As the year winds down, teachers are engaging students with projects that let students flex their creative muscle and think critically.

Ms. Johnson’s and Mr. Carpenter’s 7th grade math classes created tin men in small groups by taping together boxes and cardboard rolls. Next, they had to calculate the surface area of their tin man projects and request just enough aluminum foil to cover it. Part of their success was measured in how accurate their measurements were. Mr. Carpenter observed, “The tin man project was a fun way to get hands-on experience working with surface area in a real, tangible way! The students enjoyed being creative in their creation!”

7th graders in Mrs. Carley’s language arts classes presented their book projects this week. The projects were based on books that told stories about young people from other cultures.  Students compared and contrasted the culture represented in the book to our American culture. They decorated a paper bag with information about the character’s home country and culture. Inside the bag they included symbols and/or objects that relate to the character or the culture. Finally, they had to share their project in small groups. One student commented that his favorite part was designing his bag and sharing the information with his classmates.

Ms. Rambo & Mr. Maples designed a cross-curricular project for students in 6th grade language arts and social studies classes. Students invented and drew an island that had to be designed around a theme that interested the student, for example, football or Shrek. As a lead-in to Geography for next year, students learned the parts of a map and then they designed a map of the island. It had to include five cities and five physical features! In language arts, students had a persuasive writing challenge to convince others to visit their island. 

7th and 8th grade science classes are working on a project called Building Beasts in which they must create adaptations for their beast to better survive in its environment. Once created, a catastrophe hits and changes their environment. Students must create a mutation for their beast that would allow it to adapt to its new environment so it does not become extinct. This project required students to choose one of two ways in which to portray their beast and its environment: illustration or essay. Students enjoyed the option of how to present their ideas.