School Service Projects, Student Community Volunteer Activities for Kids

School Service Project, Community Volunteer Activities Use this lent alms giving project to practice spiritual exercises of fasting, prayer and sharing. Service project can be adapted for public school use. Good way to get school required community volunteer credits for high school students. May be used for alternative education extra credit, too. Activities focus on Social Justice, World Church, missions and prayer. Muslims may wish to use this project for Islamic zakat giving. Jewish families might use this for an alms giving activity, too. Lesson plans include social studies and math extensions; multiplication, division, counting, sorting, grouping and story problems. Great education for all children. Use for CCD, religious education, classroom service project, homeschool, scout troop, 4H group and more!

* Collect gently used clothing for warming centers.

* Wash used stuffed animals to a children's hospital or nursing home. Sew a little heart on donations for sweet little no-cost good deeds.

* Print and color Bible coloring pages, write messages on the back and send to lonely senior citizens.

* Visit a nursing home and lead a sing-along. This is great friendship building volunteer work for kids!

* Bring tea and cookies to a shut-in neighbor; stay to visit. Gifts of time are the highest form of almsgiving.

* Shovel a disabled person's walk (or mow grass in warmer climates). These no-cost good deeds are so appreciated.

* Plant a tree and nurture it. What great donations of time and talent.

* Pick up trash in the park. The whole community benefits from this ROAK.

* Call grandma.

* Skype or FaceTime with your annoying older brother in college.

* Fold your sister's clothes.

* Tidy dad's work area.

* Cook, serve and clean up dinner. Mom will love these donations of time and talent.

* Donate used puzzles to the library.

* Repair gently used toys and bring to the mission thrift store.

* Drop used books in Green Earth Books boxes.

* Teach your little brother to play a song on your guitar.

* Knit a blanket for a new baby (little blankets make great starter project for kid knitters).

* Bike to the store to pick up your elderly neighbor's prescription.

* Fix up your old bike and give to the neighbor's child.

* Wash gently used clothes and drop in Goodwill donations box.

* Make a meal for someone who had surgery.

* Let your little sister pick the TV show.

* Do volunteer work for kids in your family. Play Legos with your little brother.

* Have a free garage sale. Or put gently used give-aways on the curb for people to take. This volunteer work for kids can have a network of positive connections.

* Fill a bag of groceries and leave it on your laid-off neighbor's porch.

* Draw and frame a picture for your priest's, rabbi's, minister's office.

* Write your doctor a note thanking her for caring for you.

* Find out what the food pantry needs, go shopping, bring groceries.

* Paint a pretty mug for your teacher and fill it with her favorite coffee.

* Attend a funeral (this isn't exactly volunteer work for kids, but it is a very generous gift and not always so easy to give).

* Cheerfully clean your room without being asked.

* Leave a plant for your mail carrier.

* Babysit your irritating cousins for free (awesome ROAK!)

* Help your grumpy neighbor wash his car (this volunteer work for kids may not involve money, but it will cost patience!)

* Eat only vegetables once a week and put donate money to food pantry.

Essays and Composition Rubric: Writer's Workshop

How to Write Compositions, Narratives, Short Stories and Essays  Rubric for writers on basic story and narrative outline. How- to guide for writing the narrative, essay, short story and composition. Covers conflict theory, POWER writing, editing, revising, plot structure and qualitative differences in prose genres. 

I've been asked how I organize the business of writing. Sometimes, just getting started is the most difficult step. Here's a basic format I follow for all writing: composition, news article, essay, research piece or poem. I teach students to use this rubric, too.

 Decide on purpose. What type of composition is this going to be? Make sure you understand the expectations. Typically, your teacher will provide you with an explanation and lecture on what you are to write. Read this over carefully. Ask your instructor if you have questions. You will find several helpful links at the end of this article for online resources also

Choose your topic. Decide what you will write about, by asking yourself: What interests me? What makes me angry? What do I know about? What do I want to know more about. If money interests you, write about money-making schemes that you have. If you're concerned about the war in the Middle East, write an essay about why this upsets you. If you know a great deal about football, write a personal narrative about your football experience. If you want to be a veterinarian research and write about careers in veterinary medicine. Look for unique angles for topics.

Write your introduction: For every composition except poetry, you will need to introduce either your topic and position (for an essay) or characters, plot and setting (for narrative, short story and play). See the article 'How to Write an Introduction.

Develop the 'body' of your work. Jot down 10-12 main points. Organize them into three groups. Choose the most important detail in each group. This will be the paragraph main idea and the other points will be supporting sentences.

