Exhibition 11-24-09 Program

Communication: An Exhibition of Student Work

Wooly Mammoth by Anya Peterson

Marblehead Community Charter Public School November 23th, 2009

Communication Essential Questions and Understanding Goals How does communication occur?

Students will understand... • That there are many different ways, forms, means to communicate • Factors that influence communication • How to communicate effectively

What are the purposes of communication?

Students will understand... • That communication is used for a variety of purposes • That importance of communicating ideas clearly

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Program of Activities THE MCCPS BAND

under the direction of Ms. Adria Smith We’ve Got the Spirit by Jack Bullock Shake, Rattle, and Roll by Jesse Stone Star Wars by John Williams

OPENING REMARKS by Nina Cullen-Hamzeh, Academic Director

SEVENTH & EIGHTH GRADE CHORUS under the direction of Adria Smith Blackbird by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

FOURTH GRADE SONG & SIGN LANGUAGE under the direction of Katie Sullivan Danza in French, English, and Spanish You Gotta Be in American Sign Language

STUDENT EXHIBITIONS in grade level classrooms from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

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4th Grade You Gotta Be (CHARTER HALL - OPENING CEREMONY)

Students learned an alternate form of communicating through the study of the hearing impaired and American Sign Language.  They learned the basics of sign language and will perform a song as part of tonight’s opening ceremony. The Fourth Graders at MCCPS are eager and happy to share their celebration of learning and of being the newest members of our MCCPS Family.

Many Dreams: One Nation (MS. DOWDELL’S ROOM)

For their first exhibition students are assuming the roles of immigrants who came to America.  Students chose their country of origin and wrote a three-part narrative describing where he/she came from and why, as well as the immigrant’s hopes for a future in America.  Look for passports and collages that students have made and ask them about their journeys.  Students will be dressed in costume and have researched recipes to share.  In 4th Grade Foreign Language, students have created Family Trees to show their heritage.

Bridges Make Connections (MS. MILLER’S ROOM)

Working in Company Construction Teams of three or four, students assumed the jobs of Architect, Carpenter, Accountant, and Construction Manager as they worked together to build a bridge.  Look for company plans as well as the model bridge.  Accountants can show you their balance sheets and check registers and speak about how to write a check and the cost of bridge building.  Architects will 4

talk about the design of their bridges and Carpenters will show you how they built them.  Ask the Construction Managers about the process of design and building bridges.  Every student will share their construction journal and speak about the many challenges their companies faced and how they went about solving these challenges. In addition, each individual student studied a work of art that involves a bridge and can speak to visitors about it. All 46 "Bridge" works of art can be viewed on a monitor in the classroom. 

5th Grade Communicating Through Culture (MR. SULLIVAN’S ROOM & HALLWAY)

Calling all tourists!  You are cordially invited to the grand opening of the MCCPS Museum located in the fifth grade classrooms.  This month's exhibit is entitled "Communication Through Culture." Here you will see recovered artifacts, scaled models of pyramids, and colorful masks from the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations.  By viewing the artifacts, reading the descriptions, and talking to the museum guides, you will learn many facts about these amazing cultures.  Please also visit the museum's atrium located in 5S and the fifth grade hallway.

Foreign Language Ads and Poetry (MR. SULLIVAN’S ROOM & HALLWAY)

In 5th and 6th Grade Foreign Language, students have advertisements for their mini-museums or battery-powered cars.  In addition, students have written Cinquain poems relating to plants and nature. In French, they have also added Haiku scrolls to their poetry collections.

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6th Grade Transportation Engineering (CHARTER HALL & MS CONNELLY’S ROOM)

Students worked as teams of transportation engineers to design and build a working battery powered car. Tonight they are displaying the cars and sharing their knowledge on the cars’ subsystems and the forces that affect them. Displays are in 6C; cars are running in the gym.

Poetry Café (MS. DUNNE’S ROOM)

Students became poets and composers and wrote numerous types of poems and even composed original music for one poem. Poets will be reading from their Poetry Anthologies at a Poetry Cafe in 6D.  Come see original music set and performed to original poetry!

Falling Leaves by Adam Linksy

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7th Grade Civilization Communication (MRS.WRIGHT’S & MRS. MCAULLIFE’S ROOMS) In small groups, students created their own civilization based on historical examples. Using elements from various ancient civilizations, students created a government, cities, buildings, art, a writing system, occupations, and a religion / mythology for their civilization. Students will convince exhibition-goers to buy parcels of land in their civilization. In art, students experimented with the ancient art of metal tooling and created metal plates using the "repousse" technique.

In 7th Grade Foreign Language, students have created an "I AM" Poem in the voice of an ancient citizen of Mesopotamia.  Students also used their Foreign Language study to label a map in their created culture. They can give directions around the town in the foreign language as well. 

Cells Similes

Students demonstrated their understanding of cells as the building blocks of all living organisms. They will showed in depth the basic functions, structure, and organelles of plant and animal cells, through a visual and written analogy. Using their skills in Art and Language Arts students created a simile of a cell’s function and structure using mix media and words to portray a creative analogy.

8th Grade Using Math & Engineering to Impact the Community (MRS. PERRY'S & MR. SIGLER'S ROOM)

Students are learning the language of mathematics and science. They have been reading, writing and speaking mathematically and scientifically about numerous 7

topics involving life applications and the impacts on the community. 

This trimester the 8th graders examined how community needs are being meet the by math and engineering. Access ramps to buildings are a common feature today, but not all buildings are accessible to everyone. Students have used their knowledge on slope to calculate the slope of access ramps and provide evidence whether or not the ramps are up to code. We have read and discussed Massachusetts State Building Code 5311.6.1 and students can speak to the slope of the ramps. Some students have chosen to design a ramp for a building with no access to wheelchair bound people. 

Review the multi view scale drawings of the ramps. Read their letter to a public or private official summarizing their mathematical findings.  Students will also have their "Slope Lab" on display Confusion and be demonstrating how to calculate the slope of the by ramp. They will describe how speed is calculated and show Megan community members how to graph this data on the large Jezewski exhibition graph. Come learn how to plot your point on the independent and dependent variable graph.

The classroom is full of green. We have started the next trimester project on the Nitrogen cycle by getting the aquaponics going. There is a prototype aquaponics system, so that we can start  to observe the Nitrogen Cycle in action. We plan on using these plants to provide herbs for the school's kitchen and clean the water in our fish tank. 

A Day in Utopia In 8th Grade Foreign Language, students are presenting short stories they have created and illustrated about “A Day in Utopia". They have their books on display and will read them upon request.

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