Afterschool Projects for Learning

Puzzle

Community Works: A Service Learning Photography Project

Never mind walking like a penguin - if people participated in their communities like emperor penguins, then the world might be a better place.

Overview

This multidisciplinary project engages middle school-aged youth in a study of community behavior, then guides groups in designing and documenting their own service learning project. In the process, participants build literacy skills, practice scientific inquiry, and improve their photography technique.

What young people will learn and do:

  • Discuss the ways that narrative and vivid illustrations combine in a picture book to advance social justice issues
  • Build understanding of community behavior by researching penguins and reflecting on the roles people play in their own communities
  • Design and carry out a service learning project, taking photographs to document the experience

This project opens with a read-aloud story, A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams, raising social justice and other issues that impact community health and prosperity. After group discussion, participants undertake an investigation of penguin behavior to learn how they interact with each other. The next step is for youth to analyze their own communities, thinking about the ways that people are interdependent and identifying community needs. As a culminating activity, groups of young people design and carry out a community service project, taking photographs to document their work. They should set aside time for group and individual reflection, and share what they've learned with peers, parents, and members of the community.

Themes of social justice and empowerment anchor these project activities, and represent compelling issues for youth to explore in afterschool. Participants develop critical thinking skills as they research and discuss complex social issues from various perspectives. Drawing on resources from different Thinkfinity content partners, this project promotes visual literacy, artistic expression, collaborative learning, and, especially, community engagement.

Project Duration: From 3 to 6 weeks (assuming multiple sessions per week), depending on the extent of interest in the research component and the time needed for the service learning project.

Materials needed:

  • Computer with Internet access
  • Still cameras
  • Poster board or other display for exhibiting photographs

Career fields highlighted:

  • Community development
  • Biology/anthropology
  • Photography

Academic standards addressed:

  • IRA/NCTE Standards: Standard 1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works; Standard 7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience; Standard 8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
  • National Geography Standards: Standard 10 - The characteristics, distribution, and complexity of Earth's cultural mosaics
Get started ReadWriteThink

Crit Lit for Kids: From Critical Consciousness to Service Learning

Introduce the concept of social justice prior to sharing the picture book A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams. Once you've read the story aloud, engage the group in a discussion about the way the text and illustrations represent social justice and other issues that affect vulnerable members of a community. Reference Session 1 and Session 2 of this ReadWriteThink lesson plan for numerous examples of questions that promote thoughtful discussion.

Find out more Expeditions

It Takes a Rookery

Having started the conversation about how individual members of a community support each other, guide the group in a study of penguins' interdependent roles in a rookery. This will provide a nice frame of reference when young people reflect on their own communities in the next activity. Depending on the level of interest and time available, they can do a quick investigation of penguin communities using the resources linked in this Xpeditions activity, or they can go in-depth in their research, exploring information-rich websites and viewing the film March of the Penguins.

Piece it together Expeditions

It Takes a Rookery

As this Xpeditions activity urges, Do Something About It. Ask project participants to think about how people help each other in their own community, and give them the opportunity to carry out a service learning project that they design based on community needs.

The Language of Photography

Encourage the young people to celebrate both their service and their learning by showing photographs of their work in the community. For inspiration, participants might explore Community PhotoWorks, a Look-Listen-Learn module from ARTSEDGE that features an online gallery of student photographs and artist's statements as well as resources for teaching analysis of visual media and photography technique. Of particular relevance for this project, The Language of Photography offers pointers on capturing images that tell a story.

Content Partners