Write your conclusion: This simply wraps up what you have said in your composition. It can basically restate what you said in your introduction. If you composition is longer, you can sum up your main points. Try to phrase them a little differently so it will not sound repetitive.

Use P-O-W-E-R You have done the

P-plan

O-organize

W-write

Now you will finish with

E-edit

R-revise

You will do this for every type of writing. Reread your work. Look for spelling, grammar, and content problems. Use your computer spell and grammar check but check it over yourself, as well. You can have someone proof-read it also. Every good piece of writing goes through two or more revisions. Let your thoughts gel. Come back to the composition and you will see improvements you might not have seen when it was still "hot."

Easy Classroom Fitness Workouts

The Ultimate Guide to Quick Fitness Workouts About half or more of all students live sedentary lives. And the classroom environment makes the problem worse. Learning is doing. We know that children who sit all day do not learn as well. They get distracted, bored and sleepy. Here are over 70 activities to get in a quick mini workout throughout your school day. Easy, interactive and fun! No materials required! 

Do you make exercise a part of your day? Is family fitness a priority? For many parents, it's not the lack of ambition, it's their crazy-busy lifestyles. How do you fit quick workouts into an already hectic day? Here are multitasking mom's mini workouts to wedge in your cram-packed schedule. These aren't hardcore extreme fitness regimes but they do satisfy the family fitness vs. time crunch dilemma. 

Get double duty out of the things you already do now by adding in quick workouts. The trick is to extract exercise from every activity you do. Long ago, people weren't obese and didn't work out. They did work constantly. Turn chores into mini workouts--do chores outside for a fitness trifecta: fresh air, exercise and productivity! As with any fitness, be sure to warm up, cool down, don't overdo it and obey your doctor when you exercise with children. 

Quick workouts out in public. Take every opportunity you can find to walk. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk through your plant, office, school or facility at break time. Don't ride anything or take the elevator. Walk the entire store when you grocery shop, stopping in every section. Run up the stairs to exercise with children. 

Family fitness routines: Walk your child to the bus stop (Why drive 2 blocks on a nice day?) Take a family bike ride to do errands close by (drop off library books, mail letters, grab a few groceries, pay bills). Park farther from buildings and stores so you will have to walk further. Teach children to use the stairs as an exercise machine (carefully so they don't get hurt, though.) Walk the dog, cat, hamster, etc. Take a family walk to do nearby errands--get the newspaper, buy milk, drop things off at church. Pull kids and stuff in the wagon (take turns pulling). Bag your own groceries and carry them out. When you go downtown or to a shopping mall, park and walk to each store (don't drive the car to hit stores a few doors down). 

Family fitness through community activities. Volunteer for Walk for Warmth, March of Dimes Walk-athon, jogging benefits and marathons. Enter your family in a parade. Walk the local outdoor farmer's market, craft show or flea market. Garage sale at a block sale. 

Quick workout at work. Whatever your occupation, try to get up and move around every 15 minutes or so. Go to the copy room or mail room. Hand deliver a few messages instead of emailing or texting everything. Touch base with fellow employees. Teachers and homeschool parents, "cruise" the classroom. You will help students and monitor problems. No one teaches as well from behind a desk. Check in with supervisor, spot-check problems, communicate on the move. 

Multitasking mini workouts at your desk. At the computer, in the car, on the bus or while reading, do these strengthening exercise with children. Tighten, hold and relax muscles in this sequence-- abdomen, buttocks, chin, Kegel (pelvis). Point and flex each foot and knee occasionally. 

Multitasking family fitness at home: Walk briskly as you gather laundry, dishes or tidy the house. When you go up or down stairs, carry something (dirty laundry, stuff to put away, etc.) Log how many times you go up or down stairs ant try to increase that number by one each day. Pick up a cheap exercise bike and ride it while you read or watch TV. Watch for exercise equipment on garage sales. Get in some upper body stretches as you put clothes or groceries on upper shelves. Hang clothes on the line and do some toe touches and side stretches. Practice lower body stretches as you gather toys from the floor.

Exercise with children doing chores. When you mop or vacuum, try staying in one place and reaching to move the vacuum to further points. Fully extend as you sort laundry on the floor and fill washer and dryer. Cleaning windows, mirrors, or the shower is a good time to work out your upper arms. Move them up

and down and back and forth about 10 times each. As the counter, do some yoga tree poses. Place one foot on the other leg and stand on one foot without holding on. Do this when you put on shoes and socks. Tighten and relax muscles to exercise with children while reading or watching TV. 

