Skill: Volunteering

How Can I Help Fix a Big Problem?

Today, we'll talk about why and how we can volunteer and work with others to fix problems in our school or community.

Grades: 4-5

Benchmark(s): 4-5.SoA.3.1, 3.2, 3.3

Pretend you need to teach a younger student or family member how to volunteer.

What would you tell them to do? What advice would you share with them?

• Think about something you could do that would help your school, community, or another person.
• Find out how you could help.
• Ask an adult for help with your plan.
• Begin helping yourself or with a group.

Step 1: Think about something you could do that would help your school, community, or another person.

You can think of little things you can do such as volunteering in class or big things like organizing a food drive for your community.

Think about people or places that may need help.

Step 2: Find out how you could help.

Look up ways you could help with the problem you have identified. Are there organizations that already help that you could volunteer at?

You can volunteer your time to help with an organization or you can create an event/activity to help solve the problem you identified.

Step 3: Ask an adult for help with your plan.

Who can you ask for help? The adult could be a teacher, parent, or community member. When you ask for help, remember to tell the adult what you want to do and why.

Step 4: Begin helping yourself or with a group.

Be sure to follow through on any activities or events you say you are going to do.

When Paige gets home from school, she sees her older brother, Jacob, busy with homework. Paige’s dog is jumping by the door waiting for his typical walk with Jacob. Paige doesn't have any homework.

What could Paige do to help?

Does Paige need any more information or help from an adult? If so, how could she get it?

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Nick’s gym teacher asks if anyone will help her to demonstrate passing a basketball.

What could Nick do to help?

Does Nick need any more information or help from an adult? If so, how could he get it?

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Nia’s teacher asks the class if anyone is willing to run a piece of paper to the school office.

What could Nia do to help?

Does Nia need any more information or help from an adult? If so, how could she get it?

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Everyone in Cole’s classes has written a short speech about themselves for English class. Everyone will be reading them aloud to the whole class. The teacher asks who would like to go first.

What could Cole do to help?

Does Cole need any more information or help from an adult? If so, how could he get it?

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Gina sees a new teacher in the hallway. She thinks they are a substitute teacher and they look lost.

What could Gina do to help?

Does Gina need any more information or help from an adult? If so, how could she get it?

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