This is a Piece of Cake!

Students use mental visualization nearly every time they read. Imagining what characters look like, picturing historical events in history and viewing the vast geography of our world. Visualization is a proven technique that can bring better understanding of what one is reading by simply employing the imagination to visualize the content in which is being read.

Why not formally teach Visualization to students as a life skill for goal setting? We took visualization practices one step further and did just that in Expressions.  Students are in the heart of our Pop Art Unit and just began a project where they will utilize math skills to construct a 3 dimensional piece of cake.  Yes, a piece of cake!  

Part of the lesson focused on where the phrase "piece of cake" came from and the concept behind what it means to say “that is a piece of cake!”  Taking the idiom one step further, we discussed things that are “a piece of cake” and the power of our brain’s influence on tasks that we perceive as easy as well as tasks that our brain perceives as hard or challenging.  

Students were asked to brainstorm personal and academic goals they have set for themselves and how their brain perceives these goals...are the goals I have set for myself going to be "a piece of cake" or do they seem unattainable? Students watched a Visualization video on the positive influence that mental imagery has on a gymnast when she is performing her bar routine. This video really "hooked" the kids and opened a great class discussion. Students were then challenged to answer these essential questions:

1. Why is it important to set goals for oneself?

2. How can forming mental images help achieve goals?

3. How can mental imagery help make positive changes?

4. How can mental imagery overcome challenges in one's life?

I asked students to select one goal to focus on from our brainstorm session and then turned off the lights in the room. Students closed their eyes, laid on the floor or put their head down on the table, and listened to my verbal prompts on breathing techniques. They were prompted to create an "I will" statement set to their goal and mentally visualizing themselves achieving their goal. Now, I knew several students would be open to this exercise, but it is still a Middle School classroom after all, so I was prepared for a few snickers and giggles. I turned on classical music and read through a series of prompts relating to breathing, visualizing themselves achieving their goal and repeating their "I will" statement. This exercise was set for ten minutes and I was absolutely stunned when NOT ONE snicker or giggle erupted throughout the entire lesson!

We ended the visualization exercise with feedback and discussed feeling and outcomes on the power of mental visualization to achieve goals. Students were amazingly positive and open to the power of positive thinking and visualizing their goals being achieved. By show of hands, all but five kids plan to continue these learned visualization techniques to help them achieve their goals, many of which relate to confidence and passing upcoming portfolio presentations! Who knew that getting students to be open to the powers of visualization and positive mental imagery would be such a Piece of Cake?!

How to "PBL" Lit Circles

I love literature circles. I love how students get to pick what they want to read and then have authentic conversations about their books. I love the community building that happens in my classroom every time I introduce them. That said, I always struggle with what to have students actually DO with their reading. What is the product after they finish? Is it always an essay? Or can it be something that will go beyond the classroom and build upon the pillars we organize our curriculum around (in this case: Technical Savvy, Building Partnerships/Leadership, Global Thinking)?

After attending a workshop presented by Writing Project Teacher Consultant and NCS Administrator Kirsten Spall, I was inspired to try an RSA video project with my 8th graders after they finished their survival themed literature circle books.  This project would enable students to utilize their tech skills, as well as build partnerships and collaboration skills. The driving question in this unit was: How can you create a professional video that engages a real world audience and teaches the survival skills presented in a novel? 

At the beginning of the unit, I introduced that students would need to create an animated video that teaches an audience how to survive whatever challenging situation their book posed. Students had to work together to brainstorm and storyboard their films and then they got a week to film and edit their videos. Here is an example from last year:

However, once they created their awesome videos and we watched them as a class, I felt that it didn't go far enough to reach a larger audience. This year, I made a few changes to the unit to improve the Global Thinking aspect.

I added a few more books to the book list, including Joelle Charbonneau's The Testing. Elsa Ouvrard-Prettol, our fabulous librarian, offered to organize a skype session with the author and students were able to ask her questions. This was an awesome experience for our students. They were able to ask about her writing process, how much writers make, and get advice for young writers.

8th graders skyping with the author of Joelle Charbonneau, author of The Testing. 

As students planned their RSA videos, they used google docs or padlet to collaboratively brainstorm and storyboard their ideas. They will be creating their videos next week and when they finish and publish them, I will be uploading them to youtube and tweeting examples out to reach a larger audience.