Outdoor tasks as mini workouts. Shovel snow. Shovel your neighbor's now and then. Do as much reasonable lifting and carrying as you can when you: move, buy new furniture, rearrange furniture, etc. Clean your carpets with a steam cleaner--great back and shoulder toner. Vacuum and wash your own car. Bend, stretch and extend in home remodeling. Remove wallpaper, paint and hang new wallpaper for super whole body workouts. Remember in "The Karate Kid" movie when Mr. Myagi got Daniel in shape by waxing the car and painting the fence?

Use hand tools instead of power tools-- hammer, saw, drill or screwdriver--for a good arm and hand workout. Even using power tools is good for quick workouts. Each time you scrub anything--floor, shower, carpets,--you give your arms and back some good rhythmic stretching. Get off the riding lawn mover and workout with a non-electric or walking lawn mower. Always stretch your neck and shoulder muscles to keep them limber and relaxed 

Family fitness multitasking mini workouts at play. Roller blade or bike on a date or with friends. Don't just sit and watch at the playground--play with your kids. Use any school playground when school is out. Play tag or catch. Push children on the swing or merry-go-round. Go on a nature hunt. Push little ones in the stroller. Carry the toddler or baby in a sling. Do climb and slide exercise with children. Take the kids for a walk down the street. Take a few neighbor kids or visit with the elderly. Bike to the  playground or park (bring water and a snack). Play in the sprinkler or practice throwing, kicking, batting and catching balls. Play badminton in the backyard ( a set is under $10). Set up a basketball hoop or tether-ball pole. Make a walk date after dinner with your spouse. You can use this time to catch up or just have a laugh. Coach or assist with a kids' sports team. Join a walking group

Resurrection Eggs: Lenten Devotional Easter Egg Activity

You've seen those plastic refillable Easter eggs? Well, how about reusing them for a green devotional craft for lent? Using Bible verses and items to represent the gospel story of the stations of the cross, you can help your family or classroom prepare for Easter. Holy Week is the high point of the Catholic and Orthodox liturgical calendar. Make Holy Week come alive for children with this educational and spiritual family craft. Easy, DIY, recyclable, inexpensive and lent/ Easter activity.

Lenten devotions: Catholic Holy Week countdown using Easter eggs. For these Easter egg crafts. you'll need 8 plastic eggs, a basket and Easter grass or green construction paper. For Bible object lessons, place one item in each egg that relates to the Easter story and a slip of paper with the Bible verse that mentions the item. You'll find the Easter story in the Gospel of Luke chapter 22, 23 and 24 (verse 1-12), or Mark chapter 11 (verse 1-11)chapter 14, 15 and 16 (verses 1-8). It's contained in the other two gospels as well, but Luke and Mark are the best retellings.

Label each egg as follows and place these items inside:

Palm Sunday--a piece of palm, dry grass or a plastic donkey (to remember Palm Sunday, when Jesus made a triumphal entry into Jerusalem)

Monday of Catholic Holy Week--a piece of cracker or crouton (to remember Christ's institution of Holy Eucharist at the Last Supper)

Tuesday of Catholic Holy Week--a dime (the 30 pieces of silver Judas was paid to betray his friend Jesus)

Wednesday of Holy Week--a tiny piece of branch with thorns (Crown of thorns)

Holy Thursday--a nail (to symbolize that His hands and feet were nailed to a cross)

Good Friday--a cocktail sword or toothpick (to remember that Jesus was pierced with a sword in his side, from which poured water and blood)

Holy Saturday--a stone (the stone that was placed in front of the tomb of Christ and later miraculously removed)

Easter Sunday--Nothing! This reminds us of the empty tomb on Easter morning.

Open one egg each day from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Light a candle for this special time. Ask a young child to explain to the family or group what this item could mean. The family can share their ideas, experiences or scripture references to the item. You might all sing a hymn or chant to remember this part of the story. Sing Crown Him with Many Crowns, All Hail the Power of Jesus's Name or Te Deum. Extend Easter egg crafts, by having children to illustrate Bible object lessons they've learned. Combine illustrations in a family memory book and use for Lenten devotions in years to come.

Book to Movie Films for Psychology Lesson Plans

Movies, whether independent films, documentaries or Hollywood blockbusters, have a powerful impact on how we understand concepts. Whether information is accurate, exaggerated or false, if it's portrayed in movie form we tend to accept and believe it more readily. Some of the most pervasive ways movies influence information is in the area of mental illness, mental institutions and institutional behavior.

