The Outsiders Project

During January and February 2018, Mrs. Gembka and Ms. Beauchamp's seventh grade ELA students visited the library to work on their final project regarding The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton.  Written in the 1960's by a teenager, The Outsiders is a classic story about gangs, social issues, friendship, and family.  Although an older work, The Outsiders contains timeless themes that still resonate with today's youth.

The Outsiders describes an incident where Johnny Cade, a member of the "Greaser" gang, stabs a rival gang member.  The rival gang member later dies.  As the basis for the ELA research project, students were assigned one of two claims: either Johnny acted in self-defense or he should be found guilty of manslaughter.

While visiting the library, students used a variety of online sources to find supporting evidence for their claim.  The students first utilized the "FindLaw Legal Dictionary" web page to learn basic legal terminology.  Students then took notes about other legal cases involving manslaughter and self-defense verdicts.

Links to a legal dictionary and past court cases were provided via the library website.

On their final research day in the library, students created MLA-formatted bibliography pages using Microsoft Word.  This built upon skills previously taught by Mrs. Walkowiak in technology class.  Students demonstrated their ability to locate the necessary components for citations and their knowledge as to why citations are needed to avoid plagiarism.

When the students returned to the classroom, they spent time locating and analyzing textual evidence within The Outsiders book that would lend support to their claim.  With all of their research in place, students worked on creating an evidence-based essay surrounding their claim.

On February 5th, 2018, seventh grade ELA students returned to the library for a visit from a guest speaker.  Mrs. Ashley Lowry, an Assistant District Attorney for Erie County, provided an informative presentation designed to help students with their project.  She explained her own educational background, what it takes to work in the legal profession, aspects of the legal process, and tips for formulating claims regarding The Outsiders.  The visit was well-received.  The students asked great questions and left the session with key takeaways to improve the quality of their own projects.

ADA Ashley Lowry shares legal information, as well as
insights for The Outsiders project.

With their essays complete, students returned to their classrooms for the final component of the project: a debate!  This was a highly-anticipated portion of the project.  Students enjoyed using their debate skills to try to convince their classmates of which verdict is appropriate.  During the debate, students judged each other on the quality of evidence, the clarity of the argument, and respect/overall demeanor demonstrated.

Seventh grade ELA students will return to the library during April and May to complete an in-depth research assignment on environmental issues.  Looking forward to having this great group in again!

January 2018 Highlights

January 2018 in the Iroquois Middle School library welcomed new teachers, classes, and projects into the library space.  The larger projects for the month involved sixth grade mythology research and a seventh grade project based on The Outsiders (both of these projects will be discussed in separate blog entries).  Here are some of the other highlights from the month of January:

Civil Rights Stations
Because Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is right in the middle of January, Mrs. Reid wanted her sixth grade reading students to become aware of the events and key figures of the Civil Rights Movement.  We decided it would be powerful to introduce students to other children and teens that made an impact within the Civil Rights Movement.  Students moved through a series of stations in order to learn about Claudette Colvin, Ruby Bridges, The Little Rock Nine, and the Birmingham Children's Marches of 1963.  At each station, students used the QR reader app on an iPad to access a video of the station's subject.  The station also contained photos, articles, and books for further context on the individual or event.  Students discussed the stations in small groups, then wrote their own responses about each station.

Sixth grade students watch a video about the 1963 Children's Marches.

Students learn about Ruby Bridges' contributions to civil rights efforts.

After the students had visited each station, they then had time to reflect upon the stations as a whole.  Students were instructed to think about the following questions:

1. What station inspired you?  Why?
2. What station surprised you?  Why?
3. Why was it so powerful for children to participate in the Civil Rights movement?
4. Is there such a thing as "good trouble"?  What are some examples of good trouble?
5.  What can students in 2018 do to make a positive influence in the world?

Instead of answering these questions as a written response, students were instructed to record a video using the Flipgrid educational video platform.  When using Flipgrid, students can record a video response on a secure website that isn't visible to the public.  The Flipgrid responses can then be viewed by the other students in the class.

Preparing to record a video response on Flipgrid.

Some of the students enjoyed the opportunity to use Flipgrid, but others were more hesitant.  Sometimes it is a little unnerving to see and hear yourself on video!  The completed Flipgrid recordings were excellent.  Students shared many important takeaways and insights concerning the Civil Rights Movement.

Music Projects
Mrs. Fox visited the library with both her sixth grade and eighth grade general music classes.  The sixth graders were researching a specific orchestral instrument and the eighth grade students were researching a Rock and Roll musical artist.  Students used books, websites, and databases (specifically World Book, Britannica, and Kids InfoBits) in order to find their information.  These projects also gave students a chance to practice filling out MLA citation note sheets for each resource.

Genre Tasting
The sixth grade reading classes frequented the library to exchange books.  A handful of students have already reached their 40 book goal for the year!  One of the most memorable sixth grade reading class visits from January was a "genre tasting" event with Mrs. Whalen and Mrs. Govenettio's students.  During this genre tasting, students sampled the library's best selections from a variety of genres.  Students were on their best "restaurant behavior" and many left the library with a new and interesting book to read.

Students sample books from the mystery genre.

Nonfiction and biographies appeared as part of the Genre Tasting.

Science Class Visits
It was exciting to welcome two science teachers to the library!  Ms. Pici's eighth grade science class visited the library to perform research for their Atomic Theory project.  They used databases and websites in order to find information about scientists that contributed to what we now know about atoms.  Mrs. Ferger's seventh grade science students came to the library to complete a biodiversity webquest in preparation for their Skype visit from a Yellowstone National Park ranger.  Once students completed the webquest, they used the Wonderopolis website to learn a little more about Yellowstone.

RtI Inquiry Project
Ms. Beauchamp's seventh grade RtI students visited the library to embark on an inquiry project.  We began the unit with a YouTube compilation video called "Cats vs. Cucumbers" where it was observed that a number of cats seemed to be genuinely afraid of cucumbers.  In order to find out why this was the case, students utilized the Wonderopolis website in order to read scientific theories as to why cats might be frightened by cucumbers.  After reading through the Wonderopolis article, students then shared the main idea of the article with their classmates. 

On a subsequent visit, students went back to Wonderopolis to research a question of personal interest and then share their findings.  Over the next several class sessions, students posed questions for their classmates that could not be answered simply through the use of Wonderopolis.  To find the answers to their questions, students employed a variety of strategies such as keyword searching, website evaluation, finding the main idea, and reading for supporting evidence.  Students returned to the library in early February to present their research findings.