Galiba Dzaja

The University of Utah

Community Engaged Learning (CEL)

Description of Project
I started my service-learning project with my 5th graders by asking them the question;
how can we change the world? I showed them a video of Kid President that made them think
about how they could change the world. We talked about this as a class. I then explained to
them that we don’t have to do big things to change the world. We can start changing the world
by just being more kind to each other. I defined what kindness and empathy are. We talked
about these two things and how its important to be kind to other human beings but also
ourselves. We watched a short video on empathy. We discussed the difference between
empathy and sympathy and how we should always have empathy for the individuals in our
community. We talked about the 3 steps to completing our Random Acts of Kindness which
includes planning it, doing it and then reflecting.
I handed out our brainstorming sheet and we talked about the what being nice is and
whether they must think about this behavior before they do it or if its automatic. We talked
about what synonyms are and what the synonyms are for the word nice. They wrote me a
paragraph answering the question about being nice and followed the writing guidelines I had
listed. We talked about the different ways we can be kind. I had a list they could get ideas from
and they also made their own. They circled the one kind act that they would want to focus on. I
reminded them that we would reflect on their acts of kindness. I told them to pay attention to
what they did and how it made them feel and how it made the people in their community feel.
The next part is the reflection. I haven’t done this yet with the students, but I will this
upcoming week. Here they will do the four-square reflection answering 4 questions that will
help them reflect on how it made them feel, what they did, and other ideas they have that
would help them show more kindness and if they had any other questions. I will then introduce
our kindness jar to them. They will know that the kindness jar is a way for us to keep being kind
to each other and celebrate the kind deeds we all do. They will have sentence stems to follow
when writing them. Once they have written it, they will place it in the jar and every Monday
during breakfast I will read them to the class. Of course, I will read them before class to make
sure they are all appropriate and kind.
**Below is the PowerPoint I created to use throughout my Random Act of Kindness CEL
project. I have also included the brainstorming sheet and reflection sheet.

RandomActsofKindn RandomActsofKindn RandomActsofKindn

ess.pptx essBrainstorming.docx essReflection.docx
Galiba Dzaja
The University of Utah

Reflection
During this project I have learned that children are more than willing to cooperate and
engage in all aspects and topics if it interests them and intrinsically motivates them. Community
engaged learning should benefit the students and the community around them. I have learned
that including your students in the process as much as possible has its benefits. If they have a
choice in the topic, they will be more invested in it. It is important to have a general plan and
resources available. I tell myself everyday now to make connections with people so that I can
work with them in future CEL projects.
I want to continue implementing CEL in my classroom by progressively building the
projects on one another, and always connecting every part of the projects to the common core.
CEL is all about encouraging students to collaborate and research with one another to find
where in their community needs the most help. I want to use it as a tool to build the
community in my classroom in hopes that in spreads to our school and neighborhoods. I will
always incorporate my Random Acts of Kindness project and from their build onto it to show
the students that it doesn’t just stop there. We can keep going with our kindness and help clean
parks, our school, donate blankets, food, read with our preschool buddies, and even visit the
senior centers. There are so many kind things we can do. As a new teacher it will take me time
and much practice to get comfortable with doing bigger projects. I hope to over time get more
comfortable with taking on more CEL projects.
I see a change in my students just from implementing my Random Acts of Kindness. I
immediately got some notes on assignments from students thanking me for teaching them. I
even had some students say thank you for teaching us before they went out to recess. It is so
amazing to see that even a small project like this could motivate students to want to be more
kind. I am proud to see that the atmosphere in the classroom has improved. We will continue
to grow as a classroom and spread our kindness to the community in our school. I have
students always asking me when we are going to start our kindness jar, they can’t wait! What I
want to improve on when I do my kindness project again is to keep reminding students daily to
be kind and maybe start my kindness jar sooner. I also want them to do more journaling
throughout the project. For next time I will think about having the students create their own
separate mini journal in class where they can write all about our CEL projects. It would be a
great mini portfolio for them to look back at and see how much they have done.
Overall, during this project students have and will continue to learn more about civic
responsibility and what it is. They will have a better sense of what it takes to be a responsible
and active participant in our society. They will learn how to be more caring and respectful
towards others and themselves. Every part of our CEL project is connected to our common
core. Students will learn and practice new writing skills, language skills, they will learn how to
speak and listen to and with others. Most importantly they will learn how to treat others with
dignity and respect. They will learn how to be responsible, kinder human beings who stand up
Galiba Dzaja
The University of Utah

for others. Students will learn important lifelong qualities like patience, understanding, problem
solving and awareness of the community around them and themselves.

Resources
https://www.washington.edu/teaching/topics/engaging-students-in-learning/service-learning/
https://www.methodschools.org/blog/the-importance-of-service-learning-in-education
https://www.edutopia.org/topic/service-learning
https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/service-learning-101-guide-teachers

Pictures
**I will add more pictures once we have completed our reflection and throughout the year of
what has been put into our kindness jar and if I see any kind acts I will try to document them.
Galiba Dzaja
The University of Utah
Galiba Dzaja
The University of Utah

Core Curriculum Connections

Writing Standard 4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development and organization are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in
standards 1–3 above.)
Speaking and Listening Standard 2
Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats,
including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
Language Standard 2
Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
Strand 1: HEALTH FOUNDATIONS AND PROTECTIVE FACTORS OF HEALTHY SELF (HF)
Students will apply their knowledge to develop social and emotional competence to make
healthy and safe choices. „ Standard 5. HF.4: Demonstrate ways to express gratitude and treat
others with dignity and respect.

Service-Learning Research
https://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/epagov/www.epa.gov/epaoswer/general/educate
/svclearn.pdf
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-
idx?cc=mjcsloa;c=mjcsl;c=mjcsloa;idno=3239521.0025.208;view=text;rgn=main;xc=1;g=mjcslg
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-
idx?cc=mjcsloa;c=mjcsl;c=mjcsloa;idno=3239521.0025.202;view=text;rgn=main;xc=1;g=mjcslg

Quotes
1. Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life. – Jackie
Chan
2. We rise by lifting others. – Robert Ingersoll
3. No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. – Aesop
4. Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
– Dr. Seuss
Galiba Dzaja
The University of Utah

5. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of difference you
want to make.” – Jane Goodall
6. ALWAYS be kinder than you feel. – Anonymous
7. Be the reason someone smiles today. – Anonymous