Teaching Urban EdVenture: A Fifth-Grade Service-Learning Course
This Mini-Course provides a background for teaching the Urban EdVenture course or for anyone introducing the concepts of philanthropy, leadership, and teambuilding to youth. Gain knowledge, skills, and approaches to provide youth with a basic understanding of philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, and the needs of their community.
Urban EdVenture is a yearlong service-learning course created at the Westminster Schools in Atlanta for 5th grade students. Its curriculum is available for free on Learning to Give. The course lessons are divided into three categories: philanthropy, leadership, and teamwork. Lessons use experiential teaching methods and a variety of activities designed to foster effective teamwork, explore how organizations address needs in the community, and identify issues or causes that matter to them. Students discuss and reflect on their perceptions of their experiences and final project. Urban EdVenture strives to help students answer the questions: How can I make a difference in my community? What does it mean to be a member of an effective team? How do I respond with empathy to other people?
Mini-Course Author: Luana Nissan
After completing this course (about 45 minutes), the learner is prompted to take a quiz based on the content. Upon successful completion of this quiz, the learner may request a certificate suitable for a professional development portfolio, or as proof of .75 educational clock hours that can be used toward continuing education credit in most states. Please contact your State Department of Education or school district for specific information. Documentation of the completed courses and copies of the certificate are stored under "My Account" of the Learning to Give website where the learner may access (and print) them at any time.
In this educator mini-course, you will gain a foundational understanding about philanthropy, nonprofit organizations, and experiential education and will learn about the core elements of Urban EdVenture. This can help you:
- Prepare to teach Urban EdVenture; or
- Gain a basic understanding about philanthropy and the nonprofit organizations and issues in your community, and connect students more intentionally to your community through service-learning and community service activities; or
- Gain a basic understanding about experiential education so that you can incorporate its principles into your classes.
Gain a fundamental understanding of the definition of philanthropy and why people give. We summarize how society's three sectors work together, and highlight the unique qualities of the nonprofit sector. This background is highly useful for teachers offering a philanthropy course and for facilitators and service-learning coordinators who engage young people with community nonprofit organizations.
This section briefly explains the philosophy of experiential education and the types of learning approaches it encompasses. Get a deeper explanation of a particular experiential pedagogy called service learning. The “five stages of service learning” are briefly explained.
This section explains briefly the Urban EdVenture course and its key experiences and content. The core elements of the course are:
- Understanding the basics of philanthropy and community
- Becoming an effective team member
- Learning qualities of leadership
Learn how the Urban EdVenture course uses lessons and community-based experiences to help young people learn about their community, its needs and challenges, and nonprofit organizations that address these needs. Through these experiences, young people learn about their own interests and abilities.
This section summarizes the skills that participants will learn through participation in Urban EdVenture.
This quiz contains eight multiple-choice questions based on the mini-course "Teaching Urban EdVenture." If you answer 75 percent correctly, you will have the opportunity to download a personalized certificate. You may revisit the course and retake the quiz, if desired.