Students are having a ball in Piedmont's Media Center MakerSpace lately, and not just because of our new stop motion studio. I mean they've literally been having a ball-bouncing and levitating due to new yoga ball bouncy seats and as an additional Mindflex levitating ball game. Related Posts: http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/news-and-thoughts/big-hero-6-and-the-maker-movement (more about Mindflex) http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/intro-to-makerspace http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/stop-motion-studio-makes-a-splash http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/mrs-newburger-takes-her-show-on-the-road
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It started with the makerspace sewing machines and the group of girls in sixth grade who spent their recess at them. They kept coming into my office to show off their designs. Their pride was infectious. Every student should have the joy of innovating in school. The media center makerspace has become a hub of creation, but it's not just the Makerspace where the magic happens, its in all the classrooms and in the hallways too and that makes Piedmont extra commendable. So thank you for taking the time to let your students experiment and try out and create. Thank you for dealing with their messes and talking them through their frustrations. From art to language to music to math; From science to healthy kids our students have a chance to create and innovate and that's why they smile so wide. Related Posts:
http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/scale-model-projects http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/whirligigs-an-example-of-maker-movement-in-education http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/you-say-you-want-an-industrial-revolution http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/piedmont-pd/intro-to-makerspace http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/hi-tech-art-instruction http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/lesson-ideas/makerspace-resources4pbl http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/celebrating-piedmont/piedmont-teachers-gamify-social-studies StudentSpace Category Makerspace: http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/makerspace
For the third year in a row, Piedmont hallways have been taken over by flashmobs, furry critters, and student creations as our sixth graders engaged in a choice-driven genius-hour project called "Love of Learning."
Students had a class period over the quarter to explore a topic of interest to them in greater detail and then to share their new knowledge and skills as well as learn from others at the annual LOL showcase. I first wrote about the innovative PBL we call "love of learning" last year, but the best way to learn what genius hour is all about it is to watch these videos and hear first-hand:
Active Learning in Language and Humanities
Check out the awesome 7th grade team in these 2 new videos:
First is a video of Mrs. Alexander-Brown's classes Whirligig novel projects. After reading the novel as a class, students used their own interests to create something to consolidate what they learned. They had a choice of creating an annotated soundtrack, movie trailer, story re-write or symbolic whirligig. They ended up learning about the novel and about themselves as the participated in this literary maker movement. Pair it with Mr. Milligan's Pigman live court reenactment videos for examples of active student engagement!
Speaking of active student engagement, next is a video of 7th grade social studies World War I reenactment. Students answered review questions for a chance to charge the enemy, but had to watch out for the barbed wire and gas attacks if they wanted to win. As Mr. Egnot and students note in the video, the real lesson is there were no winners!
Related Posts:
The National History Day theme is Leadership and Legacy. The Piedmont team chose to interpret that theme via their topic, "Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Woman Who Wrote the Civil War
From the Piedmont Newsletter: Congratulations once again to Mr. Reddig and the National History Day team, Aaliyah McNeill, Crystell Phoenix, and Maya Lucas. They won 2nd place at the regional competition at UNCC. This year's theme is Leadership and Legacy, and their topic was "Harriet Beecher Stowe: The Woman Who Wrote the Civil War." Next up, they will compete at the state competition in Raleigh on April 25th. We wish them the best of luck! Mr. Reddig explains the student project : They are entered in the Junior Group Exhibit category. They created an amazing exhibit that consists of a glass display case full of artifacts, books by HBS, and biographies about HBS, a vintage piece of luggage that contained a variety of primary resources which included letters written from England and brochures from the HBS Historical Museum, and a student created pop-up book that displays the leadership and legacy roles of HBS. Harriet Beecher Stowe's leadership and legacy are evident in her roles in the abolition, prohibition, and suffrage movements. Her influence is most evident in the impact her novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" had on the passions that were stirred which led to the Civil War and the legacy of the phrase "Uncle Tom." |
Celebrating Piedmont : a blog of Happy HappeningsCategories
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December 2019
Author"Celebrating Piedmont" logs only a small fraction of the learning magic the teachers of CMS' Piedmont Middle School, an IB World School. create daily. In that sense, it is authored by all the staff and students of Piedmont. It is curated by Ms. Gurthie who can be reached at the icons above. She'll be happy to brag about Piedmont's teachers and students any chance she gets! Please note this blog has only just begun and we have so much to show off! Come back again soon! |