Student Work - Samples
Grade 7 Picture Books:
Personal Editing Project
Students created original picture books or graphic novels, to communicate and demonstrate understanding of forms and techniques. Students showed their ability to edit and revise their work independently, and with peers.
Grade 8 Poetry Unit:
Shane Koyczan inspired, original
spoken-word poems with stop-motion videos
Students wrote, directed and starred in original spoken-word poetry films. Using stop-motion as a medium to demonstrate their ability to experiment with language, work collaboratively, create original work, and connect themselves to their writing in meaningful ways.
Grade 7 Mock Trial:
Persuasive Writing Activity
Using the picture book, “The True Story of the Three Little Pigs” by Jon Scieszka, students took a stance and argued the Wolf’s motives for eating the pigs. We kicked off our persuasive writing unit with a theatrical mock trial, wherein students used evidence to strengthen arguments; incorporated persuasive language into paragraphs; worked in teams to cross-examine witnesses, and delivered speeches to the class.
Grade 7 Creative Maps:
Geography Unit Project
Students showed understanding of mapping tools such as coordinates, legends, scales, and a compass rose by creating maps of their "dream world".
The City of Ember:
Creative Choice Projects
Students chose how to explore and represent their choice of theme within the novel "The City of Ember". The project included proposal writing, self and group evaluation and a class-made rubric.
The Outsiders:
Newspaper Articles
Students wrote articles to demonstrate their understanding of narration in The Outsiders. Mid way through the novel, students wrote creative interviews on the murder scene playing with point of view.
Grade 11 - Fahrenheit 451:
Dungeons & Dragon's inspired thematic lesson
After reading Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 students participated in a "Dungeon & Dragon's" inspired game "Dungeons & Firemen" created and lead by me. Students role-played their way through an alternate ending to the story, making decisions in teams. Students were faced with moral dilemmas surrounding themes in the novel, having to make decisions based on how their character would react to certain situations. It was a great success!
The City of Ember:
Expository writing activity
After reading a chapter with hidden messages in The City of Ember, students wrote instructions of a simple task they could do in the classroom. They were instructed to write as clear and concisely as they could, without further instruction. Then students were instructed to rip up their instructions and cross some words out. Handing off their expository writing to a peer, students had to attempt to do the task at hand.
The Outsiders:
Poster Essays
Students wrote character sketch essays demonstrating their understanding of a character in The Outsiders. Students presented their findings orally, creating a visual representation of the character with a poster essay.