Service Learning Lesson Plan

Title of Project: Working together to bring joy to underprivileged children

Author: Elizabeth Hanley

Area of Service: Sharing the joy of the holidays with underprivileged children through Operation Christmas Child

Subject/Grade Level: Middle School or High School World Cultures or Geography

Sunshine State Standards: (SS.6.G.2.5) Interpret how geographic boundaries invite or limit interaction with other regions and cultures.

(SS.912.H.3.3) Identify contributions made by various world cultures through trade and communication, and form a hypothesis on future contributions and changes.

Goals: Students will learn about a variety of cultures and apply what they learn on a more personal level

Students will get a better understanding of how important it is to help less fortunate people

Students will work with their community and learn what options they have to be an active part in helping people around the world


Unit Description:
-Students will already be aware of the struggles that people in third world countries face today
-Students will further their awareness of others needs especially those less fortunate than them
-Students will be required to familiarize themselves with what the organization Samaritan’s Purse orchestrates through their project Operation Christmas Child
-Students will study a variety of cultures that the Samaritan’s Purse organization sends gifts to through Operation Christmas Child. This will include locations in Africa, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe

Research:
-Individually or in small groups students will research locations and delve deeper into the cultures and traditions that take place in the third world countries
-Students will have to critically think about the religions and beliefs that the people from these countries practice
-Students will understand what traditions people from these countries do at the time we celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and etc.
Service Project:
-Students will put together Operation Christmas Boxes to be sent across the world
-Students will locate centers where they can volunteer with others to make Operation Christmas Child possible
-Students will be required to conduct an interview of volunteers that have been working with the organization for a few years
-Through this interview students must learn more about the organization and the people that they are helping in third world countries

Blog:
-Students will be required to use the information they learned from their research, interview, and personal experience from Operation Christmas Child to create a blog
-Students must include:
-Qualities about the cultures and lifestyles in the country they studies and how they compare and contrast to their own
-Important traditions and beliefs that these other cultures practice
-How fellow volunteers got involved in the program
-Why they think that it is important for people to help people in underprivileged countries in times of need, especially during the holidays
-Students must also comment on four of their fellow student’s blogs analyzing their experiences and research compared to their own.

Assessment:
-Students will be assigned a reflection paper or podcast in which they will have to look back on their experience and explain how it made them feel to be doing something to help someone they had never met
-Students must use the information they learned through research and to apply that to how it made them feel when they were working with Operation Christmas Child
-They will be asked to think and answer these questions specifically:
-Do you think you would have had a different learning experience if you hadn’t done research on some of the locations and people living in these horrible conditions?
-How did knowing this information make working with the organization a more personal experience?
-Is this service project something you would want to do again?
-With these guiding questions students will create a reflection containing an overview of what they learned throughout the entire experience

Technologies/Web Applications:
-Internet resources will be used to research varied people and cultures that are located in Africa, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. This will give students responsibility to conduct their learning experience. Students will learn how to use the resources available on the Internet.
-Blog – this will give students a chance to be creative with the research they have accumulated about other cultures and their traditions. It will also give students the opportunity to learn about other countries from their classmate’s research.