spring projects

These are a collection of projects produced by RDS 7th and 8th grade students this spring:

Eighth Grade Family Quilt: http://www.rdschool.org/family_quilt In trying to group your children’s recordings into categories, I realized that all of them defy categorization. This speaks to the diversity of this group of people and particularly this class. Although many of us started with the same questions (“Where were you born? What did you do?”), they yielded different answers, which led to deeper inquiry that went to the heart of your families and their American experience. That they put their families’ stories into their perspectives showed that they understood who their ancestors, grandparents, and parents were and are. They further appreciated the sacrifice and heroism of their forebears. In their words, written and spoken, they seemed to know, too, that they carry the best of their ancestors’ traits and actions with them. As you will hear from the recordings, students spoke with an emerging self-confidence and took great risks in telling their stories. It is my hope that you will enjoy listening to them as much as I did. Have a great summer. Adele Madelo

8th Grade Country Reports http://www.rdschool.org/Country_Reports As part of the years culminating project for 8th grade Spanish students had to do an in depth research report on a Spanish speaking country. As the oral component to the project students were asked to do a 'virtual' presentation in the form of a podcast and slide show, all in Spanish showcasing some of the more interesting aspects of the country they studied. John Kohler and Matthew Krause

7th Grade Poetry in the World http://www.rdschool.org/pitw/index.htm The assignment was to research a poet, write critical analysis of one of his or her poems, then choose a couple of lines from the poem that the student really liked and create an art installation of those lines. They then took a photo of their artwork and brought it to school. This is based on the Free Verse Project sponsored by the Academy of American Poets--www.poets.org--if you want to take more of a look. I am so proud of them! Lisa Horner

Spring Songwriting http://www.rdschool.org/spring_songwriting Description forth-coming