Culture Bus

Sometimes, the best part of a field trip is the journey itself.  Second-grade students at one school delighted in the bus shelters they saw from the bus windows.  The city had slipped colorful posters with various pictures and messages between the shelters' Plexiglas panels, and the students recognized in this medium an opportunity for their own voices to be heard. 

Brainstorming what they wanted their collective message to be, the students decided to demonstrate their appreciation of diversity.  They began by researching and giving reports on life in different countries, and by participating in activities from various cultures, such as planning a terrace garden, one of the most popular types of gardens they studied.

Armed with solid research and hands-on experience, the students were able to create insightful posters for the bus shelters.  A local artist helped them depict in drawings and symbols many of the cultural details they learned, including countries' modes of transportation, shelters, foods, textile patterns, and basic language phrases.  Each poster was signed by the students who worked on it.

After their posters were installed as bus shelter panels, students reported pride every time they passed one, and they encouraged family members to ride the bus more.  Also, because they had contributed to their community's public transportation system, they were more comfortable riding the bus and more respectful of public property.

Adapted from "Route to Reform: K-8 service-learning Curriculum Ideas," © 1994-95 National Youth Leadership Council.