Peek Inside: Teaching and Learning! - Innovative Curriculum

Teachers exhibit in-depth working knowledge of subject matter, academic content standards, and curriculum frameworks. The strive to make subject matter accessible to all students and inspire learning through an innovative curriculum.

Creating ERWC Modules - with Mr. Warren

Mr. Warren’s Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum (ERWC) students were challenged to take the existing structure of an ERWC module and create their own ERWC modules. Students had to select an engaging topic for peers, then choose ERWC standards and reading selections. They created activities for each reading, an end-of-module project, and corresponding rubric.

Design A Module of Interest Assign Sheet.pdf

Design a Module Assignment Sheet

erwc-formatted module 6th period Eric, Philip, Vincent, Chris.pdf

Student Created Module

What are the Effects of Social Media and Smartphone Usage? by Eric Quach, Vincent Tan, Phillip Huynh, and Christopher Lou

erwc-module project presentation 6th period Eric, Philip, Vincent, Chris.pptx

Student Presentation

“After completing this Module Project in Mr. Warren’s class, I have learned many new skills, not without difficulties throughout the process. At the beginning of this unit, I was very excited on the thought of being able to create a module with a group of my choosing. It was a little bit of a slow process as finding article readings for our module was tedious and time-consuming. My biggest takeaway from this project would be that communication in a group setting is the most important thing in order to get any work done. It wasn’t until my group was able to communicate well with each other that we were able to find a steady pace to have our work done by the due date. In addition to that, having the creative freedom to make a manga for our end-of-module project did exhilarate me as art is one of my hobbies and looking back at all the work my group and I have done together, I think all four of us have developed a lot of team building, problem solving, and active listening skills.” ~ Vincent Tan, Senior

“This project really challenged me on my soft and hard skills. It was my first long term project in a while and it taught me how great communication mattered. The whole project was fun and engaging compared to other schoolwork. It’s not easy to be a teacher, but it’s fun because you get to think about what students want. I’m a student and I tried to fill the activities of what I would want to learn in class. It was a great learning opportunity to see the field of teaching.” ~ Eric Quach, Senior

This project came about from a student course survey that Mr. Warren gave to his students at the end of fall semester. Thank you, Mr. Warren, for always creating opportunities for students to engage in truly innovative curriculum! We Are Innovative. We Are Sixers.

Independent Reading Project Two-Pager- Ms. Gregori, AP Literature

What is a two-pager? A two-pager is a written and graphic interpretation of what you have just read presented on a two-page spread. It is a means to culminate your ideas in an easy-to-read format, while also allowing for a more creative output of note taking.

IRP#2_ Two Pager Assignment.docx

AP 2D Digital Art, Crafts, Art I - with Ms. Fabricius

At the beginning of the year, before students did any lessons in art in Ms. Fabricius’ Crafts, Art 1, and AP2D Studio Art and Design classes, they were free to do an art piece, a poem, or a written article with the prompt "Entre Nos" (Between Us). Many used to prompt to communicate the pride they have in their community.

Four of Ms. Fabricius’ students are prominently featured in the Oct/Nov/Dec issue of EASTSIDE Magazine:

“The Unseen Side of Eastside” Written piece by Jetzabelt Morales, Sophomore
Art piece by Bless Magro, Senior
Art piece by Rocio Campa, Senior
“Belleza Oculta” Poem by Ziyanna Lopez, Senior

Read this particular edition of EASTSIDE Magazine with the student work online HERE.

See the full gallery of student work featured online HERE.

AP 2D Digital Art and Multimedia I- with Ms. Ingelfinger

AP 2D Digital Studio Art and Multimedia 1 students, Ashley Pang, Chelsea Tran and Crystal Nguyen swept the 4D Category in the To Be Honest Art Contest with their digital fine art paintings. Our AP 2D students are also in the middle of completing their 2D Art and Design AP exam submission as well, which includes 15 total works of fine art digital or traditional artworks!

1st Place: Ashley Pang - In imagining how I would illustrate “A Love Letter to Myself”, the first thing that came to mind was how the those around us as well as myself often overlook the many things that make us unique and loved. In short, I find that a personal love letter to myself would be to remember all of the heartfelt things that my community, family, and friends have said to me or about me—to never forget that I am loved by those around me and to pay self-acknowledgment to myself that I am worthy of such love.

I have shown these words through this illustration by using symbolism and having storytelling elements in my composition. In this picture, I have drawn myself with an unusual occurrence…an envelope tree!? Yes, this is the symbolism kicking in.

To me I see love from others at times so painfully easy to overlook. A lot of the time, love displayed by our family and friends is taken for granted and simply fly past like leaves in a breeze. However, when one comes to realization and finally admires the leaves that go by, you realize how beautiful the leave or lobe really is. I also belobe that no matter what, trees withstand the test of time, similarity to how we as individuals should always love ourselves.

2nd Place: Chelsea Tran- My piece was meant as both a reflection of my truthfulness to myself and as an apology for the amount of times I’ve self deprecated over my years in high school, which lead to me crying even more. The red heart in the center is my promise to myself that I’d always try to be honest to myself about how I feel. The reflection in the water is a reminder of the times I’ve cried, but there aren’t anymore ripples because I’ve moved past it and made peace with my mind. The flowers are meant to be my apology and my acceptance of my emotions, no matter how ugly they are. The birds in the background are my emotional freedom.

3rd Place: Crystal Nguyen- My piece represents the appreciation of myself throughout the course of my life. Represented by the carousel, it shows the different stages of my youth from when I was younger, all the way to now. In the background is myself, looking and admiring how far I've come since the fated year of 2006. I implement many uses of symbolism within my artwork. There is appreciation of my culture with carousel itself representing the colors of my country's flag, Vietnam. For as long as I can remember, I had always loved stars. I made sure to incorporate that with my horoscope, Virgo, at the top. I wanted to make sure this piece was essentially, me.

