THE CURRICULUM

CHARLOTTE ENGINEERING EARLY COLLEGE CURRICULUM

The idea for the curriculum of the Engineering EXPO course began before the sunset of the CMS Senior Exit Project which required students to get involved in problem-solving and community outreach. James King and Kyle Czarcinski wanted to take the E.D.D. and Honors English IV curriculum to the next level. Students work in teams of 3-4 on a single, research-based problem and solution using the engineering design process. Every student pitches a project idea in early September at which point students organize and team up. By December, students begin prototyping and building a solution to a problem worth solving and request funding in the form of Shark Tank presentations. From January to April, students get as far as they can on their prototyping and present their findings at the Early College EXPO.

These projects evolve or replace year-to-year. Mr. King teaches Capstone, the engineering side of the course. Mr. Czarcinski and Mrs. Cureton rotate teaching the EXPO courses year-to-year. Mr. King designs his curriculum based on Project Lead the Way. Mr. Czarcinski and Mrs. Cureton incorporate both the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and the CMS-required SpringBoard curriculum.

In addition to the EXPO projects, students conduct six mini-projects throughout the year to master the required core Honors English IV curriculum and provide breaks for students throughout the year-long design process. Each project incorporates the engineering design process and other important engineering/STEM-based principles. These projects include:

• A Beowulf Project where students read the epic poem and build shields and other Anglo-Saxon Era artifacts based on analysis.

• A Monsters in British Literature Project where students create a children's book using AI based on books like Frankenstein and 1984.

• A Macbeth Game Project where students perform the Shakespeare play and design a card game based on an analysis of the characters.

• A Great Expectations Mural project where students read the Charles Dickens novel and create a class mural that will be on display at the EXPO.

• A Poetry Madness Tournament Bracket where students complete a series of assignments leading to a poetry video championship round.

• A British Eras Tour Project where students create artifacts representing British literary and historical periods to practice EXPO-style presentations.

• A series of written reflections and impact statements explaining what they learned throughout the process of the EXPO project.

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CHARLOTTE TEACHER EARLY COLLEGE CURRICULUM

This class was created after numerous requests by CTEC students to have an EXPO project course. This is the first year that the CTEC Honors English IV class has been a year-long EXPO course. Based on the flow and expectations of the CEEC EXPO course, the Teaching Design class is an A-day, B-day class that meets every other day. Students worked independently to research issues in education and presented their findings in an independent portfolio in December. Students then pitched ideas to the class and teamed up into eight groups. These students have been working together since January to solve the problems. Students are not limited to curriculum. So long as the problem and solution are tied to the educational sphere, students are allowed to choose their path.

In addition to the EXPO projects, students conduct six mini-projects throughout the year to master the required core Honors English IV curriculum and provide breaks for students throughout the year-long design process. Each project incorporates core processes used in education and planning. These projects include:

• A Kite Runner Project where students read excerpts from the Khaled Hosseini novel and build kites.

• A Macbeth Game Project where students perform the Shakespeare play and design a card game based on an analysis of the characters.

• A Modest Proposal Project where students study British satire and create a mock documentary film on topics of their choice.

• A Poetry Madness Tournament Bracket where students complete a series of assignments leading to a poetry video championship round.

• A series of written reflections and impact statements explaining what they learned throughout the process of the EXPO project.

• A Beowulf Project where students read the epic poem and build shields and other Anglo-Saxon Era artifacts based on analysis.