News Item

Pictured above - students Matteo Biello, MacKenzie Stone and Lucas Andersen

April 7, 2011

News item – Quamichan grade eights succeed with cross-curricula projects

A teacher team led multi-disciplinary project that allowed Quamichan’s 120 grade eight students to do one piece of work and receive credits in three courses has led to success for more students.

Students and teachers who participated in the project that combined Science, English and Literacy say the students worked harder and more efficiently and learned more.

“Doing one project and getting three different marks helps because you get into the project more,” said student Mackenzie Stone.

After much planning and preparation, Science teachers Suzanne Holley and Karen Birch, English teachers Corina Fitznar and Barrie Luff and Literacy teacher and vice-principal Susan Garvey launched the project in January. Students would learn about the cell in Science; research and learn the information in Literacy; and, for English, write a script for an interview on the Oprah Winfrey show during which Dr. Oz would present, and describe the cell and its function. An extension option was to present the script. Students were required to work independently to create a three-D cell model.

During the project, students learned about plant and animal cells, used editing techniques and rubrics and synthesized research from multiple sources, explained teacher Fitznar. For the script-writing, students focused on consistency of character, descriptive language and use of analogies.

“Often, the classes would come after one another so we were able to focus on our project,” said student Lucas Andersen.

“You have to work harder, because if you have trouble with the project, you can lose marks in three different subjects,” warned student Matteo Biello, whose eye-catching three-D model was demonstrated at a recent board of education meeting during a presentation by the three students.

“As the students have more time on a single project, they can go more in depth,” explained team leader Suzanne Holley. “Learning in this different way allows more students to be successful, and that’s the important part.”

“We’re reaching all types of learners. All students are able to participate and find success,” added teacher Fitznar.

Although teachers Birch and Holley had worked last year on the project, this was a first for team member Fitznar, who’s in her first year at Quamichan.

“It’s fantastic to work with a secondary-level team so willing to work together and create multi-disciplinary programs,” she said.

Seeing more students achieving success has prompted the team to repeat the project next school year.