Volunteerism: Brainstorm+Plan+Action

Paata Lataria, Tsaishi Village School SAMEGRELO

Cleanup Results

VOLUNTEERISM CLEAN UP THE ENVIRONMENT

LESSON PLAN – 1-2-3.. ACTION!

By Paata and Marika Lataria (Tsaishi village school, Samegrelo Open Lesson)

Objective –Students will develop awareness of volunteerism and develop language related to cleaning up litter and participate in a hands-on experience with cleanup of their environment.

Materials Needed – Poster paper, markers, gloves, plastic bags. (Optional – rake, hoe and axe.) Lesson conducted outdoors – tables and chairs moved outside.

Warmup – Students brainstorm the question: “What are some problems within our community that you consider important and need some action?” T elicits and creates a mind-map of the potential issues/problems on board and expands some of the vocabulary (e.g. “What are other words for rubbish?”) Students are organized into pairs/groups according to the problems listed.

Activity 1 – Pairs/Small Groups fill in “T Chart” for Problem and Solutions they select from board, and fill in their ideas related to solutions they think are possible to help with the problem. T monitors students as they work –

Activity 2 - Student Vote  – what are problems and solutions – each group presents its problem and potential solutions.  Students Vote- what problem will we address today? (Cleanup of school grounds decided as most important and most easily addressed problem by their efforts.)  Students brainstorm in their groups as many vocabulary words/phrases related to cleanup of the environment. T elicits and additional vocabulary related to the environmental cleanup solution is listed on board after Teacher elicits some – “clean up, pick up trash, throw away trash, lend a hand”, etc.

Activity 3 – Students create Posters and Rules (for protecting the environment) to illustrate what environmental problems they were concerned with and how they intended to address the problem – sentences are written by each member of the group and on the poster are included Rules  

ACTION – Teacher hands out gloves for students, plastic bags (to pick up trash) and miscellaneous tools including rake, hoe, buckets, spade available for further cleanup to get at the hard to reach areas near the school where trash exists.  Teams – Team 1 cleans up the area in front /side of school grounds, Team 2 cleans up area near the bridge, Team 3 cleans up area near the road leading up to school. Each team has a leader who supervises that his “crew” is working hard.

Assessment – (homework) Students write short paragraphs about their efforts towards the environmental problem, and how their volunteerism efforts helped. They must describe the problem clearly, their solutions and the steps they took.

Volunteer Modals by Lela Chanturia, Batumi with Fun Assessment

Here's an interesting idea...get your students to use their phones to take pictures of the volunteering they did and then tell the others what they did!

 

- Introduce the concept of who is a volunteer. What is a volunteer? My students have are familiar with these verbs, so I write them on the board. (clean, help, plant, feed, visit, pick up)

- Review the modal structure. Create a wall chart to show how to construct the sentences.

pronoun     modal             base form        prounoun plus modal plus base form

I                   can                clean    
you              should            help
he                must               plant
she               will                 feed
it                                        visit
we                                      pick up
they

- Watch the video. Stop the video so students can see the structure and verbs again.

 - Ask students what they can do in school, at home, with old people, with animals. In the video, what are they doing (this is the continuous but you can modal that as well.  You can ask, "What can they do?" to keep using the modal structure.

 Assessment (you can explain in Georgian) Go home and outside and volunteer and do one nice thing for someone. Clean your room. Pick up trash. Visit your grandparents. Take a picture with your phone. Next class, everyone will say what they did and show their pictures. It will use the verbs again, and you can use the past tense. Make sure you check the work in your next class. Have each student stand up and speak and show their picture and say what they did. The class will really love the pictures.

 

Scaffolded Tasks (Ana Chachkhiani, Kutaisi #3)

Warmup - Volunteers

1. What is a volunteer? Brainstorm in pairs examples.
2. What different examples of volunteerism.
3. Watch the 2 short video clips for examples.

Video Comprehension Questions:

1. What examples of volunteer activities did you see in the videos?
2. Write down as many as you remember. Which do you admire?
3. Which ones do you think you could do in your community?
4. Discuss with your partner your favorite examples, write them down.
5. Share your results with 3 other students in the class.

Reading Task - VOLUNTEERS

There are many volunteers in the world. Some of them help people and some of them protect animals or do other things to improve the world and community around them. Marine life need our help and protection, and so you should not throw rubbish in the sea or oceans and try to keep them clean. In your community, do your best to protect nature and do not throw gum, papers, cans nor bottles in the street.

