SERVICE LEARNING PROJECT (OPTIONAL ASSIGNMENT)
ENGLISH 1301 DE 16 Weeks CLASS –
Spring 2016
---------------------------------------------------------------Students may choose to participate in a “Service Learning
Project” in lieu of writing Essay #3 (the “timed” 2 hour midterm
essay). This assignment is designed to take learning “out of the
classroom” and allows for students to contribute to the
community by providing much needed services. Volunteer service
is a rewarding activity and could potentially aid students in
their careers by providing hands-on experience in a number of
fields. Students who choose this option need to notify the
instructor in writing (via email) of their intention to do this-deadline for written notification {02/01/16}. Please email me
the name and physical mailing address of the organization
(mrsbelz@comcast.net).
1)
Setting Up Volunteer Schedule (Required): Students need to
make contact with a representative of one of the listed
Community Service Sites to set up a volunteer schedule -- this
must be done within the first two weeks of class.
2)
Logging Volunteer Hours (Required): All students must
complete a minimum of 15 logged hours of volunteer service and
the “Service Learning Program: Community Service Time-Log” Sheet
needs to be maintained to verify these hours. This form needs to
be signed by an on site authorized representative and a business
card needs to be attached at the upper left hand corner of the
hand-out. This sheet will be turned in at the end of the
semester along with the required essay. The instructor will also
verify the student’s participation and number of hours
completed. Please Note: Once students complete 15 hours of
volunteer work, they can receive a special designation on their
official transcript indicating they have completed volunteer
hours through this project.
3)
Writing Service Learning Journal Entries (Optional):
Students may substitute up to 3 standard Reading Notebook
Journal Entries with Service Learning journal topics. In other
words, students may write about their Service Learning
experience in journal format. Each journal needs to meet the 300
typed word minimum and needs to be related to the Service
Learning Project.*PLEASE NOTE: Students are not required to
complete these journal entries – you may choose to complete the
reading journals as assigned to all other students in the class.
This is an optional portion of the SLP.
Journal Topic Suggestions:
a) What have you learned by volunteering?
b) What specific contributions have you made to the
community?
c) What are the connections between the hands-on volunteer
experience and your HCCS education?
d) Write a comparison/contrast entry detailing the similarities
and/or differences between Service Learning and learning
in the traditional classroom setting.
e) How will this volunteer service help you in your career?
f) Why should people volunteer in their communities?
g) Has volunteering changed your view of societal issues?
h) Has volunteering changed your life on a personal level?
You may use the list above to brainstorm “volunteer” journal
topics on your own. In addition, you may choose to write
“progress reports” of your volunteer activities. These journals
may also serve as “prewriting” activities to prepare you for
your final Service Learning Project Essay.
4)
Service Learning Essay Guidelines: Students will be
required to write a well organized essay detailing their
Service Learning Project. The volunteer essay needs to be
posted in mywritinglab by midnight on Friday, 05/06/16,
and will be substituted for Essay #3 (i.e. students will
not be required to write Essay #3 – the “timed” midterm
essay). Students must post a rough draft with their final
draft to receive full credit for this assignment (length
of final draft 750-1,000 typed words, MLA style). Please
include a copy of the completed “Service Learning
Program: Community Service Time-Log” Hand-out and a
business card or letter on official letterhead indicating
the contact person & phone number at the organization for
verification of hours of volunteer service with this
project. Students need to label each component clearly on
the outside of the folded page per instructor directions.
{Student Name, Instructor Name, English 1301 DE, Service
Learning Project – SLP RD, SLP FD, SLP Log Sheet}.
Printed copies of your final draft and the log sheet with
business card/letterhead may be dropped off in person at
my faculty mailbox at the HCC Stafford Campus (Learning
HUB Building) on Cash Road; to me in person right after
my classes end on Saturday at the Stafford Campus; or,
you may mail it to me via standard US Postal mail – see
the address listed on my HCC Learning Web page. This
essay will be graded for MLA style, organization,
development of topic, and grammar usage. Nevertheless,
students may use first person since portions of the paper
will include personal opinion.
5)
Paper Topic and Organization Suggestions (Required):
The Service Learning Essay needs to be organized to
include three main points -- a summary of your volunteer
experience; what you contributed to the community as a
whole through your volunteer work; and what you learned
on a personal level. Your introduction paragraph needs to
include the specific name of the organization where you
completed your service, and a clearly focused thesis
detailing the main topic of your essay (i.e. the three
above listed categories). Your body paragraphs need to
include at least one specific example to support the
assertions you are making. A good topic for your
conclusion paragraph would be to examine the relationship
of your volunteer experience with your HCCS education.
What connections do you see between the two? How did the
experience enrich your education? How will your
experience connect your education to your future career?
The main objective of the essay is to examine your
overall experience in this project, reflect on its
benefits to the community, and consider its role in your
personal life, career, and education. You may find it
helpful to utilize the journal entry substitute option
throughout the semester so you will have “prewriting”
information to draw upon in the completion of your final
essay for this project. Journals are freewriting
exercises to help you become accustomed to writing in
general without restrictions. Therefore, you may wish to
take advantage of this early preparation work by writing
Service Learning journals versus the standard assigned
journal topics.
---------------------------------------------------------------Additional Information: You may contact me any time to discuss
any aspect of this assignment in more detail: Voice Mail
(281)794-2079; my personal email—mrsbelz@comcast.net (preferred
method of contact); or standard HCC email: sabrena.belz@hccs.edu
-- I would also be happy to meet with you in person to discuss
your progress, make suggestions, or lend support to make this an
enriching assignment for you.
Best of luck and have fun!
***The full ‘updated’ contact site list (list of volunteer
‘approved’ locations) is posted on the Eagle homepage. All other
Service Learning Project handouts are also posted on the Eagle
homepage.