Global Service Learning Project Proposal-Learning Team C-EDL/510-July 30, 2012

List of ideas:

•  Reading to the elderly
•  Mission trips with children
• Children reading to other children in the hospital
• Habitat for Humanity

Rationale:

When I think of children and community service I immediately think of reading.  Throughout the elementary school age I see programs that involve reading buddies.  These buddies can be anyone from an older student in the school to a visiting dog.  With those ideas the thought of altering the project to include children reading to elderly comes to mind.  People living in the retirement homes do not always get visitors and can not help but smile at a young child's face.  I know my grandparents love to have all the visitors they can get, especially from young children that can brighten the room when they walk in.  This idea of children reading to elderly would not only be beneficial for the elderly men and women but for the children as well.  It would help open their eyes and learn the importance of doing kind things for individuals.

Outline of key points:

•  Children would choose books appropriate for their reading level.
• Students would travel by bus to a retirement home once a week or bi-weekly.
• Students would share their book with their partner in a common area of the retirement facility.
• Partners would freely discuss their own experiences, likes and dislikes, and opinions about the book.
• Students and partners would be monitored by the teacher who will provide probing and guided questions to encourage participation. 

How the project is implemented in the classroom:

This project would be implemented in the classroom through field trips and in class reflections about their community service project.  It would be a hope that the retirement center would be able to get together with the children once a week or once every other week.  This would give the children and their partner the chance to get to know each other and really form a bond to be able to get everything possible out of this service project.  To bring the project into the classroom there would be individual journal writing to reflect about each day spent with their person that they are reading to.  Each day as well to increase the impact of the project there should be a class discussion where the children share highlights about their time that day with their person.

The effects on Global learning:

A child reading aloud to the elderly not only benefits those who are giving but also those who are receiving.  By volunteering it helps a child develop tolerance towards those who are older by pointing out strength in someone else.  It also gives the child and elder a sense of responsibility.  All parties will feel useful and valued by having an impact on each other’s lives.  By having students read to the elderly they are gaining a new perspective on life.  They are experiencing how it is to be the teacher or giver instead of receiving all of the time.  Through this new perspective students will want to learn new and different things about themselves and others.  When students spend time with someone that is from a different generation than they are it will open their eyes to a new world.  They will get to see how others feel and act towards things and hopefully will become interested in getting to know that generation as well as other people of the world.  The best effect it will have is that students get to have a new experience that will not only benefit them but others as well.  Children who can understand their own impact on something and someone can then realize how much of an impact they can have throughout their life.

Why it works for the elderly:

•  It helps eliminate loneliness, boredom, and helplessness
• Gives them a sense of value to the community
• Something to look forward to
•  Gives them a chance to reminisce and share stories of their own

 Why it works for the child:

• The child will gain respect and compassion for the elderly
•  Builds self-esteem
•  It increases child’s potential for academic success 
•  It exposes the child to new situations, and teaches them appropriate behavior

Possible effects on the world:

Many cultures maintain the belief that a great deal of information and knowledge can be obtained from the wise elders of the culture.  This project can demonstrate to the community as a whole, a sense of appreciation and necessity in consideration of the generations of knowledge that can be passed.  The students can even create a blog or discussion forum to get a global perspective on the different value systems that include the elderly.  We can extend learning by creating a Venn Diagram of differences from culture to culture and posting it as a discussion for international students to converse about.  Values based projects can have a great effect on students all around the world.  This is especially true when the students can verbalize where their values stem from and learn about the values in other cultures.  The students can implement critical thinking into a project like this, and hopefully contribute to a worldwide discussion about our differences and similarities.

References:

Lane, H.L. (2007). Maximizing the effectiveness of reading aloud. Reading Teacher, 60(7), 668.doi:10.1598/RT.60.7.