Getting Started

This Service Learning Program extends Jumpstart’s Read for the Record from a one-day event to a multi-week project by encouraging students to think of it as a campaign, a series of related activities meant to achieve a goal. In the case of Read for the Record, this goal is to engage people in reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar as a way to raise awareness about the importance of literacy and community service.

The Service Learning Program for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record consists of a variety of rich projects, or tracks – service learning activities that are ideal for connecting to important social themes. This Service Learning Program contains four tracks:

• Community Outreach & Communication
• Organizing Your Event
• Reading Mentor Program
• Reflection

Each track is designed to be completed in one to two class periods per week, over four to six weeks. You will find that every track has a complete outline of activities to help you organize your campaign, with lesson plans for middle and high school and a wealth of resources.

Splitting the campaign into tracks further allows you to create concurrent projects that foster important life skills, such as teamwork and group problem-solving. The four tracks of the campaign can be viewed as distinct projects, led by different teams of students working concurrently, or your entire class can collaborate as one team on all aspects of the campaign simultaneously.

To help tie the activities in each track to your curriculum, this Service Learning Program includes lesson plans. Each lesson plan strives to maximize opportunities for students to read, write, and think critically. Each lesson plan also ties to essential questions and themes and correlates to national standards for civics, language arts, and life skills (based on McREL standards). Lesson plans are geared toward middle school and high school and include extension activities for gifted programs, as well as adaptations for special needs students.

Creating a campaign for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record requires students to create event materials. To support them, you’ll find an in-depth library of resources for each aspect of your campaign. These resources include communications materials ranging from sample invitations and flyers to template press releases and agendas for the day of the event.

To begin, please read through the Campaign Organizer, then click the link for each of the four tracks.

Next, you’ll need to register your service learning campaign at www.readfortherecord.org/pearsonresources. By registering, you will receive updates about Jumpstart’s Read for the Record throughout the 2009 campaign.

We encourage you to undertake as much, or as little, as you feel is appropriate for your students. You need not tackle every activity in each track, nor every lesson. Please make this project your own by choosing the tracks, lessons, and resources that best fit your needs.

Again, thank you for your participation in Jumpstart’s Read for the Record, and best of luck with your campaign. Remember to be creative and have fun!

Campaign Organizer

Download a pdf of the Campaign Organizer