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Our mission is to create models of learning that support and inspire collaboration in a cross-curricular, inquiry-based community.

Friday 1 June 2012

Poetry - A Grade 10 and 8 Collaborative Project







Many teachers at Fraser Heights have been experimenting with more collaborative, cross-grade projects.  We have found this experience to be extremely beneficial for our students, not only educationally, but also socially.  They are able to not only learn from each other, but also build relationships with peers in other grades, and thus develop a greater sense of school community in the process.

The Project:
Ms. Pelat's Humanities 8 class paired up with a student in Mrs. MacRae's English 10 class to create a collection of poems which illustrate 4 themes: School grounds/nature/neighbourhood; people (students, staff, etc.); The school building; Events/experiences/things that happened.

For each theme, the 2 students created a poetry response, demonstrating their understanding of various types of poems such as: Haiku, Diamante, limerick, villanelle, sonnet, free verse, tanka, etc.  They were expected to figure out what form (if any) to use for each theme, and also decide how to divide up the wiriting tasks.  This lead to conversations around trying to figure out with each partner was thinking.

After a 30minute nature walk, and once all of the poems were written, each pair of students presented their work to the class.

Our Observations:
Many of my grade 8s had trouble parting from their friends.  On the field, they clumped together and nearly refused to speak to their grade 10 partner.  However, after much separation anxiety, they were eventually able to walk around and write some of their observations down.  Some students made instant connections, while others still struggled with the idea of working with someone new and older/younger. 

In the classroom, we encouraged students to sit alone with their partner.  I believe this is where much of the bonding happened.  Many of the grade 8s (who hadn't had any poetry lessons at this point) asked many important questions regarding rhyme, syllables and types of poems.  This was a great experience for the grade 10s because their knowledge was tested as "experts" teaching their partners.

The Presentations:
When it came time to present their poems, all groups were very well prepared.  They had agreed on who would type out the poems and who would read what.  The grade 10s usually took control, giving introductions to each poem, and also gave their grade 8 counterparts encouragement to speak as well.  The classes were both very attentive as audience members, and many of the poems included verses describing their newly established relationship with their partner. 

Assessment:
This assignment is a summative assessment piece.  Both classes were engaged in formative assessment activities prior to the project, so they brought their own knowledge to this activity.  This project demonstrated their understanding of various types of poems and devices, as well as an ability to share understandings and knowledge.  During the presentations, Julia and I marked our students separately.  We then read through the poetry together, and came up with a mark that both students were given.

Summary:
This collaborative experience was quite positive for our grade 8 and 10 classes.  The students were able to build new relationships with students in grades they normally would not encounter socially.  Furthermore, the work that was produced was a joint effort.  The students were able to write about their experiences, as well and learn about someone else's.  They also had an opportunity to learn new styles of writing from their partners, and were motivated by their partner to complete the work creatively and with high expectations.

Now What?
Collaboration is a positive force in education.  Students and teachers are able to share ideas and understandings, leading to even greater learning.  As inquiry-based learning becomes more popular in education, collaboration is increasingly more important in the way we teach.  On a recent visit to Calgary Science School, I was inspired by the collaboration among teachers and learners.  See Learning from Calgary Science School for more info.  To learn more about my visit to CSS, check out my latest blog post on the fhsslearn homepage.  

Fraser Heights Secondary is working on various projects to increase collaboration in our school.  More and more teachers are working together to create projects, lessons, units and courses.  One example is a projects developed between our ELL course and Shop http://db.tt/EJYuTVMg You can also find a summary of the project on the fhsslearn "projects" page.

Technology?
It is a constant challenge trying to engage all students.  With the availibility of technology, we are able to develop more innovative ways to do so.  Using the iPads with this project can provide students will an opportunity to showcase their work in an alternative way.  Rather than using pens and paper, students can take the iPads outside, record what they see, feel, think, and also take pictures and video to display their encounters during their presentation.  They can use programs like Keynote as a presentation tool, and also create digital storybooks of their poems with apps such as iBook Creator.

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