Serving Others

One of our theme weeks for summer camp this year was 'Serving Others'.  It went really well! We did a ton of activities:

On Monday, we had a guest speaker come from Save the Children.  She talked to this kids about why it's important to help children throughout the world. She gave them some swag to take home. We started a penny drive to raise a little money for Save the Children.

We also made blankets for pets at the animal shelter.  I paired kids up, and let them choose 2 different 1-yard lengths of fleece.  My volunteer and I went around and marked where they should cut.  The kids cut the slits and tied the two fleeces together, making small blankets!  This was a bit difficult, some of the younger kids got frustrated.  What would help would be good, sharp, adult scissors for making the cuts, and maybe three kids per blanket, or at least pair older and younger kids together.  The kids were really proud of their final products.  There are lots of tutorials on how to make no-sew fleece blankets, I just made ours a bit smaller.

Cutting and tie-ing pet blankets

On Tuesday, we had a returned Peace Corps Volunteer come and give a slideshow presentation about her time in Cameroon.  She brought little snacks for the kids to try, and when she left, we also made baked plantain chips in the toaster oven (our kitchen is being remodeled, so we couldn't use a real oven.) I had a bunch of 'dips' they could try as well - hummus, peanut butter, yogurt and salsa.

Picking up supplies for the toiletry kits

Then we made toiletry kids for people who are coming out of the immigrant detention center in Aurora.  I emailed Casa de Paz, a place that offers hospitality for just released immigrants and their family members, and they told me what they could use.  The kids decorated paper lunch bags, then filled them with supplies I had purchased: a soap, a washcloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, small hand sanitizer, and shampoo. Most of these I got at the dollar store.  I will deliver their toiletry kits to Casa de Paz.

A completed, decorated, toiletry kit

Wednesday we talked about water, and how much water we use in the U.S. compared to others, and what we can do to conserve water. We also played FreeRice.com, which donates rice to the World  Food Programme as kids play trivia games. They had a blast competing for who could donate the most rice.  We also made cards for children who have been separated from their parents for immigration reasons.

Playing FreeRice.com.  The kids generally partnered up and had 2 to a computer

Thursday we did a field trip! We took the bus to Clothes to Kids of Denver, a nonprofit that provides free school clothes for underserved children. We spent an hour and a half volunteering there, helping them fold socks, organize shoes, and clothes ready for display.  The kids really liked this field trip and really enjoyed feeling like they were doing a grown-up job.

Checking sizes to sort shirts

Learning about Clothes to Kids and our jobs there

Folding T-shirts and carrying them to the right shelf

Throughout the week, I read them stories of real-life children who are making a difference in their world, from the book Kids Who Are Changing the World and we had some good discussions on finding the thing that makes us want to donate our time, talent, or treasure to make the world a better place.  It was a cool week!

Guacamole Taste Test

With my summer camp, children ages 7-12, we did a guacamole taste test.  I divided the camp into 3 groups, and each group only had 4 kids, with one adult.  This was a nice size, it would have been hard to do it with a larger group size.

I had printed ahead of time three different recipes for guacamole (I'll add them soon.)  All the ingredients and tools were laid out on one side of the table.  Each team was given a mixing bowl.  I cut the avocados in half ahead of time, and made a huge sign that said "REMOVE AVOCADO PITS WITH A SPOON!!" and emphasized to the adults not to let the kids use knives to take out the pits.  It is really easy to injure yourself doing that.

Each team's recipe was slightly different, but they were all normal guacamole recipes.  I asked the adults to encourage the children to read the recipes and measure things, in order to sneak a bit of math into the activity, even though it doesn't really matter if you use 1/2 tablespoon of garlic or a whole tablespoon.

I had told the kids they could use the knives if they felt comfortable doing so, and if they could do so safely.  If they couldn't, they could ask an adult to cut things for them.

During each team's rotation, the kids did a great job dividing up the responsibilities, and not being too grabby with things.  When all the teams finished, we had a taste test. Before doing the tasting, I read each team's list of ingredients out loud so kids had an idea what they might be tasting.

Each student got a plate with some tortilla chips, and made a line. I put a small scoop of team 1's guacamole on each plate.  When everyone ate up #1, they lined up again for #2.  And after that, they lined up for #3.  I wrote on the white board three headings: Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, and each kid came up and marked their vote for favorite guacamole.  I had copies of the recipes available for them to take home if they wanted.

Kids loved this activity! Some said they couldn't wait to go home and make guacamole.  Almost all of them enjoyed the 'cooking' element, even the kids that hate guacamole.  And they really did almost the whole thing themselves. 

Recipes:

Guacamole Recipe #1:

·         2 ripe avocados-

·         1 Tablespoon chopped onion

·         ½ Tablespoon chopped garlic

·         5 tomatoes, chopped

·         1 Tablespoon lime juice (or juice of 1 fresh lime)

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Mash until all ingredients are mixed together.

Guacamole Recipe #2:

·         2 ripe avocados

·         2 Tablespoons Sour Cream

·         5 Tomatoes, chopped

·         ½ Tablespoon Cilantro

·         3 shakes of garlic salt

·         1 Tablespoon lime juice

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Mash until all ingredients are mixed together.

Guacamole Recipe #3:

·         2 ripe avocados

·         2 Tablespoons salsa

·         ½ Tablespoon chopped garlic

·         1 Tablespoon lime juice

·         ½ Tablespoon cilantro

Put all ingredients in mixing bowl.  Mash until all ingredients are mixed together.

Making words with Banagrams

I have done this activity with children and adults, newcomers and intermediate/ advanced English speakers.  It is always a hit.

Open up a banangrams and dump the letters on the table.  Have a race between students to see who can make a word correctly first.  For one-on-one, just have the student make the word, then they can give you a word to make, and you can take turns.

Some ideas for what words to make:
Content-specific vocabulary.  For example, we were studying clothing in adult ESL.  Every student had their vocabulary list in front of them, and I would pick a word from the list. ex: "shoes".  Students race to make 'shoes' out of the letters.
Content specific could be ESL related (verbs, parts of the body, animals, colors, etc) or subject related (words from a science text about types of rocks, words from a story you have just read together, words from a math unit).  

Spelling lists.

Sight-words. You could give each student a stack of sight-word cards, and challenge them to make each word then move on to the next as quickly as possible, so they are making lots of words. Just check their spelling after each word.

For non-Latin alphabet learners and non-literate learners, say the name of just a letter, or the sound a letter makes, and see who can find it first.  Ask them to repeat the name of the letter, or the sound, or both.  When you say the name or sound of the letter, show a flashcard with that letter, so the student knows what to look for.  Extensions are to name things that start with the letter (or name the picture on the flashcard, for example A- apple), talk about capital and lowercase letters, and spell their name and the names of other proper nouns that should be familiar to them (Colorado, Denver, etc.)

In my adult ESL class, I would have the 'winner' of each word spell the word for me, to practice saying the names of the letters. Then that person would get to pick the next word for the group to try and make. 


Note: I believe there is only one "J" in bananagrams, so words using J, give some students an I and tell them to pretend it is J, or write J on the backs of some tiles with a sharpie.