Hit: Senior or other class projects

[Santiam High School Library <shslib@WVI.COM>]

I had requested information regarding senior or other projects, hoping for
information that would lead to projects that might increase reading or
library usage.  Here are the responses:

Here's what I did for one project-when I taught 5th grade last year-by the
way, we're always in the library.....when one project ends, another begins
and they always require the library's resources.....
Explorers
Choose an explorer to research (not this boring, keep reading)
Research EVERYTHING about that time period/country where he was born
The project is to write a story about the explorer-but he is NOT the main
character in the story. For example, I had one student write about being the
baker in the town where Cortez was born. They had to describe the town, the
townspeople, sights, smells, create dialogue for characters......and on the
perimeter of the story was the story of Cortez. This way, when Cortez left to
go on a journey, life continued without him....when he returned the "town
gossips" talked about whether his stories were true, children gathered around
the town fountain to listen with wonder as he described the treasures he
found, etc. It was a fun project---the kids absolutely loved
it. The way I introduced it was to show the first 15 minutes of Beauty and
the Beast about 10 times. We sat in front of the TV with our notebooks....and
each time they watched the opening scene of Belle's cottage, her walking into
town, the song, the villagers, etc, they looked for different things......
1-Just watch the scene
2-Look at the streets
3-Look at the houses/arches/layout of the city
4-What are the women doing?
5-What are the men doing?
6-What are the kids doing?
7-What funny things are happening?
8-What are the costumes?
9-What are the sounds?
10-watch again

By forcing them to look for only ONE thing each time, they had a better idea
of what went into a typical village day/scene. I told them that they had to
create that feeling with their explorer in whatever time period they were in.
It was so much fun-lots of laughter as they chose names-the baker chose Pedro
de pain (Pedro of the bread).....we pulled out Italian
dictionaries/Spanish/French to give them names that related to their
character. It lasted for 2 months. MUCH more exciting than doing your basic
"my explorer went to......."  .......yawn! The information about the explorer
was included, but in a much more interesting way. Try it......it's a great
way to teach research/point of view/characterization, etc........
Denell dhilgendorf@sisf.minoh.osaka.jp
Osaka Int'l School
Japan
Grade teacher on assignment in the library
-------------------------------------------------------
Yes, we do a LARGE SR PROJECT. This is the third year. It is required for
graduation. Students may study almost any topic that is not dangerous. They
must have a product to demonstrate learning and a 25 item annotated
bibliography. For some seniors this is the first time that they have
seriously entered the library. I even get to show some of them how to use the
card catalog and magazine indexes for the first time. I talk about how to
access a variety of sources. The Sr Project does have an impact on the
library. Often we are really challenged to come up with something that
addresses their project;
gourmet cooking, gardening, quilt design, auto body rebuilding, computer
building, prom dress design, golf, kung fu, etc. I can really be hopping from
internet to reference books and back again.
Alice O'Grady
Jackson High School, Mill Creek WA
Alice_O'Grady@everett.wednet.edu
----------------------------------------------------
Here at Friends we have a 4 year old program called Seinor Thesis.
It is a year-long independent project required for graduation.  Each senior
picks a topic (this year we have such topics as a multicultural documentary,
boatbuilding, psychology of advertising, and framing)  The students give a
proposal to the committee of 10 teachers, then complete annotated
bibliographies, papers, and projects throughout the year.  It all comes
together in a presentation night in April. I don't know if this gets them
reading any more than before, but, as an advisor, I have been stunned and
amazed by the quality of work these kids have done over the years.
Let me know if you need more info.
Kate Thomas
Wilmington Friends School, DE
kthomas@friends.wilmington.de.us
-----------------------------------------------------------
We require a semester long graduation project.  The project is entirely
student directed and designed and it includes a review of the literature, 20
hours mentor time with an expert in the field and a final paper and
presentation to members of the community.  While it has taken a few years to
get students to buy into it as a requirement for graduating, I have seen
tremendous work done and students enter as 9th graders and start planning
ahead for what they will do in Grad Project. We can send you the booklet if
you want...
sarah applegate
librarian
river ridge high school
lacey, wa


Tenny Feltmeyer
Santiam High School
Box 199
Mill City, OR 97360
shslib@wvi.com

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