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Welcome to Curriculum Compacting

3/18/2019

Welcome to the MakerSpace Workroom for Curriculum Compacting

Why am I here?
Congratulations! Based on your exemplary test scores, pretests, portfolio and/or other performance, your teacher has determined that you have already mastered the content the class is working on at this time.
To keep you challenged, during your usual class time you will instead report to the Makerspace workroom for Curriculum Compacting.
What will I do?
Unless your teacher has sent you an assignment, that is up to you. The only rule is you must work on something interesting to you.
How will I decide?
Select one from the list of ideas below. You do NOT have to choose the same subject area as the class you are compacting out of.
If you change your mind or encounter a glitch that prevents you from moving forward, you can select another one. Get Ms.Gurthie’s permission before working on a project idea, course, or site not listed below.
What if I don’t finish my compacting during the time allotted?
No problem! Just see how far you get at this time. You can come back and finish another week or decide to leave it and move on to something else next time. This is an option for you anytime you prove advanced mastery on a topic your class is studying.
Is there a grade or test?
Compacting is advanced exploration so it is not graded, you have already shown mastery for a grade but you will complete an evaluation on the last day showing and/or telling your teacher what you worked on and what you learned.

Compacting Choices:

All Subjects:
Khan Academy Course- any subject https://www.khanacademy.org/
Academic Competitions - google “middle school contest” or competition. Some require teams and money but some are free. https://tsaweb.org/competitions-programs/tsa/middle-school-competitions
Curations for the Curious Lessons from Ms. Gurthie based on items in the Makerspace Workroom and office. Choose any from this list http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/category/curations
DIY Lessons -any topic at https://diy.org/skills or in the workroom
Independent Research -any topic- Use Google Scholar, NC WiseOwl or another reputable source of academic info. Spend the class reading about this topic.
Independent Video Scholar. - Explore some educational Video Channels. Find one you like and watch any 5 full episodes. Then use Screencastify or your phone camera to make a video telling what you learned. More here, including a list of channels http://piedmontpd.weebly.com/studentspace/curations-for-the-curious-video
Podcaster- Record a podcast using vocaroo on your chromebook.
- (an example is this Citizen Science from ExploreAStory- a podcast about museums, science and storytelling.
  - ihttps://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLL8_5VpX9TxrgEhcI8juCe3EkEI2ukOBB Share link plus your name, recording location, and “30-45 recorded seconds of your environment, preferably outside, anywhere (and everywhere)” with Ms. Gurthie she will and email to “exploreastory(at)fieldmuseum.org, with the subject line "OK to share- EAS."
Content Curator - Compile a website of useful information and images plus links on a topic you know well or wish to learn more about. Website: Use Weebly or Google Sites.
Design
- Computer Assisted Design (CAD) Use Tinkercad to create a design.
  - Send the file to Ms. Newburger if you want to 3D print. https://www.tinkercad.com/
Science
- Simulated Science Labs -Phet Science /STEM Experiments https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/by-device/chromebook
Math
- Khan Academy Math-explore any Math topic or grade level
- Dan Meyer Math- Click on any lesson and view https://docs.google.com/a/cms.k12.nc.us/spreadsheets/d/1jXSt_CoDzyDFeJimZxnhgwOVsWkTQEsfqouLWNNC6Z4/pub?output=html
Humanities
- Play Spent (Game about Money. Play as an adult and keep to your budget) http://playspent.org/
- Connect with Haji Kamal - A decision making model designed for the USArmy
- Economics Simulations
- Nobel Prize- The Nobel Prize organization has a whole section on education simulations/games that have been nominated and/or won Nobel prizes! Social studies topics can be found in multiple categories: medicine, peace, and economics.
- Historical Simulations - A collection of historical simulations
- Flight to Freedom - This role-playing game simulates the experience of fugitive slaves.
- Westward Ho! – (6-12) Travel the Oregon Trail! Lots of laughter, learning and realism in this online simulation.
- Edo Japan, A Virtual Tour - A detailed virtual tour of 18th century Edo (now Tokyo) using traditional web pages.
- iCivics- Lessons that include simulations for studying constitutional rights, debating, roles and responsibilities of the president, and the 3 branches of government.
- Playing History- A collection of historical simulations and games that include various areas of social studies.
Language Acquisition /Language and Literature
- Learn to Speed Read
  - http://www.mrkent.com/speedread/
- Learn a New Language
  - Use Duolingo, Memrise, or any app https://www.memrise.com/courses/english/languages
Computer Science:
- Coding- Free Exploration -https://scratch.mit.edu/ or iPad/phone app such as Haikitzu or Blockly or Sphero Edu (robot ball coding)
- Computer Programming Courses
  - Code.Org https://code.org/student/middle-high
    - App Lab https://code.org/educate/applab (must be 13)
    - Game Lab
    - Web Lab
  - Khan Academy Programming Courses https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming
    - ____JS (javascript)
    - ___HTML
    - ___SQL

Free College Courses- Don’t be frustrated if you don’t get it yet, this is just if you’re curious to look around. Do not join a Mooc or course that requires you to start on a certain day. Select the ones that you can view right now.
- MIT Courses Online https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
- Yale Open Courses https://oyc.yale.edu/
- Coursera- Search for free Courses in tons of things. Very esoteric. For example, here is a course called “Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative” that is about video games and literature. https://www.coursera.org/learn/interactive-media-gaming

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