Graffiti Teaches Tolerance

The 8th Grade Students just completed a Graffiti Project that was centered around the following questions:

• Is Graffiti a valid form of artistic or political expression?
• Does Graffiti contribute to a sense that a neighborhood is blighted?
• Can Graffiti be a positive influence on city life, or is it always detrimental?
• Who decided what is good Graffiti, and what is bad?
• Can different sides of the Graffiti debate come to a consensus on its validity?

The objective of this project was for the 8th grade Expressive Arts Students to step into the shoes of a Graffiti Artist to gain a better perspective of the art form in order to make informed judgments whether or not Graffiti is art or vandalism. Students began by investigating Graffiti within their community and the greater Sacramento area. They then selected a word of their choice and created digital graffiti using graffiticreator.net. They used a screenshot of their digital graffiti and replicated the digital graffiti design by hand “stepping into the shoes” of a graffiti artist. Using acrylic paint, students carefully applied blending techniques to create a gradient color effect for their letter designs and layered effects.

This project was a total success with 100% student engagement and effort poured into every last detail or their artwork right down to their artist signature. Student reflections in the form of QR Codes prove that their artistic process has been used to interpret as opposed to judging artistic intention and meaning in original works of art. This project is one example of how art can be used to teach tolerance.

How Can We Optimize Learning? by Karisa Bibayoff (Sixth Grade Teacher)

California along with other states across the country finally has adopted new, modernized science standards: Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). I've been updating my curriculum and classroom practices as a result of these new standards that are designed to mesh well with CCSS's emphasis on critical thinking.

One standard that I am especially excited about is "Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories." (MS-LS1-8) This standard is exciting to me because it gives students the opportunity to learn about the brain and how they learn. Like all good PBL, it lends itself to the "real world" very well with connections to students' everyday life. On the first day of our studies, we close-read an article, What you should know about your brain, together by Judy Willis, a neurologist turned classroom teacher. Students were asked to find specific strategies that Willis claims helps memory storage. For example, we learned that students could help information travel past the R.A.S. (reticular activating system) by doing things like making sure they have had enough sleep and reviewing information in a fun way such as while throwing all ball with friends. The article was packed with information about the parts of the brain connected with memory storage and ideas to more effectively use these systems. 

This was the perfect jumping off point for an investigation focusing on the driving question: How can we optimize our learning? Working in small teams, students each developed a testable question. Here are some they chose:

• Does tossing a ball during review affect test performance?
• Will getting less sleep negatively affect your scores?
• Will visualizing a peaceful atmosphere help improve students' memory?

Students had a week to collect data. Then, we shared findings in class, presenting mini-conference style with one member from each group staying back at a Chromebook to present a slideshow to students from other teams. During a reflection on Schoology after, I asked students about the experience. Here are some responses to one of the questions, What is the most important thing you learned from our studies about the brain? Here are some responses:

• "The most important thing I learned was to stay healthy and to remain calm. Also, that you CAN get smarter."
• "I think the most important thing that I learned is that the more you take care of you brain the more you will succeed."
• "In this unit I have learned so much on how to help my brain do better in school and while doing other activities as well. I think one of the most important things learned in this unit was how to help it do better. While learning the anatomy about the brain was interesting and all, I think that most of us will use the findings from the brain investigations in real life to give us an advantage in school and life. This was a very cool and interesting mini-unit."

Climate Change

"PBL is a set of learning experiences and tasks that guide students in inquiry toward answering a central question, solving a problem, or meeting a challenge."(PBL Starter Kit, 2009)

8th Grade students reflected on a science concept of their choice and created video projects that identified a problem and interpreted information beyond surface learning. Nolan, Ethan, and Kenneth wanted to show the effects of deforestation and how it effects us for generations to come.

First Leaf

Original music by Ethan K 

Rap written and recorded by Kenneth L

Acting by Nolan E

Global Thinking and Civic Responsibility

How can students culminate a project?  How about a website! So that our 8th grade students could better understand philanthropy and the importance of civic responsibility they were asked to address one issue or concern either through an advocacy campaign, a fundraiser, or by donating their time to a cause and present their findings in the format of a website. 

Global Issues

Students investigated global issues through five main themes, listed below. They chose one theme to plan and carry out a service project related to that issue.