Real Stories from Volunteers:

“I am Lily and I am eleven years old. I am a volunteer. I help poor children and I gather money and buy clothes and toys for them. I went to the orphanage to meet the children and give them some gifts and to try  and make them happy.”

“I am Bob and I am a volunteer. I help homeless dogs. I give them food and shelter. It makes me feel good to help the animals and you can try it too.”

“I am Tom and I am seven. I never throw rubbish and I always help my mum when she needs a little help.”

Reading comprehension

1. How old is Lily?   She is _______
2. What does Lily do as a volunteer? She ____________
3. What does Bob do to volunteer? He ______________
4. What does Tom do to volunteer? He ______________

Discuss with partner:

1. Which of these have you ever done?
2. Which of these would you like to do?
3. Write 2 sentences. What would you like to do as a volunteer? Why?

Clean Up Task Promotes Effective Volunteering

With Teachers Zurab, Ana and Natia (Kutaisi School #3)

Writing for Hope

Semi-formal Emails should contain:

     Greeting
     Purpose of the letter
     Reasons in support of purpose
     Closing and signature

Example (taken from: Hope Letters):


Dear Japan,

I may not know anyone in Japan but even though I do not know anyone I am still thinking of all of you. Everything is a mess right now but it will get better in time. Everyone here keeps talking about how to help all of you that have been affected by this sad tragedy. We are thinking of fundraisers and helping organizations raise money.

I feel really bad that Japan was hit with a tsunami and a big earthquake. The people in Japan are really brave, strong, and hopeful. We are watching over you, and we hope everything gets better. Lots of love, hope, and thoughts go to all you in Japan. 

Love: A Middle
School Student

Activity Idea:

Students can write or type a simple "hope letter" to people affected by disasters in other parts of the world which provides opportunity for authentic assessment of writing (and brainstorming/outlining ideas before writing/rewriting) and actively involves them in volunteering their support in a real life event.

From Trash to Treasure

Project – got something you want to throw away? 

Students transform recyclables into creative craftwork. 

Teachers – you can possibly provide students with some recyclable stuff to create with such as:

     Cans

     Glass Bottles

     Paper

     Buttons

     Plastic bags/bottles

     Beads

     Caps

     Glue

     Glitter

     Toilet paper tubes

     Pens

By crafting something, students use creativity for a real experience recycling. For more ideas click the link here.

Senaki School #1 and Kvemokvaloni students (Samegrelo) crafts from reusable materials.

(Song) Keep the Park Clean

Before song:

Why do you think that Bert asks people to keep the park clean?

Why is it important? What reasons can you can think of?  Create a list with partner.

During song:

A boy in the park with a paper

From a sandwich on which he had fed,

Was about to drop it on the s____________

When a pigeon looked up and said:

Please keep the park clean for the pigeons

That is the ___________ thing to do

Throw all your trash in the b _ _ _ _ _

And we will say _________ you to you

Keep the park clean for the pigeons

When you eat c__________ or g _ _

When you leave trash on the sidewalk,

They can’t see bread crumbs to eat

Cracker jacks and chewing gum sticks to their _________

So, put trash in your p_________

If there’s no _____________ around

Please keep it to _______  _________ later

Do the Right Thing

Before Video

Have you ever seen something on the street that should not be there? What?

List as many things (with partner) that you can think of. Compare with another group.

After video

What is another word for “trash” in the video? It starts with “L”. L _ _ _ _ _

What did Ernie and his friends eat in the park?

What trash did Ernie and his friends have that they did not throw on the ground? 

They had w _ _ _ _ _ _ _ from candy and b _ _ _ _ _ _ from drinks.

If you’re looking for a  p _ _ _, throw the litter in a c _ _

Word search – complete the words below that mean the same thing as “trash”:

W_ _ _ e

R_ _ _ _ _ _

G _ _ _ _ _ _

L _ _ _ _ r

Here are some places where you can throw trash:

B_ _ _ _ t

B _ _

C_ _

Find these words in the word search 
(created at www.theteacherscorner.net)

Why do you think that Ernie asks people to not throw trash on the ground?

What are some reasons you can think of?  Create a list/compare with another group.