Service Learning Projects

Service Learning is a great way to make curriculum come alive for students. To learn more, see Service Learning: Making the world your classroom.

Democracy in India
(See Curriculum (pdf))

1. Learn about democracy and its place in the world!
   As you learn about democracy with your class, discuss the relationship between culture and government, and how the use of democracy in the United States may not be the optimal type of government for every country. What are the benefits of democracy around the world? What are the drawbacks of democracy around the world?
   
2. Learn about democracy and the impact it makes locally!
   On a local level, how are citizens affected by their government? How do citizens participate in a democracy? What are the benefits and drawbacks of living in a country with a democratic government on a local level? How are people taxed? What is healthcare like (does everyone have a “right” to it?)? How does voting work? How are laws created and enforced? What rights do citizens have?
   
3. Examine a democratic experience through local newspaper articles!
   Read a local newspaper with your students for a period of time to examine perspectives and biases on the local and US government. Talk with your students about the importance of personal experiences with the programs or policies backed by the government, as well as the broad range of experiences people have in this society in relation to the government.
   
4. Compare and contrast the use of democracy in India and the United States!
   Examine democracy in India, and learn about the similarities and differences between the US and Indian governments. You may want to ask some US immigrants from India in Seattle to talk with your class about their personal experiences with and thoughts about their government.

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Ethnic and National Identity in Africa
(See Curriculum (pdf))

1. Discuss continental identity and challenge some commonly-held Western assumptions
   Lead a discussion with your class on North American identity, examining the wide variety of thoughts and opinions regarding what “North American identity” might be. Is there a “North American identity”? What would that identity be based on or consist of? Would you feel misunderstood if someone were to merely classify you as a “North American” rather than someone from a specific country, state, city, community or family? Does it make sense to you to classify someone as an “African”? Why or why not? Use this discussion to spring into learning with your class about the great ethnic and cultural diversity of the African continent.
   
2. Converse with people from different African countries in your own city!
   Learn first hand about the diversity of communities from countries all over Africa by meeting people from those communities in your own city. You could invite people into your classroom, or take a field trip out in the community with your class. When you start to learn about history, current events and some similarities and differences between communities, the richness of different cultural groups on the continent of Africa will come alive.
   
3. Learn about our diverse continent and relations between different cultural groups here!
   Learn about different cultural communities in North America, the similarities and differences between them, and what the nature of some relationships between the different groups is. You could begin by learning about different native groups on our continent and the vast differences between them. This may help your students get an idea of actually how diverse Africa is, and how diverse peoples on each continents may be.

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Exploring Contemporary Africa: Lessons on South Africa
(See Curriculum)

1. Reflect on the state of our own community while learning about South Africa!
   Learn about the history of segregation in Seattle, and what has and has not changed here in the last 40 years. Compare that to what you are learning about South Africa’s recent history. Participate in a service project of importance to an African-American community in Seattle…and learn why it is important that work like this be done.
   
2. Learn about our recent history from elders in our community!
   Give students an opportunity to formally talk with older people of African descent about the civil rights movement in Seattle. Choose people who have lived in Seattle for awhile—the longer the better, as they would be able to comment on the way things were and currently are here today.
   
3. Provide a forum for an open discussion on racism in your classroom!
   Did segregation in South Africa end when Apartheid did? Did segregation in the US end after the Civil Rights Movement? What does segregation in our city look like today? Where are the better schools? Where is there a higher and lower police presence? Where are the best kept sidewalks, crosswalks and roads? Where are toxic waste treatment facilities, garbage dumps or factories that create pollution? Where are most of the banks? Why don’t suburban neighborhoods reflect the ethnic make-up of our city? What needs to change in our society to allow people to truly have an equal opportunity to succeed?

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Iraq: Resources for the Classroom
(See Handout (pdf))

1. Learn about Iraq prior to discussing the United States’ relationship with Iraq!
   Check out some of the informative websites listed in the curriculum to learn about the history and culture of Iraq. After your class has had the opportunity to learn about these people, their cultural practices, governmental structure and policies, you can begin to discuss and critique the States current relationship with Iraq.
   
2. Connect with an Iraqi community in Seattle and learn from their experiences!
   Talk with US immigrants from Iraq about what they have learned through their transition from one society to the other. How is American culture similar to and different from Iraqi culture? What were some of people’s biggest challenges in starting life in the United States? What did people find most interesting about life in the States? What do they miss about life in Iraq?

*To be connected with people in the US from Iraq, contact the International Rescue Committee at: www.theirc.org

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Reading to Learn, Writing to Connect
(See Foreword & Table of Contents (pdf) - Lessons (pdf))

1. Start an international Pen Pal Program at your school!
   There are many ways to incorporate writing and reading into a pen pal letter exchange program with a class from another country. While improving in reading and writing, students can be engaged with their local and global community in many ways. Some ideas of how to do this are:
   -Your class and the class you have paired with overseas could decide on an aspect of society that needs to be improved in both cities/countries. Both classes could participate in a local project to improve that aspect of society. Students can continue to write to each other throughout the year to give updates and encouragement.
   -In class you can teach about the country your pen pals live in, and encourage the students to dialogue through their letters about life in that country, and any issues they are specifically interested in.
   *People at the Pipeline Project at UW may be able to connect you with teachers in other countries. Contact them at: pipeline@u.washington.edu.
   
2. Connect your students with Reading/Writing Buddies within your own school!
   After learning about a current event in the world, younger students can be paired with older students at your school to discuss, read and/or write about related issues at a local level. This could be a good opportunity to discuss how national and world events directly or indirectly affect your community.
   
3. Make connections with people in a cultural community in your own city!
   Choose a country to learn about with your class, and connect with people from this country that live in your city. This can provide a nice opportunity for students to begin to learn about a specific culture without traveling anywhere. Give your students opportunities to read and write about aspects of this culture that they learn about through the personal connections they have made. You could also work on a service project that is important to this cultural community in your city, while learning why this service project is important to this specific community.

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Teaching Media Literacy through the Topic of Terrorism
(See Curriculum (pdf))

1. Choose current articles with your students to challenge, question and learn from!
   Have your students choose an article that interests them from a current, local newspaper. Have your students then note what the purpose or point of the article is, and what the article is supporting. Encourage your students to do some research about the topic of the article, looking at the issue from a few different perspectives. Ask them questions such as “Who would disagree with this article?” “Why would someone disagree with what was said in this article?” and “Are there other perspectives on this issue you think would be worth reading about?”
   
2. Encourage your students to use their own minds to interpret messages from the media!
   Talk with your class about what terrorism really is, and challenge the connections some reporters make between terrorism and various cultural groups. Who has the media been labeling as terrorists? Do people from the media try to make connections between terrorism and specific cultural groups? How are cultural groups different from terrorist organizations? What happens in our communities when people of a certain cultural or ethnic background are suspected terrorists?
   
3. Read locally and learn globally!
   Learn with your class about what is happening all over our nation and world through what is being reported in the paper (you can decide whether or not to focus on the details or the reporter’s perspective). Lead a discussion on how interconnected our world is by learning about the local impacts resulting from worldwide events.

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Understanding the World of Cartoons
(See Curriculum (pdf) (8.1 Mgb))

Have your students create political cartoons of their own! These could illustrate individual perspectives on the current state of the world we live in, and perhaps specifically their own city. In their cartoons they could incorporate their own views about positive change that they see occurring, and/or their views on what should be improved in our society.

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