Making a Lasting Difference

Session Four

Plan the project(s).

• Ask students for ideas about the tasks that need to be done, the materials required to complete each task and who might undertake each task. Record student suggestions on a chart, such as the one below. 

Planning Our Project

You may have to prompt students, for example:

• Should we let our parents know what we plan to do?
• How might we do this?
• Should we get permission from the principal?
• Do we need to find out more about the nature of the project?

• For a helpful account of the planning and implementation of a Grade 2/3 project to improve the school playground, consult the article by Surrey teacher, Janice Crawford (see References). As this account suggests, there are many opportunities to integrate various subject areas in the planning and implementation of a class project. The authorized resources also contain examples of classroom and school projects.

Participate in the project.

• Set criteria with the students on what effective participation in a group project will look like. Use the Student Self-reflection: Working Together to Make a Difference as a formative tool for students. The criteria on the tool can be changed to reflect the student input.

Debrief experience.

• After implementing the project, discuss the experience as a class. Ask students to comment on some or all of the following questions:
  • How did you feel about our project?
  • How did the people helped by the project feel about our contribution?
  • How do we know if our contribution made a lasting difference?
  • What might we do differently next time?
• Ask students to individually record their feelings about making a contribution to the school or community.