• Diversity Community: Who Is My Neighbor?
• Environment: Sustaining Our World
• Global Education: Why Learn? 
• Global Health: Hunger and Food around the Globe
• Issues of Global Finance: Investing in Others

Student Reflections (click title to view projects)...

Global Health: Hunger And Food Around The Globe by Brooklyn, Tameyah, and Alex

"Me, Brooklyn and Tameyah had a bake sale and then made hygiene kits for the homeless. The best part of this project was being able to connect with others that we don't usually talk to or have a connection with. All the people we met were really nice and sweet when we were giving the care packages out. I loved being able to see the smile on their faces when we gave them the kit. The one thing I had a difficult time with was the baking because we had troubles with cooking them right and how they came out. But in the end we sold almost all of our baking goods, so I would say we did great! I am happy Ms.Music assigned this project, because it allowed us to think outside of the box and look from a different view point." by Alex W.

Global Health: Hunger and Food around the Globe by Hiya, Makenzie, Jackie, and Isha

"KCRA3 Kids Can Food Drive

How can we help people without enough food around the community? This community service project made me think a lot about all the problems in the world. It feels good to solve one problem and make a difference at least in the community. There were many challenges especially in making decisions on what we would fundraise for. I feel that the outcome was great and am happy that I got a chance to do this and help the world. I feel that this is a very good deed to do for the community and around the globe. The best highlight of this project was working together and having fun and even being happy to help out. With friends, you feel more of an enjoyment when you are doing a community service project!" by Hiya P.

Issues of Global Finance: Investing in Others by Lauren and Antonio

"In this project we had many challenges and decisions that had to be made. Our project was on Issues of Global Finance: Investing in Others. When we went to and ideas document on how to set up our fundraisers. In my mid people loved to see volleyball games so in my head I was thinking that if I could set up a J.V vs Varsity the this would bring profits for the non-profit through the roof. So I talked to Mr. Shane that day and he thought that would be a great idea. So we figured out a date and time, entry fee, plus all of the other details. Then on September 29th we did our fundraiser and made over $120 for our organization. I felt after this project that I did something good for the community and the world. Homelessness should be a better distinguished problem that people should know about. We made one small step into defeating homelessness." by Antonio V.

Math Counts Video Competition Results

The Math Video Challenge engaged students in project-based learning in a way that was innovative and creative.  Student teams created their own math teaching videos. Although our students did not make it as finalists in this competitive challenge they were able to connect and apply math to their own lives, and teach others in the process.

Take a look at these innovative and creative projects!

Team Indirect by Madeline, Gillian, Myra, and Kush solve a math problem by explaining indirect measurement and similar triangles. They must use indirect measurement and similar triangles to see how much of a run-up the Superhero (Madeline) needs to fly onto the roof and save Gillian.

Camp H.A.C.K. by Ajeshni, Kamryn, Harmit, and David are going camping. The instructions for their tent are in French. To set up the tent they need to use the Pythagorean theorem to find the pole that is the height of the tent using the picture given in the instructions.

Upcyle Unit Projects Promotes Global Thinking

Project Runway Newspaper Fashion Challenge

The Upcycle Unit involved the use of use recycled materials as mediums for artwork! Sound fun and exciting, right- and it is! Students created Social Issues Collage Artwork with glossy magazine paper in the style of Romare Bearden, communicated a positive message out of yarn colors that were woven into circles onto recycled CD's in the style of Wassily Kandinsky and successfully took on a series of recycled challenges like folding 1000 origami cranes for Cranes For Hope as well as competed in the Project Runway Recycled Newspaper Fashions Challenge. 

1000 Cranes Using Recycled Map Paper

I found that through these projects the driving essential questions spiraled back around naturally given the mediums we were working with and how connected the projects were linked to the questions.  The conversations that stemmed from the content we were exploring included the way our human actions are interconnected with the environment, the ripple effect of our actions and ways to reduce our carbon footprint and make a difference while doing it!

Social Issue Collage using Recycled Magazines

Students excelled on their projects, collaborated well and participated actively in class discussions. I felt like they took away a deeper understanding of social issues and art as a form of communication as well as acquired many skills and techniques to reduce their carbon footprint.  We ended the unit with a survey to gather student feedback on each project so that we can continue to strive for 100% engagement and involvement with out project-based curriculum.

Woven Yarn Circle using Recycled CD's