D&D Roleplaying Project - (May-Jun 2009) Download project handout

Students investigate human nature and high school culture through reading biographies, examining plays and conducting independent research. They work in groups to write and produce short scenes for a 60-minute play that explore various relevant themes surrounding adolescent identity.

Script: Lemons (written by Tony A., Danielle A., Arielle B., Joshua B., Sonja C., Denise C., Caitlin D., Philip D., Anja F., Yazmin G., Bianca H., Monique J., Mallory J., Rayna K., Aja L., Raúl M., Sebastian M., Colton M., Ayleen N., Ismael N., Julia R., Manuel R., Monica R., Rey R., Joshua S., and Fernandez V.)

Performance: Paints (written by Caitlin D.; performed by Arielle B. and Catarina B.)
Gender Offenders (written by Josh B. & Mallory J.; performed by Raúl M., Matt G., Jonah C., Josh B., Yazmin G., Julia R., Mallory J., and Karina G.)

Playbill Design (designed by J.D. D.)

What Went Well With This Project: This project was perfect for my team of performers. Students who had not yet gotten engaged in a project were drawn into this one by their peers. I felt that the script-writing portion of this project went extremely well, and students enjoyed the freedom that they got in exploring any high school issue of their choice. The rehearsals went very well, and students took them seriously and learned their lines quickly. The biggest reason why this project was successful was the authentic audience we had for our performance - an audience of 1000 middle schoolers! This made practicing extremely important for all students, and they worked hard from start to finish.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I would try to plan some way for students to reflect on their development as actors/actresses during the process of our project. Throughout the work days, they consistently completed personal progress reflections, but I feel like this could have been more guided so that they could track and monitor their own improvement during the somewhat chaotic time of rehearsing.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: I strongly recommend using Celtx, a free-source web program that helps students create professional quality scripts. Students can download it at home and continue working on their scripts. I also recommend having students read plays before they write their own (or simultaneously) because it helped them get familiar with the style of scripts and plays.

International Dream Makers, Inc. - (Feb-Apr 2009) Download project handout

In this project, students engineer and market an international theme park. Each satellite company (4 students) is assigned to work with another satellite company from the other Pod to form cooperatives (8 students). The satellite companies represent countries from around the world. The cooperatives need to explore the culture of the country and develop international relationships to create the design for their amusement parks and marketing campaigns.

Final Marketing for China (designed by Ideal Imagery, Inc.)
Final Marketing for India (designed by Global Innovations)
Final Marketing for Brazil (designed by Day Dream, Inc.)
Final Marketing for Saudi Arabia (designed by Lunar)

Final Radio Ad for South Africa (created by U-dream)
Final Radio Ad for Brazil (created by Day Dream, Inc.)
Final Radio Ad for Mexico, English Version (created by I.E.C.)

Power in Energy Project - (Nov-Dec 2008) Download project handout

In this project, students work in partnerships to develop a case for and against a national shift towards alternative energy sources. We use competitive academic policy debate as a way of exploring these important issues. Students complete this project by presenting their cases to the community in an all-day debate tournament.

Life & Death Project - (Oct 2008) Download project handout

Which determines your priorities: your current obligations or the legacy you hope to leave?

This project explores the values, beliefs and practices of death around the world. Students select a country to research and develop 7-10 minute informative group speeches on their chosen country. We discuss and explore how we live and spend our time, through reading "Our Town" by Thorton Wilder and activities and writings about our personal values.

Perspective Project - (Aug-Sept 2008) Download project handout

How do I see the world? How do others see the world? How is it different and how is it the same?

At the beginning of the year, one of the most important things you can realize is that every person has a totally unique perspective of the world! In this project, we explore perspectives as they relate to immigration. We look at this issue from as many sides as we can handle, as we create perspective boxes to visually represent the diversity of ideas on a single topic.

Ideal World Project - (May-Jun 2008) Download project handout

If you were the supreme ruler of the world, how would things be different?

Since the beginning of time, philosophers and thinkers and everyday people have dreamed of the world being different than it is. Some of those people have tried to change the world, and others have just wondered about it. In the ideal world project, we will try to imagine the world being different and problems being solved. We will create short films that tell the story of our ideal world, and we will test our ideas to see if they stand strong against the weight of reality.

Script for "PMS (Practically My Sister)" (written by Daphne F. & Joelle O.)
Script for "Dystopia" (written by Bryanna R.)

Storyboard for "The Chip" (designed by Kimberly P. & Carlo C.)
Storyboard for "Dystopia" (designed by Bryanna R.)

