Becoming passionate communicators

All kinds of writing goes on in middle school: from mini-thesis papers to the activity above, where a visiting graphic novelist inspired students to come up with their own cartoon-like stories.

Today I got the list of topics for the 8th grade thesis projects - something I look forward to every year.  Middle school kids are passionate about ideas and the range of topics this year proves the point. Students have done their initial research, organized note cards into a system that informs an outline, and then the writing and re-writing begins on a ten to twenty page paper. There is a presentation component, and students rise to the occasion with powerful words and images that condense their ideas into a 5 minute talk.

As social studies teacher James says, "This assignment is designed as a keynote experience for Parker students to exhibit the knowledge and interests developed during their time at the school."

Class of 2016 topics:

The Mexican Border
The Death Penalty
Common Core Standards
Gun Control
Gambling and Gaming
Obesity
Racial Profiling
Gay Rights
Violence in Video Games
Undocumented Workers
Animal Rights and the Best Approach to Protection
Incarceration and Violence

Beyond Books

6-7's practice the presentations they will give to executives at local
fuel cell company, Plug Power.

Raising smart kids isn’t about teaching to the tests; it’s about building brainpower. Kids who can seek information, connect ideas and apply what they’ve learned aren’t just book- or school-smart – they are life-smart.       ~ Four Skills Smart Kids Need to Succeed, Metro Parent

Parker is a school filled with kids who love books.  But they don't stop there.  During the last weeks of school, we witness the multitude of ways our kids move beyond "book-smarts" to "life-smarts".

• The 8^th grade thesis presentations were passionate and poised.
• 6-7’s STEM Week: students built hydrogen fuel cells and wrote persuasive speeches about how Plug Power should donate them to places in the world where there are humanitarian crises.  They will give the speeches on June 8 to Plug Power executives. http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Photos-Students-present-fuel-cell-project-6314833.php#photo-8119187
• 4-5’s had a great trip to Ellis Island. They are each taking on the persona of an immigrant to America, then writing and performing a play for their Show of Work.
• 2-3’s are studying China: writing research essays, learning Chinese music in English and Mandarin, accompanied by our Xingtao on the hulusi (traditional Chinese instrument) and creating scroll paintings.  They will be performing a dance for the Show of Work.
• K-1’s are studying Africa through stories, research about animals of the Savannah, weaving, song and dance.
• Pre K classes have taken field trips to Five Rivers and are delighting in the beautiful spring weather.  Teachers prepared a slide show highlighting the rich themes they explored this year.

Show what you know

The school year culminated with many different products of children's learning, from a rocket launch to thesis presentations, essays about Hindu deities, and a Mexican hat dance.  There were videos for marketing space tourism companies and Spanish cooking shows, animated autobiographies and an online newspaper, to name just a few.

Here are links to some of the creative ways that Parker kids showed what they know.

Two seventh graders' Spanish Cooking Video: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3ZHSv9J8VsjNmloRWxnTUN5NlU/edit

6-7's Marketing videos to promote space tourism (part of STEM week):  https://sites.google.com/site/mathwithshelli/home/stem-week-at-parker  (I love the edginess of Sky High and Cloud Space!)

6-7's on-line news: http://parkerpurples.wordpress.com/
and   http://parkergreens.wordpress.com/

8th grade thesis presentations: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/parkerschool  password: rcp123 

Purposeful action in action

4-5's took their show on the road last week.  Their Bee Show that is.  They had prepared a thoughtful and beautiful presentation about honey bees, bee keeping, threats to honey bees, and more.  After a presentation here at school, they perfected their slides and talk and came up with a game, too.

The 4th and 5th graders at Doane Stuart were very receptive.  The waggle dance, part of the game wherein correctly answering bee questions earned each hive-team some pollen, was a big hit.  9th grader and Parker grad, Jack RP was on hand.  He originated the bee project at Parker. 

He loved seeing himself in the slide show - and gave the advice, "No matter if you are young or old, if you work hard, you can do anything!"