Looking for films to use in psychology lesson plans about mental institutions and emotional illness? Here are some One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (and now the Netflix spinoff "Ratched")Girl Interrupted, Shutter Island, Patch Adams, K-Pax, Sybil, The Snake Pit, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and Girl Interrupted.  

It's important to discuss, in psychology lesson plans, the sometimes inaccurate portrayals about mental illness and institutions. People are often shown as being treated cruelly in institutions. "The Snake Pit" (1948) with Olivia de Haviland, is not far off with it's depiction of institutions of that time. "Girl Interrupted" (1998) with Angelina Jolie gives a fairly accurate picture of how institutional behavior develops. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" has strong merit as a mental institution expose.

Sensationalized stories can also block our vision. They take the focus off the real issues with over-dramatized, lurid depictions. "Shutter Island" (2009) is a perfect example. Viewers were prepared to be terrified by gruesome mental institution scenes. What they got was a complex, multi-layered story that poked holes in many accepted fallacies about mental illness. Some accusation of sensationalism has been levied at "Sybil" (1976). I have used and would continue to use the film in psychology classes, for Sally Field's exceptional performance and because it gives an inside-out look at the effect of child abuse. The important issue is to recognize media hype and deflect it with accurate information.

Ash Wednesday Lenten calendars, Lent Lesson Plans

Catholic Relief Services (CRS) is the single largest non-governmental relief agency in the world. Each year at Lent, CRS Rice Bowl collects millions of dollars for global poverty from nickels and dimes of Catholic parishioners. CRS Rice Bowl focuses attention on the Lenten virtues of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. The CRS Rice Bowl is a cardboard box which, when assembled, looks like a Chinese restaurant take-out box. During Lent, families place a CRS Rice Bowl in their homes to collect loose change for the poor and hungry of the world. The CRS Rice Bowl packet includes Lenten calendars with devotional activities, prayers, feast days and stations of the cross. Each calendar day has a global prayer focus with specific information about the country in need. Here are CRS Rice Bowl activities, printables, prayers, games, crafts and recipes. Use these Lenten lesson plans to teach social studies, history, economics, geography, language arts, culture, science and religious education 

Social studies lesson plans. Explore countries served by Lenten rice bowl. Lenten calendars list information about the seven countries (one for each week of Lent) supported by the CRS Rice Bowl. Each year CRS Rice Bowl highlights different countries to help. Lenten calendars introduce a person from each country and explain some of the conditions. Lenten calendars share recipes from that country. Printables, lesson plans and learning activities are provided to supplement the CRS rice bowl. 

Science and geography lesson plans. Research the seven countries served by Operation Rice Bowl. Hang a wall-sized world map. Create maps for CRS Rice Bowl countries and regions. Attach maps to wall with yarn indicating where they are on world map. Make a chart or graphic organizer showing cause and effect of poverty in each country (drought, poor sanitation, terrain, natural disasters, political regimes, military coups, loss of industry, urban crowding, etc.). Create and display a time line, running along the wall. Draw a separate line for each country to show events in each. Draw a world timeline and list important global events. Illustrate maps and time lines with native animals, artifacts and natural resources. Use printables for maps, charts and coloring pages. 

Language arts lesson plans. Write letters through Catholic Relief Services to children in each country. Write country name, language, region, capitol and keywords from each country. Use as vocabulary and spelling words. Have children create country booklets, using free social studies printables from Enchanted Learning. Older kids could create reading response journals and include maps and writing projects. Or have kids make scrapbooks. 

Make and try CRS Rice Bowl recipes included. Cooking is great hands-on application for math, chemistry and science lesson plans. Explore ethnic markets in your area and online to find the ingredients you need. Look for others foods that are similar. Be sure to emphasize meatless recipes. Research and discuss the biomes and habitats of the countries. What plants grow native in these regions? What animals are native? What is the terrain and climate? Explore other recipes from these areas or similar regions. See website for links on world research. Design a world cookbook and sell copies to raise money for the CRS Rice Bowl. 

Check out Catholic Relief Services Family site for more ideas. Use the Educators page for loads more social studies printables, lesson plans, activities, word games, puzzles, kids newsroom, interactive online activities and games. Use the Catholic prayer calendar in following Lenten calendars. Most schools incorporate calendar activities in their day. Include the prayers and information in your calendar routine.