I was observed teaching my 8th grade Research class today. While I am pretty sure it was one of the worst observations I have ever had in my teaching career, I left the class excited. My excitement had nothing to do with what I perceived as a subpar lesson on my part, but everything to do with the ideas of the students.
High School Prep: Research is a semester long class designed to teach students the skills necessary to conduct research and write a paper. This is the first year it has been taught at Franklin Academy. One of the things I love about it is creating the curriculum along with the other teacher who teaches a class of it. We are all about making it real for students. Therefore, the first research project is all about their interests.
For the past six weeks, students have been researching a variety of topics from Taylor Swift to Why Hitler was such a powerful leader to ice cream to dance to tennis. Students have researched, created note cards, written outlines, and interviewed experts in the field. Yesterday, they were given their final assessment for this quarter. During the next three weeks, they will be taking their research and creating four different pieces. I would say ‘writing’, but the reality is that research isn’t always used for writing. Students will write a persuasive piece such as an advertisement, letter to the editor, TV commercial, or something else designed to get people to do something. An informational piece is also a requirement. However, this can be done through trading cards, a timeline, a diary entry, or some other way meant to convey information about their topic. And then there are the choice pieces. Hearing students talk about them is where my excitement began bubbling over.
Many students are choosing from the list provided to them. Bumper stickers, song lyrics, and CDs are some of the more popular choices. However, many students are asking about things we hadn’t even thought about. Two girls researched tennis and volleyball. They asked to get together and make a music video comparing the two sports. I am not sure how they are going to do it, but I can’t wait to see the end result. Another student researched dance. When speaking to me about what to do and when to do it, she told me she danced for five hours a day. I asked if she ever choreographed her own dance. Using her research, she has decided to not only choreograph a dance showing the history of lyrical and/or contemporary dance; she is also going to design the costumes and set. Other students will be creating comic books, military reports, stop-motion television commercials, and many other activities.
The more ideas they asked me about, the more fired up I got. I am looking forward not only to when they pass each piece in, but also to the day when we share the project in its entirety with each other. The project does not stop there. Students will then be bringing it home to share with an adult in their life. After hearing about the project, the adult will write a letter to the student sharing what they learned from it, what they liked about it, and anything else they want to share.
Once again, I am reminded….I have the best job in the world.
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