It was fantastic to see the kids take their learning beyond the classroom - purposeful action in action!

Joy in learning

Many classes are preparing for final projects this week: an 8th grade mock trial about cyber-bullying; Native American legend playlets written and performed by 4-5's; a Hudson River museum in 2-3; and a homes and habitats display of New York state animals in K-1.  There is the Peace Assembly on Friday, too!  Reflecting on the final preparations, teacher Lynn Schuster says in her blog Here in the 2-3's:

As we wind down our semester, the children's working days are full. Everyone has been stretching academic muscles as essays are organized and composed on Hudson River topics.
Confidence is tested as the children move from their research articles into organizing and synthesizing those ideas in their own words. Patience and focus have been tested as this work stretched over many days. As essays are finished, each child is struck with relief, then pride and, finally, joy.
My tradition is to do a little dance with each child as he or she writes that last word in the conclusion. Some kids love the jig. Some kids take off and run away giggling. Jennifer and I always make sure that their hard work is marked with a good mix of joy, humor and celebration.

Aaaah, to be with a group of smart, talented, funny and rambunctious kids each day:  that's one of my life's greatest joys.

The Art of Focus

Camille spoke compellingly about the issue of gay marriage in her thesis presentation.

4-5's read their creative stories about characters both real and fictional revealing historical knowledge about 20th Century immigrant experiences.

Different types of activities require different types of focus - and practice can take us into a zone of "relaxed presence when mind and body are in the same place at the same time" as described by James Fallows in his Atlantic article The Art of Staying Focused in a Distracting World.

Last night and this morning, Parker students showed their growing expertise as public speakers and their focus seemed just right.  With a little bit of nervousness to heighten the senses, students' talks were relaxed and conversational.  They were concise, and that conveyed that vast detail and knowledge had been mastered and distilled.  Future TED talkers!

Hark, it's Shakespeare!

Shakespeare at Parker means nine action-packed days.  Students tap their creative juices, brainstorm ideas, memorize Shakespearean lines, learn to move on-stage (sometimes with swords), and practice the give-and-take of listening and responding to fellow actors.  It takes self-discipline.  It takes bravery and empathy.  Ultimately Shakespeare builds students' self-confidence, literacy and communication skills.  And many of the kids (and adults!) will tell you, "Shakespeare Night is my favorite night of the year!"

 

The theme this year involved going to Hollywood and videos of the actors were interspersed with the live action in the performance.  Class scenes developed by Sean Fagan with the students' input included the legend of rainbows, a cross-country bus trip, a pie throwing documentary, a Shakespearean game show, Zombies in the Globe Theater, and Othello: a Melodrama on Film and Stage.

Maximizing the brain's ability to learn

K-1's performed their version of the Jan Brett story The Hat at assembly this morning.  They read the book, adapted it into a play, made their masks in art class, constructed a house and a hedgehog burrow, practiced and performed!  It's a great example of learning that is "doing" and that has great meaning for the students.  They had to work collaboratively, problem-solve and cooperate, master skills in reading, writing, and speaking, and to wrap it all up they had an appreciative audience of peers and parents.  Well done!

Dr. JoAnn Deak, who was here on Monday working with teachers and presenting a program for parents and educators, had this to say, "Every interaction a child has, during the course of a day, influences the adult that child will become.”  She confirmed how we teach by backing it up with the latest in neuroscience research and she challenged us to think about how to educate in today's overly visual world of technology.

JoAnn was, as one teacher put it, "perhaps the best presenter I have ever had the good fortune of hearing!"  She recommended this resource: the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan organized a forum of the 5 best brains in education today and have made the video free for the public on their website. 
http://www.92y.org/pclivecast

Many schools have asked parents and teachers to view each of the five 45 minute sections and then come to a discussion.  Sounds like a great idea!  

Authentic work

Persevering to get just the right design in LEGO Robotics Club

Charlotte, Veda and Jared present the "Fun Fact of the Week" at Assembly

            In Muddy Boots Club, K-1's and 2-3's decide "Who Eats What in the Woods?"

