Passions Projects: DaVinci Day

In the middle school I work in, we do an annual Renaissance Fair for the grade eights each year. They get to rotate through stations to learn a bit on various areas of Renaissance, then choose a "passion" or are to explore. They guide their own journey, learning and creating to share at the fair. This link popped up in my twitter feed and I really like the idea and thought I'd share it here. See more here


DaVinci Day provides an opportunity for students to pursue, research, and share  an area of interest, passion, or curiosity. Providing a time and space to do this type of work in school allows students to begin to see the connections between seemingly isolated academic content and skills, and the real world they will face and influence. When the school experience can be viewed with the perspective of how it will help in the pursuit of their own goals and curiosities, students become more engaged, and education becomes much more relevant. Finding and honing one’s own strengths and talents, assisted by the accumulation of knowledge and skills,  paves the way to fulfillment as well as success. 

Basic Requirements:

1. You must COMPLETE a DaVinci Day Project for the year. 

2. Your project must answer a question that you pose.

3. Your question must be complex and detailed.

4. You must share and "publish" your findings.

See more here

Create a Zoo - Science/Math Collaboration Assignment

Collaboration Project (math and science)

Students collaborate and create a giant zoo! First, tape sheets of grid paper together (cut off the white borders). Next, cut out various irregular shapes off the giant grid for the students (see image). Give each student a piece from the grid. Their mission is to figure out the area and perimeter of their land for their exhibit. They choose an animal and plot out important aspects of its habitat. Does their animal live in the arctic, forest, grasslands, or rainforest. Students think about what colors to use to correctly match their animal's habitat. They must make their animal feel at home in its exhibit. Does their animal play in the water, hide in a cave, or roll around in the mud? They add details to the exhibit. Then, they find an image of their animal online and glue it into the habitat they made. When all of the students are finished, they work together and create a zoo! They problem solve where each animal should go. Should the rhinos be near the elephants? They, glue their designs on an oversized sheet of butcher paper. Then, they add paths, signs, and fences.

Via: E is for Explore Blog

Bringing Novel Study Into the Computer Lab

I highly reccommend reading:

Bringing Novel Study Into the Computer Lab http://glendastewart-smith.blogspot.com/2010/07/bringing-novel-study-into-computer-lab.html

It explores the use of computer labs and class sets of laptops, Inquiry Based learning, PBL, collaborative learning and of course technology. The focus on literacy, diverse learners and how to bring it all together.

Here are some excerpts:

The creation of heterogeneous groupings is an important component to the success of this project. A good reader may support a poor reader, and a student with a more “expert” background in computer skills will provide support for their group during project time in the computer lab. Heterogeneous groupings also provide opportunities to separate students-at-risk from their peers. If, for instance, reception level ESL students always work together, then they are denied the opportunities to learn more advanced grammar and syntax from native-speakers. Support can also be provided for struggling readers through the use of audio books on CD and tape. Everyone “reads” the story and everyone can contribute to the web site projects.

In longitudinal studies that looked at the impact of learning from computers (using them as tutors or as part of integrated information systems), and learning with computers (using them as a reading and writing tool during collaborative learning situations), researchers found that in all cases student achievement was positively impacted. (Barnett. 2003) In the first scenario, students’ gains could be measured in increased scores in statewide tests and increased discipline, and all evidence indicates that this benefit continues in higher grades. Students learning with computers made significant gains in other areas:

1. Students routinely used higher-order thinking skills far beyond what was expected for their grade level.
2. Students demonstrated enhanced ability to collaborate with peers to develop projects and reports.
3. Students demonstrated increased initiative. They maintained time on task for longer periods and often continued their work during recess, before school, and after school. (Barnett. 2003)

.....

Another question centers on acceptance of this learning context as valuable. Certainly it is not traditional. Society is on the verge of a paradigm shift and electronic technology will revolutionize learning to the same extent as the printing press did in the 1500s. Computer literacy will certainly begin to become almost as important as language literacy. Will oral literacy be enough? Can voice recognition software and a fast computer replace the need for reading and writing competency? Will educators consider computers valuable or is it just an expensive and under used toy? Hopefully the use of project-based and collaborative learning in the computer lab will help answer these questions and promote students’ literacy learning and critical thinking.

Science Fairs, Learning Fairs...

Recently read this blog post on Science Fairs: http://wbtforme.blogspot.ca/2013/05/geniushour-and-sciencefair.html

This teacher discovered Genius Hour and decided to try something knew with her grade 6 science class.

http://www.geniushour.com/what-is-genius-hour/

This connected with me because this week at our school board meeting several students presented their science fairs from http://www.gvrsf.ca/ and some of the topics were exceptional. I spoke with the students before the meeting and learned so much about how much fun they had researching their topics.

I remember in Elementary and Jr. High loving science. The Science Fairs were the best part! I missed that when I got to High School and my love of science faded (luckily not entirely!)

Two years ago I was teaching Grade 6/7 and while my teaching partner covered the Socials Studies curriculum, I did Science. We did a number of experiements and labs, however, we did not do Science Fairs and I think if I were to teach that again, I would certainly explore this idea.

This year in my grade 8 class we are doing a Renaissance Fair. All the grade 8 classes do a week of rotational lessons, each station a different area of the Renaissance. Then they choose an area of inquiry to explore further. They then spend several weeks doing PBL on a topic of their choice for a final presentation - the Renaissance Fair.

This is an annual thing at our school. In the past, as a grade 6/7 teacher I have enjoyed attending the fair and bringing my classes to see the displays and projects Grade 8s prepare. I can't wait to see it all come together next month!

Feudal Systems unit Visual Projects from my Grade 8s

So part of the wrap up to our Feudal System unit was to do a visual project of their choice. Some examples from past years classes included stain glass windows, menu's, fashion models (paper dolls, barbie's in outfits etc.) and more.

Here are some of the projects that were turned in:

 This student did a fashion magazine with various outfits from the era:

I was pretty impressed with the different ideas they came up with. I especially liked the creativity of some. When we get back from Spring Break we are starting Castle Building for Socials Studies portion of Humanities and Touching Spirit Bear as our Language Arts portion, novel study.

Student-Driven Learning

Although USA based, this article looks at student driven learning and essentially the start of inquiry learning which is huge in the district I work in.

STUDENT-DRIVEN LEARNING

Most student-driven classrooms start with a question. It’s usually one that springs from a common place but allows for individualization by students based on their interests. It allows them to build questions and go about answering them, utilizing the skills and knowledge that the curriculum provides. The teacher facilitates this learning, to be sure, but also gives authority to the student to “own” their question. The student moves to center stage and the teacher assumes a supporting role.

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