MYP Capstone Community Project

The 8th Grade Capstone Community Project

The Grade 8 Capstone Community Project (CCP) is a significant, independent activity for students to complete in year three (8th grade) of the Middle Years Programme (MYP) at Newport Mill Middle School. The CCP focuses on community and service, encouraging students to explore their right and responsibility to take action by serving in the community. It gives students an opportunity to develop awareness of needs in various communities and address those needs through service learning. As a consolidation of learning, the CCP engages students in a sustained, in-depth inquiry leading to service as action in the community. This project helps students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile, gives them opportunity to demonstrate ATL skills, and helps them to grow and develop as an independent, lifelong learner.

The CCP is completed individually or in groups of a maximum of three other students (4 total). It is students’ opportunity to choose a topic of their interest and demonstrate their progress in the IB MYP through their research and development of the project (Adapted from MYP Projects, 2014).

The CCP consists of four main components: a focus on service, a process journal, a statement of reflection, and a presentation. This website will provide students with the necessary tools and supports to help them complete each component of the project.

The IB Learner Profile

The IB Learner Profile is the backbone and beginning place for all IB programs. It outlines the values that define the type of learner that IB students strive to be. Administration, teachers, parents, and students all learn about and focus on the Learner Profile. All learning and instruction are developed around fostering these attributes. IB learners are internationally minded individuals who strive to create a better world through understanding the world’s global interconnectedness and humanity.

These attributes are:

Inquirers: They develop a natural curiosity that allows them to become lifelong learners.
Knowledgeable: They explore ideas of importance and dig deep into its meaning, creating a balance of their learning.
Thinkers: They apply critical reasoning skills that allow them to tackle complex problems in creative ways.
Communicators: They understand and can articulate information in confident, creative ways, including a second language.
Principled: Students are honest, fair, just, and full of integrity. They strive to solve their own problems and to take responsibility for their own actions.
Open-minded: Students understand and embrace other cultures. They recognize and celebrate their own backgrounds and learn tolerance for others.
Caring: Students actively show concern for themselves and others and participate in active service.
Risk-Takers: Students are brave in the face of new challenges. They strive to take on new roles and to defend their own beliefs.
Balanced: Students understand the need to be emotionally, physically, and mentally balanced. They strive for this in themselves and others.
Reflective: Students ponder and consider their own learning. They are able to adjust for weaknesses and strengths.

The Aims and Objectives of the Capstone Community Project

The aims of the CCP are to encourage and enable students to:

participate in a sustained, self-directed inquiry within a global context
generate creative new insights and develop deeper understandings through in-depth investigation
demonstrate the skills, attitudes, and knowledge required to complete a project over an extended period of time
communicate effectively in a variety of situations
demonstrate responsible action through, or as a result of, learning appreciate the process of learning and take pride in their accomplishments

(MYP Projects, page 7)

Community Project Objectives

Objective A: Investigating

Students are able to:

Define a goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests
Identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the project
Demonstrate research skills

Objective B: Planning

Students are able to:

Develop a proposal for action to serve a need in the community
Plan and record the development process of the project
Demonstrate self-management skills

Objective C: Taking Action

Students are able to:

Demonstrate service as action as a result of the project
Demonstrate thinking skills
Demonstrate communication and social skills

Objective D: Reflecting

Students are able to:

Evaluate the quality of the service as action against the proposal
Reflect how completing the project has extended their knowledge and understanding of service learning
Reflect on their development of ATL (Approaches to Learning) skills

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