Henrico Staff Development

Our 7th grade Social Studies teacher Mr. Berry used Mash-On, an online website, to enhance digital pictures that students took in order to show their understanding of the Great Depression. There were 10 questions that students needed to answer for this assignment. The questions were:

1.    How did the stock market crash affect investors?
2.    How did tariffs affect the US economy?
3.    What role did the Federal Reserve play in the Great Depression?
4.    How did foreclosures affect people?

5.    What happened to banks during the Great Depression?
6.    How did the Dust Bowl affect farmers on the Great Plains?
7.    What were breadlines and soup kitchens?
8.    What was the goal of the New Deal?
9.    How was American society affected by the WPA and CCC?
10.    What ended the Great Depression?

Students then answered these questions in picture form. For each answer,they took one picture and added a caption that answers the question.  Each student created his or her own comic strip about the Great Depression.  The results were fantastic!

In Ms. Brouillier’s 6th grade English Classes, students had the assignment to write a script for a public service announcement about a selected disease.  Topics ranged from pneumonia and allergies to poison ivy and warts. Students spent time in the library and the henrico county database researching the chosen topic and learning how to correctly site the sources.  Students then used Garageband and the library of sound effects to create an enhanced podcast about the disease.  Students then were able to write comments to one another on the class blog page.  Additionally students ranked how well they liked each other’s enhanced podcasts after listening to the PSA’s.  Click here to view the webpage of all projects from this class. Be sure to read the comments and how well students collaborated and communicated with each other on this project. 

Mrs. Newman’s Science class worked on a project where they sketched and built skyscrapers that could with stand the elements. Students discussed what helps the building stand and how a foundation is important.  They looked up talk buildings they knew of and estimated the height in meters, then compared that to what they measured the Eiffel Tower to be.  They then explored different forces of nature on skyscrapers and how to avoid catastrophe using the PBS website http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/lab/loads.html.  Students then used graph paper to sketch out their own skyscraper with the intention of building them and testing wind and earthquake against it. After sketching on paper, students used Google Sketchup to draw and gain a better perspective of what the building would look like in 3-D.  They discussed within their groups improvements and then built the skyscraper out of toothpicks and marshmallows.  Students then tested each building to see which withstood the elements best.
This lesson exhibited what students are capable of when they are engaged and able to exercise creativity.  The final product, a marshmallow-toothpick skyscraper, was tested again wind from a fan, and an “earthquake.”  Students had a great time with this experiment and our Principal Mrs. Cooper even came to watch the students in action. Click here to watch a video of the lesson.

Mrs. Sharpe and Ms. Saunders 7th grade English classes did research projects about mammals.  They spent the week researching, both online and in the library, the animal of their choosing.  Once they had the required information, students were able to begin designing their webpage.  Students used iWeb to design a webpage about their animal.  Most students did a bio page from the viewpoint of the animal.  Students used videos from Discovery Education and embedded them within the website.  In addition to the webpage, students were required to turn in their research and a complete outline of the information on the webpage.  Once all pages were complete, they were complied into the teacher’s webpage.  Students then went on the pages to view the research about each other’s animals and rate them on information, visual appeal, and creativity.  Click here to visit Mrs. Sharpe’s website.

In Mrs. Murphy’s Computer Art class, students were to use stop frame animation to create a movie.  Two 8th grade students spent countless hours preparing this one of a kind movie about taking care of a dog.  They used many programs to create the final product including Photoshop and iMovie.  Students were able to select the topic and collaborated with a partner.  Students first brainstormed the script and story.  They then began to develop the plot and the characters in the movie.  Much attention was given to color and aesthetic appeal of the movie.  This creative project took on a life of its own when students spent much of the time outside of class and school working on the movies.  These students were selected to showcase the movie at TMS Apple School Night in the Apple Store at Short Pump TownCenter.  Click here to view the movie.

The First Settlers Project was completed by our Advanced 6th grade Social Studies classes.  Student were to explore the first tribes that setlled in America.  They had to research food, clothing, shelter, where they settled, the tribes interaction with the Europeans, and if they were the most successful tribe.  Students were provided a number of websites to find information.  They used these sites to collect information, put it into a spreadsheet and used Google Earth to express all of these ideas.  Students showed where each tribe settled by using a different color to depict location.  Students included hyperlinks for each important aspect of the tribe such as shelter, clothing, and food.  Students were all given the topics, but were required to fill in the information and place it in the correct spot.  Please enjoy this short video of one such student project. Click here to view the video.  Great Job Mrs. Wolfgang, Mr. Boyd, and Mr. Berry!