The following resources can introduce you to the practice of service-learning and help you plan your service-learning curriculum. View some background information on service-learning.

Print Resources

Students in Service to America: A Guidebook for Engaging America's Students in a Lifelong Habit of Service contains many resources such as: "10 Steps for Bringing Service to Your Classroom" and "Hallmarks of Effective Service Programs." From Learn and Serve America, USA Freedom Corps, U.S. Department of Education, and Points of Light Foundation.

The K-12 Starter Kit is a compilation of many resources to help you get started with service-learning. Developed by the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.

Project Plan It! is a youth-oriented, interactive guide that helps young people plan a service project. The guide provides resources to develop a funding proposal, press release, and reflection plan. Offered by Youth Service America.

The Service-Learning Toolbox: Work Pages and Checklists to Help You Get Started and Keep You Going helps you plan the nuts and bolts of a service-learning project from identifying community needs to assessing student learning. Offered by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. 21 pages.

The Service-Learning Inquiry Kit is a multimedia resource created by Carol Kinsley and Barbara Gomez to help schools start using service-learning or improve current practice. The Kit contains six activity folders and a videotape. ($220)
Order from Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Community Service-Learning: A Guide to Including Service in the Public School Curriculum, edited by Rahima C. Wade. 379 pages. (21.95)

Essential Elements of Service-Learning, edited by Pamela Toole, PhD, describes eleven basic components of high-quality service-learning practice. 35 pages. ($7.50)
Order from the National Youth Leadership Council.

KIDS as Planners provides teachers, school administrators, students and community partners with a step-by-step process for designing, implementing and evaluating a KIDS service-learning project. The guidebook contains reproducible examples to help teachers and students connect service activities to standards and the curriculum. From KIDS Consortium. (19.95) Order.

The Complete Guide to Service-Learning: Proven, Practical Ways to Engage Students in Civic Responsibility, Academic Curriculum, and Social Action, by Cathryn Berger Kaye, M.A., contains proven, practical ways to engage students in civic responsibility, academic curriculum, and social action. Thematic chapters feature ideas for action, a curriculum web, project examples, and literature connections. From Free Spirit Publishing. 228 pages. ($29.95) Order.

The following excerpts are available online in pdf format from the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse:

• "The Essential Elements of Service-learning" (21K pdf)
• "Establishing Curricular Connections: Points of Entry" (26K pdf)
• "Planning for Service-Learning Example: Elementary-Hunger and Homelessness"(34K pdf)
• "Across the Curriculum Example: Hunger and Homelessness" (22K pdf)

The Service-Learning Integration Guidebook, by Verna Cornelia Price, Ph.D., is a comprehensive resource to help educators integrate service-learning into the curriculum. Sponsored by the USA Network and Hands On Network. 71 pages.

Learning from Experience: A Collection of Service-Learning Projects Linking Academic Standards to Curriculum profiles elementary, middle, and high school projects. Offered by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. 135 pages. ($30) Order.

An Asset Builder's Guide to Service-Learning provides asset-building strategies for service-learning programs. This workbook offers resources to strengthen youth involvement and develop community partnerships. From the Search Institute. 184 pages. ($14.95) Order

Connecting Service-Learning to the Curriculum: A Workbook for Teachers and Administrators - Now in use by educators in more than thirty-five states. This resource was created by teachers for teachers, the Workbook supports educators seeking to integrate service-learning. Whether you are simply curious about service-learning, at an intermediate stage, or an experienced practitioner, you will find useful discussion and invaluable tools, examples and field tested planning and evaluation guides. From Community Works Press, 129 pages ($29.95) Bulk order discounts available for schools and non-profits.

Electronic Resources

K-12 Service-Learning Listserv is an electronic discussion forum for administrators, practitioners, researchers, and students interested in K-12 service-learning. Sponsored by the National Service-Learning Clearinghouse.
Subscribe to the discussion forum.

People Resources

The National Service-Learning Exchange supports high-quality service-learning in schools, colleges and universities, and community organizations. For technical assistance, Exchange staff or peer mentors can help in the following ways: answer a question by phone or email, mentor over the course of a semester or academic year, give feedback on curriculum, discuss what has worked in their communities, and share high-quality resources and training opportunities. To contact the Exchange for assistance, call toll free 1-877-572-3924, or email exchange@nylc.org.

Video Resources

Learning In Deed: The Power of Service-Learning for American Schools introduces the service-learning teaching method using school and community examples from across the country. (19 minutes)

Academics in Action: The Value of Service-Learning presents members of the National Commission on Service-Learning, joined by students and teachers, speaking about the benefits of service-learning for schools and communities.

As part of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation's Learning In Deed initiative, the videos are available free from the National Service-Learning Partnership.