Ways to Serve Others This Christmas

Ways to Serve Others This Christmas Christmas is the season of giving; since our schedules offer so much flexibility, homeschooling families often have the availability to give back to their community during the holiday season. If you and your family have been considering service opportunities, try any of these 11 ways to serve others this Christmas. Serve Meals at a Soup Kitchen Call your local soup kitchen or homeless shelter to schedule a time to go serve meals. You might also inquire if they are low on any specific supply needs. This time of year many organizations host food drives, so their pantry may be full, but there may be other items that need to be restocked such as bandages, blankets, or personal hygiene items. Sing Carols at a Nursing Home Gather your family and a few friends to go sing Christmas carols at a nursing home. Ask if it’s okay to bring baked goods or wrapped candy to share with the residents. Spend some time before you go making homemade Christmas homemade cards to deliver or buy a box of assorted cards to share. Sometimes nursing homes are overwhelmed with groups that want to visit during the holiday season, so you may want to see if there are other ways that you can help or better times to visit. Adopt Someone Choose a child, grandparent, single mom, or family who is struggling this year and purchase gifts or groceries or deliver a meal. If you don’t know someone personally, you can ask local agencies and organizations that work with needy families. Pay Someone’s Utility Bill Inquire at the utility company to see if you can pay the electric, gas, or water bill for someone who is struggling. Due to privacy factors, you may not be able to pay a specific bill, but there is often a fund to which you can donate. You might also check with the Department of Family and Children’s Services. Bake a Meal or Treats for Someone Leave a little snack bag in the mailbox with a note for your mail carrier, or put a basket of snacks, soft drinks, and bottled water on the porch with a note inviting delivery people to help themselves. That’s sure to be a greatly appreciated gesture during the busy holiday season You can also call your local hospital and see if you could deliver a meal or snacks and drinks to the ICU waiting room or hospitality room for the families of patients. Leave a Generous Tip for Your Server at Restaurants We sometimes hear of people leaving a tip of $100 or even $1000 or more. That’s fantastic if you can afford to do that, but just tipping above the traditional 15-20% can be greatly appreciated during the holiday season.   Donate to the Bell Ringers The men and women ringing bells in front of stores are often recipients of the services offered by the organization for whom they’re collecting. The donations are typically used to operate homeless shelters and after-school and substance abuse programs and to provide meals and toys to needy families at Christmas. Help the Homeless Consider making bags to give out to homeless people. Fill a gallon-size storage bag with items such as gloves, a beanie, small juice boxes or water bottles, non-perishable ready-to-eat food items, lip balm, facial tissues, restaurant gifts cards, or prepaid phone cards. You might also consider giving blankets or a sleeping bag. Perhaps an even better way to help the homeless community is to  contact an organization that works directly with the homeless  and find out what they need. Often, these organizations can stretch monetary donations farther by purchasing in bulk or working with complementary organizations. Do Housework or Yard Work for Someone Rake leaves, shovel snow, clean house, or do laundry for someone who could use the extra help. You might consider a sick or elderly neighbor or a new or single parent. Obviously, you’ll have to make arrangements to do housework, but yard work can be done as a complete surprise. Take a Hot Beverage to People Working in the Cold Police officers directing traffic, mail carriers, bell ringers, or anyone else working out in the cold this Christmas season will appreciate a cup of hot cocoa, coffee, tea, or cider. Even if they don’t drink it, they’ll enjoy using it as a hand warmer for a little while.   Pay for Someone’s Meal at a Restaurant Paying for someone’s meal in a restaurant or the car behind you in the drive-thru is a fun random act of kindness any of time of year, but it’s often especially appreciated at Christmas when money is  tight for  many families.   Whether youre investing your time, your financial resources, or both to serve others this holiday season, youll likely find that its you and your family who are blessed by serving others.

Teaching the Compare and Contrast Essay

Teaching the Compare and Contrast Essay The compare/contrast essay is easy and rewarding to teach for several reasons: Its easy to convince students there is a reason for learning it.You can teach it effectively in a few steps.You can see students critical thinking skills improve as they learn to write the essay.Once mastered, students feel proud of their ability to systematically compare and contrast two subjects. Below are the steps you can use to teach the compare/contrast essay. They have been used in regular high school classes where reading levels ranged from fourth to twelfth grade. Step 1 Discuss practical reasons for comparing and contrasting.Discuss reasons for learning to write about similarities and differences. Selecting subjects that matter to students is critical for this step. For example, one might be to compare two models of cars and then write a letter to a benefactor who might buy them one. Another would be a store manager writing to a buyer about two products. Academic topics such as comparing two organisms, two wars, two approaches to solving a math problem may also be useful. Step 2 Show a model compare/contrast essay. Explain that there are two ways to write the essay but dont go into any detail on how to do it just yet. Step 3 Explain compare/contrast cue words. Explain that when comparing, students should mention differences but focus on similarities. Conversely, when contrasting they should mention similarities but focus on differences. Step 4 Teach students how to use  compare/contrast charts. You should plan to spend a few classes on this. Although it seems simple, students doing it for the first time perform better if they arent rushed through this step. Working in teams, with a partner, or in a group is helpful. Step 5 List and model the Writing Dens  cue words  to show similarities and differences. Many tenth graders have difficulty thinking of these words if this step is skipped. Provide model sentences with these words which they can use until they become comfortable with them. Step 6 Explain charts showing how to organize compare/contrast  paragraphs  and  essays. Have students write the block style first since it is easier. Students should be told that the block is better to show similarities and the feature-by-feature is better to show differences. Step 7 Provide guided practice in writing the  first draft. Guide students through their first essay providing help with an introduction and transition sentences. It is helpful to allow students to use a chart they have completed as a class or one that they have done independently and  that you have checked. Do not assume they understand the chart until they have done one correctly. Step 8 Provide in-class writing time. By giving in-class writing time, many more students will work on the assignment. Without it, students with little motivation may not write the essay. Walk around asking who needs a little help to get more participation from reluctant learners. Step 9 Review the steps in the  writing process.Review editing suggestions and give time for  revision. Explain that after writing their essay, students should edit and revise. They should continue the cycle of editing and revising until they are satisfied with the quality of their essay. Explain the advantages of revising on the computer. For  editing  tips, check  these suggestions for revising drafts  from the University of North Carolina Writing Center. Step 10 Review the  SWAPS Proofreading Guide  and give students time to proofread their essays. Step 11 Have students evaluate their peers essays using a  Compare/Contrast Rubric. Staple a rubric to each essay and have students evaluate them. Be sure to check off on a roster the names of students who turn in essays because they could be stolen during the peer evaluation activity. Consider requiring students who have not finished to submit their essay for peer evaluation after writing  Not Finished  at the top of their papers. This helps peers recognize that the essay is incomplete. More importantly, taking their paper forces them to participate in the evaluation activity rather than trying to finish the essay in class. Consider giving 25 points each for evaluating three essays and another 25 points for quiet participation. Step 12 Review the proofreading guide briefly and then devote half a period to proofread one anothers essays. Tell students to read their essay aloud or to have someone else read it to them to catch any errors. Have students proofread several essays and sign their names at the top of the paper: Proofread by ________.