High School Highlights: Second Quarter
High School Highlights: Second Quarter
Opening Library "Walls" to Support Students Anytime and Anywhere:
Opening Library "Walls" to Support Students Anytime and Anywhere:
Henrico High School librarians, Alice Anne Ellis and Christina Thrasher, are helping their students connect to literature anytime and anywhere through podcast book reviews. Warrior Reads just posted it's first student-created book review. Students are able to record on their own (or come to the library for assistance), and email their reviews to be included on the podcast, which is currently streaming on 7 different platforms. Looking for a good book? Check out the Warrior Reads podcast.
Henrico High School librarians, Alice Anne Ellis and Christina Thrasher, are helping their students connect to literature anytime and anywhere through podcast book reviews. Warrior Reads just posted it's first student-created book review. Students are able to record on their own (or come to the library for assistance), and email their reviews to be included on the podcast, which is currently streaming on 7 different platforms. Looking for a good book? Check out the Warrior Reads podcast.
Community-Supported Lessons:
Community-Supported Lessons:
Hermitage High School: I partnered with Curt Fritts and Jane Swenson in the Center for the Humanities on their unit about power and authority. This was actually an adaptation of the PBL idea that my professional practice team created back in October. I pitched the idea to Fritts and Swenson, and they were excited to help adapt it to work with their upcoming unit of study. I emailed several different museum professionals to see if I could get anyone to speak to the class about what goes into designing an exhibit in a museum, and Bryan Condra, exhibit designer for the Virginia History and Culture Museum, wrote back right away and said he would love to talk to students. He even came back on two additional days to provide an authentic audience for students as they presented their virtual museum exhibits and offered feedback on their work. Additionally, he expressed an interest in partnering with us again in the future, even going so far as to say that he could take our students “behind the scenes” at the VHCM.
Hermitage High School: I partnered with Curt Fritts and Jane Swenson in the Center for the Humanities on their unit about power and authority. This was actually an adaptation of the PBL idea that my professional practice team created back in October. I pitched the idea to Fritts and Swenson, and they were excited to help adapt it to work with their upcoming unit of study. I emailed several different museum professionals to see if I could get anyone to speak to the class about what goes into designing an exhibit in a museum, and Bryan Condra, exhibit designer for the Virginia History and Culture Museum, wrote back right away and said he would love to talk to students. He even came back on two additional days to provide an authentic audience for students as they presented their virtual museum exhibits and offered feedback on their work. Additionally, he expressed an interest in partnering with us again in the future, even going so far as to say that he could take our students “behind the scenes” at the VHCM.
"Bringing in Bryan Condra from the Virginia Museum of History and Culture was an engaging experience for our students because they had the opportunity to talk to a professional in the field of museum/exhibit curation and design. Students asked questions about everything from how to create a narrative that the layman can understand to what forms of media are appropriate to use in order to engage the viewer. Bryan was able to give thoughtful advice about how to make decisions that are responsible, balanced, and culturally sensitive. Learning about historicity and historiography was definitely a heady challenge for sophomores, but the students really impressed us with their interaction with a professional from outside of our school environment and their subsequent creation of their own exhibits." -Curt Fritts, Center for Humanities: Level II, Hermitage High School
Student-Owned Learning in the Library:
Student-Owned Learning in the Library:
Students in Deep Run High School's 20th Century US History classes created interactive websites to further their understanding of WWII. Students placed themselves in groups of two to three and selected an artifact to research. They could choose a song, poem, letter, or diary entry about WWII. One group even used WWII letters written by a student’s great-grandparents! After they selected their artifact, they worked as a group to create a list of driving questions to guide their research. The class provided feedback on each group’s driving questions through a gallery walk. After the walk, each group considered the peer feedback they had received and had the opportunity to revise their questions if needed. Next, each group studied their artifact and settled on words or phrases in their artifact that they would research further to answer their driving questions. For instance, if a group had the question, “How authentically did soldiers share with their loved ones back home?” They might select a line in a soldier’s letter home that mentions a brief stay in an infirmary and research what medical care was like for American soldiers in Europe. Once students completed their research, they created a Google Site that displayed their artifact on the homepage. Students then linked (using hyperlinks) the words/phrases they researched to content that explains what they learned. They linked to content they wrote as well as to outside resources (videos, maps, other websites) they curated.
Students in Deep Run High School's 20th Century US History classes created interactive websites to further their understanding of WWII. Students placed themselves in groups of two to three and selected an artifact to research. They could choose a song, poem, letter, or diary entry about WWII. One group even used WWII letters written by a student’s great-grandparents! After they selected their artifact, they worked as a group to create a list of driving questions to guide their research. The class provided feedback on each group’s driving questions through a gallery walk. After the walk, each group considered the peer feedback they had received and had the opportunity to revise their questions if needed. Next, each group studied their artifact and settled on words or phrases in their artifact that they would research further to answer their driving questions. For instance, if a group had the question, “How authentically did soldiers share with their loved ones back home?” They might select a line in a soldier’s letter home that mentions a brief stay in an infirmary and research what medical care was like for American soldiers in Europe. Once students completed their research, they created a Google Site that displayed their artifact on the homepage. Students then linked (using hyperlinks) the words/phrases they researched to content that explains what they learned. They linked to content they wrote as well as to outside resources (videos, maps, other websites) they curated.
Authentic and Connected Learning Opportunities:
Authentic and Connected Learning Opportunities:
Students at Freeman High School hosted inmates involved in the ORBIT Program. These inmates, who are incarcerated for drug-related crimes, work with ORBIT to speak to different groups as part of their recovery. Students were able to speak with the inmates about their past, what they've learned, and ask any questions about drug concerns.
Students at Freeman High School hosted inmates involved in the ORBIT Program. These inmates, who are incarcerated for drug-related crimes, work with ORBIT to speak to different groups as part of their recovery. Students were able to speak with the inmates about their past, what they've learned, and ask any questions about drug concerns.