 ...students work should be something they create on their own, or with others, that has real value in the real world.  They are capable of doing authentic work that adds to the abundance of ways that can make the world a better, richer place.

Teachers discussed the article Should we Connect School to Real Life? from Will  Richardson's new book, Why School?  Richardson envisions how students can create work that is relevant and useful in the world.  Our focus on Signature Experiences for students that develop leadership and communication is exactly what is called for.

Integrated Technology Unit: Concept to Story Completion

 Guest blogger, 4-5 teacher Rose Nolan:

The 4/5s undertook an integrated technology project this term, creating original animations of their life stories.  We began with a field trip to Vicarious Visions for a behind the scenes tour into the detail that goes into creating animation and animated characters. 

The students’ first attempt at animation was creating a flip book.  They discovered how much thought, time and detail go into creating movement of an animal or object.   Next we moved on to animation created by integrating technology.

There are many benefits of animation projects in the classroom, as they provide a vast amount of learning opportunities for everyone.  Animation presents opportunities for variety of skill development at each stage of the project.  These include:

Creativity: Students can show what they know best through the act of creation. In creating a character, script or storyboard for a video, students not only show what knowledge they have gained but help the brain to become an even better tool for logical and rational thought.  Before beginning their life story animations, students worked on storyboards as a planning tool.  They then learned how to create animated characters to use in their videos. 

Thought process: Building a video takes planning. An initial idea starts as a thought and then starts to come to life as the storyboard, frames, and scenes are created. Working through a process like this helps students to think about working logically through a project.

Finishing a project: Students find great satisfaction and accomplishment in being able to share their videos with classmates. Being able to finish a project and show it to others builds self esteem and provides a platform for successfully accomplishing tasks in the future.

Attention to detail: Creating many, sometimes hundreds of scenes, takes careful planning and acute attention to detail.  These are skills that will be useful across many platforms. 

Following directions: There are many steps involved in making a film. Because students are highly engaged in this activity, it allows students to gain an understanding on how following directions produces great results.

Collaboration / Teamwork: The best projects are made conferring with others.  Getting feedback from classmates, sharing animation strategies and discoveries on how to complete a task, teaching one another, and sharing something you discover that you are good at during the animation process, are elements of teamwork and benefit the final outcome. Plus, we really laughed a lot!

The students worked incredibly hard on their videos.  I witnessed students highly engaged, excited, helping and teaching one another, sharing ways to achieve something in a scene, immense creativity, collaborative sharing and problem solving, and pride.  This was a great learning experience for all of us.       

Presenting the completed videos to parents

A rainbow of learning

4-5's animated autobiographies; 2-3's study of India; K-1 Sonoran Desert and bird studies; Pre K butterfly release. Of course there was a rainbow!

Communication skills - and how!

Project Night: Each eighth grader gave a 10 minute talk on his or her thesis topic.  Students were poised and informative, confident and interesting!  Middle school cigar-box art was also on display.  Afterwards: great relief and many congratulations on this impressive culmination of several month's efforts.

Reach Out - Speak Out

The whirlwind of end-of-the-year activities is fully under way! 

Community work day brought out the troops for log hauling, window washing, topsoil spreading, curtain cleaning, and kitchen scrubbing.

4-5's made a presentation to the trustees on the whole-school Reduce, Reuse, Recycle project - they shared posters, power points, a music video, a magazine, a video puppet show, and letters to local companies - all to educate others.

Thesis presentations were magnificent on Thursday night.  8th graders are skilled presenters - clear, concise, interesting, and funny.  The range of their topics was fascinating: the evils of mass produced foods; the truth behind Woodstock; the increase in salaries in professional baseball; the Arthurian legend; the good works of Michael Jackson, the atomic bomb...to name just a few.

On Friday morning MICE (Make it Clean Everywhere) Teams were out in full force with a new twist:  The Little Cheese commissioner as a helper to the Big Cheese.

My take-away from the week?  Parker students are skilled and practiced communicators.  And they (and their families, too) readily share their time, talents, and energy!