5 Service Learning Projects by Subject
Go beyond formal classroom instruction and engage students in service-based projects that grow their thirst for knowledge into an active, memory-making, and character-building experience! Not only do service learning projects enrich the classroom as a whole, they provide an opportunity for all students to make a difference while bonding in an entirely new way. Research shows experiential learning, as strengthened by practical service-learning projects, propels the success of students – from attendance and motivation, to forward-thinking and civic engagement. Dive into some key school subjects and get creative with service-learning ideas that will enhance any classroom!
- Math: Incorporate math and measurements into this year’s canned food drive by setting goals in not just numbers of items collected, but pounds of food donated as well. Encourage grade-wide participation to garner friendly competition between classrooms and promote the food drive even further. Make it a class affair to deliver the collected non-perishables to the local food bank and learn a little more about how their hard work will affect the community.
- Environment: While the fall and winter seasons may not invite outside activity like the summer, service learning can still be incorporated into science-driven projects inside the classroom. Recycling and environmental awareness initiatives feed hungry learners with lessons in both science and social responsibility – lessons that can easily be adapted to varying learning styles.
- Art: Decorating pumpkins or hand-made cards for a local nursing home or children’s shelter is a great way to turn the weekly art project into genuine acts of kindness and teach compassion at the same time. Particularly applicable during the holiday season, art projects will serve as great bases for service learning opportunities in your classroom. *Organize class parents for assisting with projects with free online sign up sheets from VolunteerSpot!
- Literature: Merge literary lessons, vocabulary studies, and writing time with a service learning project that turns students into authors! Connect each student with a younger counterpart at school for whom they can write a book or poem and encourage reading and literacy all on their own.
- Civics: Writing Thank You cards to local civic leaders and dedicated public servants is a simple but moving service-learning experience that will make a difference in the lives of more than just your students. Whether it’s for local firefighters, police men and women, or even the mayor, a general act of appreciation to members of a wider community helps students step out of the classroom and into a deeper understanding of the world around them.
Educators and parents: Do you have tips on how to get kids motivated about service-based projects? Share your ideas and advice in the comment section!
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“A citizen of the United States has both a public life and a private life. The habits of the public life have been cultivated in public and private schools throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries through student councils, civics classes, and service requirements in organizations such as the National Honor Society or the International Baccalaureate Organization. In recent years these service experiences have been organized and brought more fully into the school curriculum as ‘service learning.’ The National Youth Leadership Council defines service learning as ‘a philosophy, pedagogy, and model for community development that is used as an instructional strategy to meet learning goals and/or content standards’.” – from the CompassLearning Odyssey High School Guide to Service Learning which is included in our Social Studies Tool Kit.