For young children, service-learning often begins with discovering the joy and benefits of small acts of kindness. These simple activities can set the stage.
Reading books with themes of kindness and generosity -- like Pat Brisson's new book, Melissa Parkington's Beautiful, Beautiful Hair -- is a good catalyst for beginning a class discussion about service-learning.
After reading selected literature, encourage students to recall a time when they experienced someone's act of kindness. Connect to previous school or community service-learning projects, as appropriate.
Make a class "Acts of Kindness and Service" list by brainstorming ways students can help others, using examples from literature and their own reflection.
Act of Kindness (Cause)
Growing and donating hair
Response (Effect)
A person who has lost hair because of illness will have a hairpiece
Help students create a display board where they post pictures and statements of acts of kindness they perform -- emphasizing service projects. Choose a public area -- a hallway or school lobby -- to exhibit the board, and encourage students to update the board regularly. Discuss the board often.
Encourage students to keep Kindness Journals, where they can write or draw reflection entries about the acts of kindness and service they perform. Offer questions for students to address, like, "How did your act help? What did you learn that you want to remember? What will you do differently next time?"
Provide a time for sharing and discussing reflections.
Service-Learning Extension:
Motivate the students to decide on an activity that they can perform as a class that will combine community service with in-school curriculum, to benefit both the community and the classroom. For help implementing this, see the Multicultural Service-Learning Planner.
If individual students, the class or school wish to participate in a Locks of Love project -- a perfect extension to class reading of Melissa Parkington’'s Beautiful, Beautiful Hair.
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