

The presentation reveals the author’s cultural and societal influences and motivations.
There are some hints of the author’s perspective, but they aren’t clear.
The presentation does not give a picture of the author’s point of view.

Make your presentation attractive.

The presentation is neat, consistent, and colorful.
The presentation is attractive, but contains some sloppiness.
The presentation looks like a rough draft.

Stay within the time frame.

The presentation lasts between 1:30 and 3:00.
The presentation is longer than 3 minutes.
The presentation is shorter than one and a half minutes.

Complete the project on time.

The project was completed on time.
The presentation was shown, but it was not finished.
The presentation was not shown on the due date.

Handout 2Print Handout 2

Project Plans

Component	Activities	Who, What, Where?
Investigation (What do we need in our community, and how do we know it is a need? What statistics show this is a need? What is our expected outcome and how will we measure it?)
Preparation (How can we meet this need? What resources do we have and need?)
Action (How will we execute our project? What partners can we engage? What is our budget?)
Reflection (Why did this help/not help our community?)
Demonstration (Create a presentation to show others the good that we have done!)