Marketing Design for "If You Press the Button" (dir. Audrey G., Marketing by Eden L.)
Marketing Design for "The Chip" (dir. Angela H., Marketing by Carla C. & Kimberly P.)
Marketing Design for "The Loveville" (dir. Kassandra U., Marketing by Zayda C.)

What Went Well With This Project: I felt that this was a great way to wrap up the year for Team Alpha. After all the students had learned about how to write, how to dream, how to work with each other, this was a mountain to tackle! The students worked in small groups to write short films about their ideal world. They explored a variety of very mature topics, and I felt that they really learned how to take charge of their assignments and their ideas to create something very unique.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I regret that I did not have really defined due dates for this project. As a project-based teacher, I always want the students' projects to be successful, and it was hard to make "tough calls" and tell students they would not be exhibiting unfinished or low quality work at our film festival. I think if you do a complicated project (particularly one that will be exhibited), it is very important to do consistent check-ins with students and give them feedback about where they are, so that decisions do not come as a surprise at the last minute.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: I strongly recommend creating DROP DEAD DATES and staying firm on them. Another thing that I would do again is have students read topical books that were on different reading levels (students chose books on utopia/dystopia and read them in small groups). That worked well for differentiating the reading.

Operation Yum - (Apr 2008) Download project handout

What stories does food tell us about the world?

In this project, we explore the significance of food in specific countries and throughout the world. Students work on teams of three to investigate the food of one country in the world, and they prepare the food and a lesson plan for the class. During this project, we also discusse the fact of global inequality and the theories behind this fact. Students exhibit this project at Festival del Sol on April 22, 2008.

Passport to the World with recipes and country research (PDF file)
This passport was designed and written entirely by the students of Team Alpha.

What Went Well With This Project: Students loved sharing food with each other! This was a really exciting and fun part of the project, because every day the class got to sample foods from two countries. Whatever shortcomings this project had (and there were several), the students all widened their perspectives of the food of other cultures. The lesson plans developed by the students were also pretty amazing (I learned some things about how to effectively teach from my students! They know what engages a classroom). I enjoyed seeing them in the teacher role.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I wish we had actually gotten to cook in class! The China team had us assembling eggrolls in class, and it was so engaging and so much fun. I think to really emphasize the point that we, as humans, are connected to our planet through food, we should be cooking together and working with the ingredients themselves. Instead, the students prepared the food at home and brought it into class. My team partner and I also discussed creating solar ovens to cook the food, which would be an incredible integration (demonstrating how very connected we are to this planet and its energy sources). I would definitely like to try that next time.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: One problem we ran into with this project was that the lesson plans were given back-to-back, so teams were learning about two countries each day. In the future, I would design some way to make it so only one team went a day. Many students commented that it seemed too much to jump from country to country each period, and I agree. I would definitely recommend this project, because food is fun.

Media Makers Project - (Feb-Mar 2008) Download project handout

How does media change the way we see and understand the world?

During this project, students learn how to look at media and how to create it. Students develop their analysis skills and write media analysis papers on four different types of media. The second part of this project involves media creation. Students learn photography techniques and develop their skills of looking at the world in new ways. They also learn how to tell the story of the picture by extrapolating clues and details from the image.

Photographs and Photo Stories
Carla C. and Dominic S.
Selah O. and Devon S.
Briana S. and L. Vanessa L.
Daniel H. and Bryanna R.

What Went Well With This Project: The best part of this project was when the students began taking photographs. They were extremely engaged in photography, and they loved sharing their visual perspectives with the class. The best media analysis time was when we were analyzing the media that we created ourselves. I also enjoyed helping the students develop creative stories about photographs -- they selected a photograph from another student, and then created a story about it. In the final display, we had the photograph, an artist's statement, and the story side-by-side, which really emphasized the idea that people see and interpret media in dramatically (and fascinating) different ways.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I tried to accomplish way too many things in this project. In the future, I would do media analysis and media creation in two seperate projects (maybe back-to-back). Trying to accomplish all these things in one project I think felt overwhelming both for me and the students.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: I recommend this project, and will probably do a version of this in the future. If you want to do it, make sure you have all the materials you need (cameras, etc.) and Walgreens was a great resource for getting the photographs professionally developed. The students loved taking pictures and took real pride in the photographs when they went up on the wall next to someone else's creative interpretation. This project was a lot of fun, and was very worthwhile for developing student perspectives through photography and creative writing.

Border Project - (Nov-Dec 2007) Download project handout

What difference does a border make?

This project helps students think about the transborder community where we live. Students write blog entries to develop their opinions about the relationship between Mexico and the United States. They also develop and research way to improve the relationship between these countries. The students all participate in a debate tournament at the end of the project, where they debate their cases against teams from the other pod.

