Walking On Ice: A service learning co-authorship project creating a literacy-promoting partnership between a high school creative writing class and a second grade class
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Authors
Valentino, Merilee Ann
Issue Date
2003
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
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Abstract
Making student learning authentic and relevant to their lives means adding doses
of reality to the school curriculum. This is not to say that we should abandon theories
and textbooks; rather, it is to suggest that schools need to create a bridge to the adult roles
that high schools aim to prepare students for in their mission statements. A need exists to
involve students in the community in which we expect them to live and contribute.
Experiential education—learning by doing—is a means to create a link. At the same
time, this strategy addresses the challenge of individualizing the educational experience.
Service-learning, a form of experiential learning, appropriately harnesses the energy of
students by creating opportunities to increase depth of understanding, to prepare students
for civic responsibility, and to empower and liberate students as individual learners.
I came into student teaching with three main objectives; to teach for
understanding, to teach students to be critical thinkers, and to engage and empower
students through the learning process. For my SIP, I was interested in looking at how
service-learning could address those three objectives. My aim was to connect what the
students were studying in class with the greater local community. This SIP investigates
service-learning in relationship to secondary education through the lens of a coauthorship
project. During my student teaching I developed a partnership between my
creative writing students and second graders at a neighboring elementary school. The
intention was to promote literacy through these big buddy-little buddy pairings. Over the
course of five meetings, spanning a period of four weeks, the buddies collaborated skills
to write, illustrate, and create their own, original children’s books. Throughout the
project, students reflected upon the experience. These reflections serve as findings, from
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which we can postulate conclusions regarding the efficacy of service-learning. This SIP
examines the learning outcomes for both the younger and older students. Within the
framework of mentoring relationships, the discussion focuses on the development of
adult roles and academic and social skills. Student reflections reveal how students
perceived the project and derived diverse learning outcomes. The findings reveal
thematic parallels between this study and research conducted by service-learning
researchers. The SIP aims to provide analysis of service-learning in a way that helps to
strengthen the development of future programs. Ultimately, this SIP intends to bolster
support for service-learning as an effective means of challenging students to become
engaged in, and empowered by, the learning process.
The SIP looks at student learning beyond the bounds of the classroom walls. In
order to work with the second graders, my students and I walked on Michigan winter
mornings to the elementary school. Literally and figuratively, the service-learning
project was about “walking on ice.”
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