Read more about all contest winners HERE, at To Be Honest, a program of Momentum for Health.

Money Matters: Budgeting for College - 10,000 Degrees, Community Partner

On Thursday, March 28, our community partner 10,000 Degrees hosted Money Matters: Budgeting for College Workshop. This interactive financial aid literacy curriculum was designed by 10,000 Degrees for high school students. Participating students juggle set budgets and flexible pricing for college-related expenses, including books, transportation, electronics, and housing.

“Students rotate between 9 stations—staffed by volunteers and our 10,000 Degrees teams—and are challenged to make difficult budgeting decisions, including being encouraged to spend more than they should on products and services they more than likely will not need! Students leave with a new appreciation for the many challenges of making ends meet while also realizing college is affordable.” ~Mr. Anthony Garcia, 10,000 Degrees Fellow

Japanese-American Tribute Luncheon with Mr. Fernandes and Mr. Stone

Students from Mr. Stone’s U.S. History classes, Mr. Fernandes’ English 2 classes, and invited special education classes enjoyed a Japanese-American tribute and luncheon in D-Commons. Mr. Fernandes and Mr. Stone lectured on Japan and Japanese-American history during World War II and internment camps. Dr. LaMontagne presented on resilience art that came out of the camps. This is just another way our Sixers learn about how different cultures use art as a form of resilience.

Students in Mr. Fernandes’ and Mr. Stone’s classes shared projects and exhibits with tablemates and visiting adults. They also practiced making origami cranes. The crane, a traditional symbol of luck in Japan, was popularized as a peace symbol by the story of Sadako Sasaki (1943–1955), a girl who died as a result of the atomic bomb exploding over Hiroshima in 1945.

As part of the learning session, students enjoyed making and eating sushi rolls, BBQ teriyaki beef, Japanese salad, rice. Thank you to Mr. Fernandes and Mr. Stone for providing an innovative and collaborative learning experience for our students! We are eXtraordinary!

Japanese American Tribute.mp4

Art Across the Curriculum with Ms. Cristina McClelland, Social Science Teacher

1SE - picasso (20230309-161212).MP4

After spending a month on World War 1. Ms. Cristina McClelland’s classes needed a break from death and destruction, so they did a quick unit on art history. Ms. McClelland included such artists as Leonardo DaVinci and Frida Kahlo. Students chose a piece from each artist to analyze throughout the unit, and then we finished by recreating a Van Gogh and a Picasso piece by piece.

Ms. McClelland reached out to the Art Department and received some advice on how to approach the project (such as buy two posters and leave one intact, so you still have a reference to put it together). It was a moment of beauty, really enjoyable, and especially accessible to her English Language Learners.

MathPalooza! with Ms. Shubhra Jain

MathPalooza March 2023.mp4

MathPalooza! is a project-based learning experience in Ms. Jain's classes, based on the district contest StemPalooza!

Students created projects around their own personal areas of interest including the cost of opening a nail salon, the cost of driving vs. flying, analyzing the stats of three NFL quarterbacks to see who the GOAT really is, and more!

What did the students think about this project?

"Something new that I learned was new formulas for finding the volume of other shapes like spheres and cylinders as in math 2, we were only briefly going through those topics. This Math project also demonstrated to me the concept of "teamwork makes the dream work" as I do feel like my group members put their equal share of effort into this project. Another thing that I learned from this project that I think is the key concept is that math is a very important concept in this world since so many things in this world revolve around numbers and calculations which means that understanding math is a required life skill in order to understand how the world works especially with all of this technology we have." ~Tony Luong

"The math project allowed me to become closer to my friends. This project helped me build a stronger friendship between me and my friends. This project got us to become closer and be more friendly with each other. This project helped me to research better, knowing the cost of the school, and learn how to run a school. This project helped me learn how to research at a better level to find more accurate information. I learn the cost to build a school and the cost of running that school. I also learn on how to open and run the school, the activity and class needed. This learning allows me to understand the concept of school more and how hard it is to run one." ~Vinh Nguyen

"One thing that I learned when doing the math project is that it is much harder to run a business than it looks." ~Cody Phung

,"Yes, I believe that the Math project helped me to make more friends in class. This is because I was paired up with new people that I had never even known the names of. Now, we have collaborated on this project to create one final product, making memories and sharing laughs along the way." ~Mitchell Tran

"I was new to the class and didn’t know anyone but my teammates were so welcoming and made me feel comfortable enough to open up more and even talk to other classmates." ~Rebecca Duran

I collected some data from the students and here are the results: about 73% of students felt that this project helped them make new friends in my class,47% commented that the project helped them realize the importance of Math, team work, time management, working under stress and with people you do not agree or like.

Psychology Fair with Ms. Dang, Ms. Kavanaugh, and Ms. Jay

Psychology Fair 2023.mp4

Being innovative is not just about being creative! Authentic innovation comes from doing research, understanding the research process, and using research findings to impact our community in a positive way.

The Psychology Fair is an opportunity for students enrolled in a Psychology course to dive into the research process and collect data on research questions they created. Under the guidance of Ms. Jay, Ms. Kavanaugh, and Ms. Dang, students learn about documenting background information, outlining procedure, identifying independent and dependent variables, experimenter bias, formulating a hypothesis, and ethical considerations while doing research.

Some of the research questions investigated included:

Was there a correlation between screen time and social skills?
How is heart rate affected by fear?
How reliable is eyewitness testimony?
Do athletes or gamers have better hand-eye coordination?

IHS Art Show, Art Department

Art Show January 2023.mp4

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