<p>Student(s): Amy Yeh, Ariel Palcisko, Kate Douglas, Taylor Meiser, Lauren Wallace, Samantha DeSandre Date: May 2013 Grade Level(s): 3-5 Instructor: Carla Stone Email: [email protected] Teaching Assistant: Bella Tirtowalujo Email: [email protected] ______</p><p>Name of Project: “Bake for Books”</p><p>Project Overview We will do a school-wide bake sale in order to purchase updated, culturally diverse books for the school library and get authors of the books to come and talk to students. </p><p>Effective Practice: MEANINGFUL SERVICE Service learning actively engages participants in meaningful and personally relevant service activities.</p><p>What community need will you address and how did you determine the need? The funds that we raise through our “Bake for Books” bake sale will help contribute new books for Willow Elementary School’s library. This public school’s library is primarily made up of outdated books, and so our goal is to help provide new books with global themes. Having a variety of books that emphasize the value of diversity and globalization will help these students connect with the readings as well as expand their overall perspectives of the world. </p><p>What service will you provide to address the need? We are providing a means for raising money. The project has specific goals set and funding will help implement it. By holding a bake sale, students will not only be learning how to run a small business but will also be making money in a fun way. The bake sale will allow students to make a class/school-wide donation to the project without outright asking their parents for money. All money made will go towards purchasing anything needed for the new books or even sponsoring an author to come visit the school, allowing the students to grow in their understanding of literature and cultures. Effective Practice: LINK TO CURRICULUM Service learning is intentionally used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards.</p><p>How is this project related to your curriculum? It can integrate into Language Arts by reading the books we will be donating, Science with measurements for baking, Math with adding cost and profit to figure out how much to charge for the bake sale, and for Social Studies we can learn about different countries so that they can think about books to add to the new library.</p><p>What are the educational goals? Our educational goals are not only to have the students learn from the above mentioned curriculum, but also to broaden their experiences learning about different cultures. We want the students to be exposed to other cultures in order to increase their knowledge to hopefully decrease the hate. </p><p>Curriculum Connections Math, Language Arts (Reading, Writing), Science (Earth Science, Physical Science, Life Science, Science Processes), Social Studies (History, Geography)</p><p> CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.A.1 Tell and write time to the nearest minute and measure time intervals in minutes. Solve word problems involving addition and subtraction of time intervals in minutes, e.g., by representing the problem on a number line diagram.</p><p> CCSS.Math.Content.3.MD.A.2 Measure and estimate liquid volumes and masses of objects using standard units of grams (g), kilograms (kg), and liters (l).1 Add, subtract, multiply, or divide to solve one-step word problems involving masses or volumes that are given in the same units, e.g., by using drawings (such as a beaker with a measurement scale) to represent the problem.2 CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.</p><p> CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.</p><p> o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4a Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.</p><p> o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4b Read grade-level prose and poetry orally with accuracy, appropriate rate, and expression on successive readings.</p><p> o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.3.4c Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.  CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.2 Determine the main ideas and supporting details of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.</p><p> CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.3 Ask and answer questions about information from a speaker, offering appropriate elaboration and detail.</p><p>Additional State Standards and Benchmarks List standards and benchmarks met by this project. </p><p>Michigan Specific Standards S.IA.02.12 Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation. S.IA.02.13 Communicate and present findings of observations. S.IA.02.14 Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving (books, internet, ask an expert, observation, investigation, technology tools). 3 – P4.2.1 Develop and implement an action plan and know how, when, and where to address or inform others about a public issue. 3 – P4.2.2 Participate in projects to help or inform others. 3 – G4.0.2 Describe diverse groups that have come into a region of Michigan and reasons why they came (push/pull factors). (H)</p><p>Effective Practice: REFLECTION Service learning incorporates multiple challenging reflection activities that are ongoing and that prompt deep thinking and analysis about oneself and one’s relationship to society.</p><p>What form(s) of reflection will you use with the students to help them identify what they have learned and accomplished? With this service learning project, there are many things upon which the students can reflect. The students will be taking it upon themselves to raise funds to host an author at their school. This is a responsibility that they will carry, and later, they will be able to reflect upon how that made them feel. Having certain and specific responsibilities in a service learning project helps the students to feel like they have ownership over the project. If they students are the ones who organize and execute the bake sale, they will take pride in the fact that they are the ones who made an author’s visit possible. Adding new books to the library is also something that we could take time to reflect upon as a class. Since the majority of the books in the library are outdated and Eurocentric, a class activity concerning racism/cultural incompetence could be arranged. There are many examples of games that are designed to make students feel discriminated against, or underprivileged. These games would be useful in this instance - we could have the students participate in such a game, and then have a follow-up discussion about how they felt after the game was done. Once the students acknowledge that they didn’t like the way they were treated during the game, we can address the issue of the Eurocentric/borderline racist library. Students can reflect upon the game/activity and how they would feel if the only books in the library were about people different from themselves. </p><p>Effective Practice: DIVERSITY Service learning promotes understanding of diversity and mutual respect among all participants.</p><p>What types of diverse perspectives and experiences will be explored as part of your project? (i.e.: cultural, generational, abilities/disabilities, learning styles, etc) With the service learning project can bring in many diverse perspectives through the baked goods. Food is the most diverse form of every culture and can be exemplified through the variety of the items being sold. We will incorporate baked good items from many different cultures, therefore appealing to many different groups of people. Also, since our project is promoting the fundraising of books for schools, the idea will appeal to everyone of all ages. Elder people in our society often argue that the newest generations are too wrapped up in technology and our ability to read an actual book is suffering. They will especially be inclined to support, along with involved parents of the students. Our ultimate goal is to raise enough money to be able to provide a wide array of books for the kids, ones of many different genres and many different reading levels. This way there will be books that can appeal to every child and hopefully therefore increase all of their interests in literature. The variety of genres will also allow for children with different learning styles, for example visual learners, to have the opportunity to access picture books. If the sale were to be successful enough, we could ideally provide books on tape, and braille books to the children with special needs. Often times schools are only provided with the bare minimum in their budgets, our goal is to provide the extra to inspire children and allow the diversity in the classroom to shine through.