This week, students will begin to put together their documentary films. We will be working with Windows MovieMaker, Audacity, and other programs to create (hopefully) dramatic, personal stories. As mentioned in a previous post, our documentary films were to bring together Black History Month/Civil Rights Movement and Oxford.
We hope to have a showing of some of these documentary films at a later date.
Tags: documentary film
This week, we have started to plan our documentary films. Students have been charged with identifying a subject of their documentary and setting up interviews with people who know about the topic or were involved in the situation.
The documentary is based on two central ideas: Black History Month and Oxford.
Student films must, in some way, be related to Black History Month and Oxford. Because of Oxford’s unique–and sometimes messy–history, there are plenty of options.
Some topics could include:
Tags: black history month·documentary film·oxford·spring break
I hope everyone is having an outstanding week!
On Monday, students completed a reflection/self-assessment of their own work in regards to the creativity assignment from last week. Hopefully, students have a better understanding of some of Torrence’s Creative Strategies. The students would need to explain their creations, but some examples are included here:
On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday students are being taught a framework for categorizing/organizing. We are using an acronym that is helpful in remembering the steps to organizing (even if the spelling/grammar is unacceptable):
POAMS R Cool
Purpose: We must know why we are organizing items to create effective arrangements.
Observe: We need to carefully observe items to understand what we are working with.
Attributes: We must identify the most important attributes of our items.
Manipulate: Move the items are organize on paper.
Sort: Sort based on the most important attributes (remembering our purpose).
Regroup: Or make subsets if necessary.
Conclusions: Use our groupings to draw conclusions about our findings.
On Friday, students will complete an exercise that will introduce a new unit on Challenge-Based Learning. This type of learning is designed to connect our work in school to real-life situations that students will encounter. Hopefully, they will enjoy the unit and learn a great deal. More details will be available next week on this topic.
Have a fantastic end to your week!
Mr. B
We are completing our look at the Freedom Riders and their importance to the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. Students have been given an assignment that is due on Wednesday. The link provides a basic outline of the assignment expectations and grading criteria, but more details have been provided in class. Monday is the only day we will have time to work on it in class (students also had time on Friday IF they chose to work on it).
During the second half of the week, the students will be engaged in a Creative Product Problem-Solving Experience. The students will be given materials with which to create a product. The next day, we will have a lesson on the creative process. This lesson flows from the work of E. Paul Torrance and will provide a framework for students to use as they engage in the creative process. Following this lesson, students will be given another creative product assignment to complete.
The purpose of this work is to assist students in the development of their creative thinking abilities. Although this might seem trivial, educators around the world and leaders are realizing the importance of nurturing and expanding the creative process among children. Some states are looking to create an index to measure creative ability. I have concerns about the concept, but it underscores the importance of the development of this skill.
This week in class, we are finishing our student creations to solve a complex problem and looking at an important movement in history.
Students were given a problem to create something to carry a ball 1)over a cart, 2)through a hoop, and 3)into a pan without falling out. There were other restrictions that were also detailed in the assignment paper (including the inability to purchase items for the assignment). The idea behind the assignment was to identify how well students could solve a complex problem in teams. Here are some pictures from today:
Tags: civil rights·freedom riders·from here to there·pictures
A brief update of the last few days in my class:
Last week, we completed several shared inquiry activities based on literature about the Civil Rights struggle in America. I believe students have a greater appreciation and understanding of the movement after these discussions.
Students were given an essay assignment in which they respond to a statement posted by me. The essay is a mixture of a persuasive and an analysis essay. Students are required to reference three articles/online documents in their essay. The essays are due on Friday.
This week, students have been presented a team challenge to move a golf ball from one point to another. The rules are strict and they must work together. The instructions can be found here. The team challenge is to be completed on Monday (not Friday) due to students being out one day for the Science Fair.
Have a wonderful week!
Here is a LINK to the presentation from today. It includes instructions for the New Hampshire Primary assignment and today’s challenges.
Please remember that the optional New Hampshire Primary assignment is due NO LATER THAN 3:05 on Friday.
If you did not finish today’s challenges, they are due BEFORE the tardy bell for your class period.
Tags: New Hampshire Primary
Here is the PowerPoint from today.1.3.2012 Awesome
I hope all of you had a fantastic winter break! We started off our new year discussing how there is nothing about 2011 that we can change. The only thing we can change is the attitude we will have as we approach the surprises of the new year. The only thing we can control is how we respond to what happens to us.
We watched a video on Tuesday entitled, The 3 A’s of Awesome. The video is a TED Talk given by a young guy who found a positive way to deal with tough issues in life and, in the process, became a best-selling author.
Today, we responded to the video in a writing activity. On Thursday and Friday, we will turn our attention to the stop-motion video assignment that we started before the break.
We have cleaned out our binders and will be starting over. Please encourage your child to keep the binder organized!
Have a great week!
Neil Pasricha: The 3 A\’s of Awesome Video
Tags: awesome·binders·winter break
Today, we enjoyed a Lunch & Lecture visit from two international students who are attending OHS this school year. They are from Serbia and Moldova. They told us about their lives back home, traditions, holidays, and some of the differences between home and the United States.
The students wanted to teach our students a native dance, but time ran out. I was surprised that the boys were excited about learning the dance until the girls explained to me that the dance involves a kiss on the cheek…
Thanks to Mrs. Dorsey and the girls for sharing about your life with our students!
The girls share a slideshow about their native countries.
Mrs. Dorsey--the host for the foreign exchange students--introduces them to the group.
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