Genius hour is a movement that allows students to explore their own passions and encourages creativity in the classroom. It provides students a choice in what they learn during a set period of time during school. (Source)
Students in 6th grade participated in Genius Hour this term.
I had the opportunity to collaborate on a project with our ELA/Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator, Melissa Bettencourt and second grade teachers Kristen LeVangie and Stacey Begin to plan an “Innovation and Design” project in 2nd Grade Social Studies. The title of the project is “Mississippi River Flotilla Project”.
Second graders learn world and United States history, geography, economics, and government by studying more about who Americans are and where they came from. They explore their own family’s history and learn about distinctive achievements, customs, events, places, or landmarks from long ago and from around the world. The chief purpose of the grade 2 curriculum is to help students understand that American citizenship embraces all kinds of people, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and national origin. American students come from all countries and continents in the world. A history and social science curriculum should help students acquire a common understanding of American history, its political principles, and its system of government in order to prepare them for responsible participation in our schools and civic life.
Assignment to students -
To build a transportation barge that will carry cargo on the Mississippi River.
You are an engineer that works for a company that makes copper pans. The company makes the copper pans in Minnesota then ships them by barge down the Mississippi to New Orleans, LA where they are loaded onto a ship and shipped to China to be sold. The company wants to be able to put a lot of Copper pans on a barge at the same time.
Your challenge is going to build a barge that will carry the most copper pans down the flowing Mississippi River without sinking or getting stuck.
Brainstorming and Designing
Students worked in groups to brainstorm different ideas for the design of their boat.
Building the Boat
Students worked in groups to design and build their boat. They stayed within their budget when buying supplies.
Testing the Structure
Each boat was tested by travelling down the “Mississippi River” (in a metal gutter) carrying pennies that represents copper pans.
Final Videos
Presenting to the Middleton School Committee
Eight students from Mrs. LeVangie's and Mrs. Begin's class had the opportunity to share their experience from this project. Our superintendent Scott Morrison asked them several questions about the boat building experience. They had some great answers.
Students in 2nd grade learned about life cycles by raising their own Painted Lady Butterfly. They received the eggs and each adopted their own to nurture into an adult butterfly. They took pictures of each stage and captured it with photography.
While the butterflies cycled through the stages, the students researched the science of metamorphosis.
During this research, students were also learning about nonfiction text features. They used their nonfiction butterfly books to identify the different features.
After all of the research was completed, students took their information and wrote their own nonfiction book using the features that they learned about. They chose to use the iPad app "Book Creator" to create their book.
Cait is recording her book
Releasing the Butterflies
Book Creator project:
Massachusetts Common Core Standards
2nd Grade
RI.2.5 Know and use various text features (e.g., captions, bold print, subheadings, glossaries, indexes, electronic menus, icons) to locate key facts or information in a text efficiently.
W.2.2 Write informative/explanatory texts in which they introduce a topic, use facts and definitions to develop points, and provide a concluding statement or section.
W.2.6 With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.
SL.2.5 Create audio recordings of stories or poems; add drawings or other visual displays to stories or recounts of experiences when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.
Every year on the first Friday of June, we educators get to see our hard work and dedication pay off. Tri-town, teachers, principals and superintendent have the amazing opportunity to walk in the graduation of Masconomet High School. This year, our Middleton Masco seniors had their Preschool, Kindergarten, 2nd grade, 6th grade, reading teachers and elementary principal there to cheer them on! We get to see how intricate this puzzle of education is. We think about these kids forever! AND, they genuinely feel the same way about us! Here's to the Masconomet Class of 2017!
