Service work in an elementary Montessori classroom plays a crucial role in fostering community, responsibility, and personal growth among students. By engaging in service activities, children learn to contribute positively to their environment and develop empathy for others. This hands-on approach not only enhances their understanding of teamwork and collaboration but also helps them appreciate the impact of their actions on the community. Through service work, students gain essential life skills, such as problem-solving and communication, while cultivating a sense of belonging and purpose within their classroom and beyond.
If you’re a Montessorian in Cincinnati looking for a service opportunity for your students, Our Daily Bread Soup Kitchen and Social Center has multiple options that you can incorporate into your classroom! One of the many volunteer opportunities is sandwich-making. Our Daily Bread is in need of 600 sandwiches weekly. In order to help feed the on-site volunteers, the center provides a sign-up where schools, groups, and other organizations can sign up to provide 100 sandwiches at a time. Signing up online is simple, and once you and your students make the sandwiches, you can drop them off at their center. Bonus: If you have any peanut allergies in your community, you can sign up to make meat sandwiches! Making sandwiches for others will not only provide children practice with the practical life skill of preparing a simple meal, but will also provide them with the opportunity to serve their community!
Lesson Ideas:
There are many ways to incorporate sandwich-making into a lesson! A great paired text for this work is “The Sandwich Swap,” by Queen Rania Al Abdullah. The story focuses on two friends who bring different types of sandwiches to school, and come to learn how differences should be celebrated! Lower-Elementary: When making any meal, it is important to follow all steps in order. Providing a lesson on sequencing events could tie in perfectly with this service work. Upper-Elementary: Focusing on using transition statements to help writing flow could be used.