From the Middle: Week of December 4

PBL in the Middle School:

Many teachers in the Middle School have begun to implement PBL into classes.  This past week, Mr. Rude has finished up his career week presentations and oratory project comparing past jobs to current jobs.  Students worked with Ford's Theater to understand the Rhetorical Triangle and how to use it to elicit feeling during a speech.

Mrs. Sinnwell invited the third grade up to her class to learn about Mesopotamia.  Each group of students had to prepare an activity and learn about their topic.  Students chose the direction they wanted to go knowing that they would be presenting on November 21st.  Some students chose to write a song, create a puppet show, make games, or make models to demonstrate the topic.  Students learned how to work together, communicate with each other, set goals and deadlines, solve problems, and be creative during this unit.

Spotlight of the Week- Mrs. Geerts:

Mrs. Geerts is a 5th grade math teacher at NHMS.  She is always looking to try new activities with students to bring the real-world into the classroom.  During the week of Thanksgiving, students were working on estimating and she created a hands-on activity for students to be smart shoppers and practice those skills.  Students had four different scenarios to solve involving four different grocery stores.  Students had to estimate how much money they would have to spend to provide a snack and a drink to 86 people.  They also had to plan a meal for a family of 5 with a fixed budget.  Many of these tasks will be similar to budgeting and financial literacy they will need to do in the future.  This activity includes student choice and decision making that are tenants of PBL.