Our first graders will be participating in a nationwide campaign sponsored by TOMS shoes (a teacher favorite!) This campaign is called One Day Without Shoes, and the primary focus is to raise awareness of the health risks that millions of children face daily because of their lack of shoes, and the impact that this has on education.
(Please click on the image to the left to watch a 30-second informational video on this campaign).
This issue hits close to home because of the connection with a student in the Frog Room. Elliana's family is currently in the process of adopting two boys from an orphanage in Ghana: an orphanage where the majority of children do not have access to proper shoes. By going without shoes on April 10, our first grade students and teachers are hoping to raise enough money (and awareness!) to purchase 1 pair of shoes for each of the 70 children currently living in the orphanage in Ghana.
Elliana's family will be traveling to Ghana this summer, and we would love to have our hearts go with them through this service project.
Here's where you can help: Your first grader is responsible for coming up with at least one way that he/she can earn money or raise awareness - at home - to help with this project before April 10. I am very passionate about making sure that this part of the project is student-led, so please allow your son/daughter to take the lead here. Here are some of the ideas we brainstormed together in class:
- Collect coins at home (from pop cans, couch cushions, spare change)
- Collect coins at church (make a poster and put the can next to it)
- Make a craft and sell it to neighbors and friends
- Offer to help with extra chores around the house (folding laundry, putting away dishes, making beds, etc) for a small allowance
- Start a lemonade stand and save the money
- Have a car wash and save the money
I believe that there is incredible power in service-learning and our class will also be turning One Day Without Shoes into a full cross-curricular unit. We will be integrating this project into all of our academic areas over the next month. Here are some of our plans:
- We will read, research, and watch a presentation from an "expert" about children, families, customs, and schools in Ghana and compare/contrast them to the US
- We will complete shared informational and persuasive writing projects to inform others of our project
- We will use technology (and the help of our 5th grade buddies) to create flyers to advertise One Day Without Shoes around the school
- We will use PhotoStory to create videos to show to other classrooms to raise awareness, and iMovie to create a video to send to Ghana with our donations
- We will learn about mapping skills as we "travel" from the US to Ghana and learn about the differences in climate, culture, and more
- We will measure, mix, and cook together as we prepare a traditional Ghana meal
- We will estimate the approximate cost of shoes in Ghana and then will earn, collect, count, and graph donations in order to see our progress toward our goal
Thanks for supporting the Frog Room as we
"Go without shoes, so kids in Ghana don't have to!"