What Went Well With This Project: The students really bought in to the competition. They bought into the game of it. Even after the tournament was over, and they knew they would not have to debate again, when I gave them their ballots back, they were genuinely upset or pleased about rounds they had lost or won. One student, who would not typically be “engaged,” was so upset about a round that he had thought he’d won. “No! Miss Kay. We did not lose that round! There’s no way we lost that round! I demand a rematch!” Here were students actually desiring to debate again, to prove that they could win their arguments.

I was also encouraged by their performance on the Thinking Test, which I gave them at the end of the project. Every single student was able to think critically about the Affirmative case presented in the test. They were able to make cogent arguments against it, challenge its evidence, its logic and its soundness. Although some of the students could do this well and others could do this partially, the point is that every single student was able to complete this task to some degree. When the students came to me, they were mostly non-thinkers – they had a difficult time being critical of their own work, and an especially difficult time being critical of the work of others. I think that the Border Project really encouraged their critical thinking skills.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I think I would not have given the students so much time to develop their own original ideas about the topic. Most of the students (80-85%) were not ready for such freedom, and had a lot of difficulty developing an idea for change just out of nowhere. They needed more guidance. I think we lost a lot of time at the beginning while I was waiting for them to make that choice, and I could have made the topic more accessible by going over different ideas for change, and giving them a list of policy changes that they could choose from.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: If you want to do a debate tournament at the end, I highly recommend getting the students to assist in providing judges. For a four-round all-day debate tournament, I needed about 25-30 people to judge at least two rounds. It was nightmarish, and it almost didn't happen. If each team is required to provide one judge for two rounds, then you'll be fine.

My team teacher and I also talked about doing this project again but integrating a little. The students frequently tried to use statistics to back up their arguments, but most students did not understand statistics or the numbers at all. They could make much more logical arguments if they understood the economics and numbers of what they were trying to say.

Space & Place Project - (Sept-Oct 2007)

How do maps tell stories? How do places influence our history?

Students work in teams to explore different historical perspectives of the world. They research historical points of view in order to create accurate maps of the world. For example, a map of the world drawn from the perspective of the Aztecs in the 15th century. Students also work together to write essays that further explain the knowledge and values of their team's assigned perspecitve.

16th Century Spain - Map 1
Designed by Victoria C., Carla C., Keith M. and Jorge A.
16th Century Spain - Map 2
Designed by Daphne F., Kimberly P., and Selah O.

What Went Well With This Project: Students rose to the challenge of research, and really investigated the historical background of their assigned perspectives. I really liked how open-ended this project was, because it met the needs of a skill-differentiated classroom. I also like how the cartographers from each group tried to represent the values of their team's perspective, because I feel like it helped make every student understand the historical content.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I assigned the students to research pespectives that I had not yet researched, and initially this made it difficult to assist them as they hit research walls. Research was very frustrating for them, and sometimes I felt like I didn't have the knowledge of how to direct them. After the first week of researching, I spent some time investigating the resources so that I could help them find what they needed, but it would have gone a little smoother if I had done that first instead of mid-project.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: Students (especially in the 9th grade) really struggle with researching and knowing how to be critical about what they are finding. We had a lot of conversations about how to research, where to go, and what makes up good research. These conversations are absolutely vital to the success of this project.

Me & Us Project - (Aug-Sept 2007)

Who are we? Where did we come from?

For the first part of the semester, we research and discover our own personal histories and cultural identities. Students create a 16"x20" mixed media self portrait, and an essay that seeks to explain themselves and the significance of their artwork.

Kimberly P. - Portrait
Bryanna R. - Portrait
Austin M. - Portrait
L. Vanessa L. - Portrait
Daniel H. - Portrait

What Went Well With This Project: Students really appreciated the opportunity to explain their stories using paint and collage. This project also served to teach them how to do projects -- we really emphasized drafts, second drafts and refinement. Without being taught "how to do art," the students experimented and found their artistic voice.

What Would You Do Differently Next Time: I wish that I had had set more project goal-dates so that the students could see the timeline of their project. I felt like we rushed the writing at the end, and I might have been able to incorporate the essay writing during the project instead of saving it for the very end.

Any Recommendations For Others Who Want To Try This Project: Make sure to give yourself enough time to purchase and plan for all the art supplies you will need. I was always running around at the last minute trying to buy tarps or brushes or what-have-you. With a limited background in art (and an equally limited background in classroom teaching), I wished I had prepared more on the supply-side of this project.