</p><p>Effective Practice: YOUTH VOICE Service learning provides youth with a strong voice in planning, implementing, and evaluating service learning experiences with guidance from adults. </p><p>How will students gain ownership of the project? The beauty of the Bake for Books project is that the project itself is a very simple idea that can be intensified as far as the children would like to take it. The bake sale is a very simple concept that would be easy for children to understand, and dependent upon their age and comfort level with it, they can expand the project as far as they would like, by setting up multiple locations and requesting more donors. The students will feel ownership because they would essentially be setting up the entire fundraiser, with minimal help from adults. The children will be able to participate in the baking and actual sales of the baked goods. The profits provide tangible goods, the books, which is really visual for the kids to see first-hand the success of their development. At the end of the sale the children will be able to utilize their books and feel a sense of pride in their accomplishments for obtaining them. This will teach the students leadership skills in planning and working with others, as well as the rewards of hard work. Effective Practice: RECIPROCAL PARTNERSHIPS Service learning partnerships are collaborative, mutually beneficial, and address community needs.</p><p>Who will you partner with for this project? We will be partnering with GECP and Willow Elementary School. </p><p>How will students benefit from this partnership? The students at Willow Elementary will benefit by having an enriched variety of books added to their reading selection. These new books will serve as a vehicle towards a more stimulating and culturally diverse learning environment. Our hope is that these young students will connect with the interesting ideas that are presented in the text and also develop an appreciation for reading.</p><p>How will the partner benefit from this collaboration? Partnering up with GECP will help spread the word about our cause. Although this is technically a “GECP Signature Event” and is represented by us as a whole, there are only a select few that are directly involved. However, if each person buys a baked good and/or donates, all of GECP can contribute. In this way, we will all actively be a part of shaping the future of East Lansing’s education system. We believe students of all ages can be empowered through education, and that promoting an enjoyment for reading and writing can help foster the growth of innovative thinkers. Helping provide new books to Willow Elementary will create a more resourceful learning environment, and in turn, for these young students to develop global mindsets. It is important for this future generation to be educated about the interconnectedness among this world so that they too can be an active member of their communities. </p><p>Effective Practice: PROGRESS MONITORING Service learning engages participants in an ongoing process to assess the quality of implementation and progress toward meeting specified goals, and uses results for improvement and sustainability.</p><p>How will you assess the student learning goals? Students will have to pass a number of quizzes during the process of the project as well as be able to reflect on what they did at the end of the project. This allows the teacher to know what the students got out of the lesson as well as assess how much they learned. Students will also be required to keep a journal filled with self taken pictures and entries telling what they did, why they did it, and how it will affect the whole. This allows the student to learn even more as they are writing and are more likely to remember. </p><p>How will you assess your service goals? We will assess our goals on how much money we raise and whether or not we are able to raise enough to do what we need to do. Effective Practice: DURATION AND INTENSITY Service learning has sufficient duration and intensity to address community needs and meet specified outcomes.</p><p>How will you prepare students for this experience? We will discuss with the children what they love about their library and what they want in a library. This could go into a discussion about how not all students are as lucky as them and don’t have as diverse or updated of a library as they do. Then, we could ask the children what they think about this and ask them whether they want to help. We will explain to them that updating a library takes money and that is where the bake sale comes into play. Students can decide what they want to bake with their families to donate to the bake sale. We can also open up the discussion to new ideas from the children about other ways to make money or help libraries in need. </p><p>What are some sample possible activities students might do as part of this project? They can bake with their families and donate baked goods for the bake sale. They can also make lists of their favorite books that they would want in the library that is being updated. Students can do the measurements for what is being baked and calculate how much money they will need to update the library. They can also do some research on other countries and their literature to decide what they would like to see in the new library. Students can read new books that could go into the new library so that they are aware of what is being donated. </p><p>SUSTAINABILITY The three arms of sustainability are environmental stewardship, economic growth, and social progress. Think planet, profit, and people.</p><p>Describe how your project addresses the issue of sustainability? While environmental sustainability isn’t a direct focus of our service learning project, there are ways that we could incorporate it into the project. Our project aims to provide new/globally competent books to a school library, in addition to raising funds to bring an author to the school. We plan to accomplish this through fundraising - the main source of fundraising being the bake sale. A few days prior to the bake sale, we could discuss environmental issues as a class. We could brainstorm different ways to make our bake sale as ‘green’ as possible - i.e., recyclable materials only, have recycling facilities available to our customers, etc. As for profit, having a bake sale is the perfect illustration of how economic growth functions. By going over what we hope to accomplish/how we hope to accomplish it, we can discuss how we plan to make money from this bake sale. This is an opportunity to explain the idea of ‘profit’ - the concept of charging more for an item than it took to make. We can explain that it is through these means that we will accomplish our goal. Social progress will be aided by the addition of global and culturally competent books to the school’s library. Currently, students only have access to extremely outdated, Eurocentric and borderline racist books. If we update this library, and provide a variety of appropriate and culturally diverse reading material, we can begin to take a step toward social progress.</p>