This document provides guidance on designing a community service learning (CSL) course in Spanish. It discusses forming mutually beneficial community partnerships, creating effective course materials, and providing structured student reflection opportunities. Some key points include: - Meet a real community need through the service work and ensure the work is connected to academic course content. - Consider various partnership structures like ongoing relationships with organizations or one-time events, and different types of partners like schools, health organizations, or civic groups. - When designing course materials, make them clear, efficient and flexible using tools like online resources, in-class activities, and assessments that test both content and teaching methods. - Incorporate structured reflection using methods such as

1. SITUATING LEARNING WITHIN LANGUAGE
COMMUNITIES: THE POTENTIAL OF SPANISH
COMMUNITY SERVICE LEARNING
Ann Abbott
arabbott@illinois.edu
http://spanishandillinois.blogspot.com/
@AnnAbbott
http://pinterest.com/abbottbarbieri/

2. How do we design a community
service learning (CSL) course?
1. Why should we design CSL lesson
courses?
2. What do we work backwards from?
3. How do we form community
partnerships, create course materials and
provide structured student reflection?
4. What are your next steps?

3. Why should
we create
CSL courses?

4. What are the benefits and
challenges?
BENEFITS:
CHALLENGES:

5. What do we work
backwards from?

6. Create a mutually beneficial community
partnership.
•Meet a community-identified need.
Structure course to connect the academic
content with the CSL work.
•Use double-duty course components.
Incorporate structured student reflection.
•Design multi-modal reflective exercises.

7. Form a mutually beneficial
community partnership.

8. Consider various CSL structures.
• Ongoing partnerships: Refugee Center.
• Special programs: Vida alegre.
• One-time events: Feria de salud.
• Research and report: Lissette’s address to the
school board; drop the I-word.
• Virtual volunteering: CU Amigos/Friends;
language-learning social media sites.

9. Consider various types of community partners.
• Schools: Leal; Garden Hills; school districts.
• Human service agencies: CCRS; ECIRMAC.
• Health care organizations: Provena language
services department; Smile Healthy.
• Special programs: Connect for Health.
• University units: CLACS outreach; student
groups.
• Civic organizations, clubs: Boy Scouts.
• Virtual volunteering.

10. Who will you contact?
Colleagues:
Umbrella agencies:
Cold calls/visits:

11. Create effective
course materials.

12. Design course materials that are clear, efficient
and flexible.
• Course title and description.
• Syllabus: course components, rubrics,
calendar and policies.
• On-line resources: wikis, Facebook, blog and
Pinterest.
• In-class activities: continue to use the best
practices of your discipline. Example:
Comunidades: Más allá del aula.
• Assessments: Test what you teach and how
you teach.

13. How will you design your course?
Create new course/course elements:
Tweak existing elements:
Other:

14. Provide
students with
opportunities
for structured
reflection.

15. Signature search. Find someone who...
• Has had a negative experience with CSL.
• Has been a CSL student.
• Learned something new in this session.
• Has decided that while CSL is interesting, it is
something he/she will pursue later on.

16. Structured reflection can take many forms.
• Reflective essays.
• Journal.
• Research papers.
• Oral presentations.
• Tweets.
• In-class activities.

17. Best Practices: CSL
The 5 C’s of Effective Student
Reflection (Eyler & Giles, Where is
the Learning in Service Learning?)
Continuous
Connected
Challenging
Contextualized
Creative/Coaching

18. How will you incoporate structured
student reflection?
Create new course/course elements:
Tweak existing elements:
Other:

19. What will you do
now to begin a
CSL course?