We are starting to plan for our final Genius Hour project. This term students are being asked to choose a social issue that they are interested in and come up with a plan to affect social change. In past years students have chosen issues such as importance of recycling, homelessness in Maple Ridge, affordable sports for kids, animal cruelty, wildlife conservations to name a few. Some of the student action plans to affect social change involved educating others how to make simple changes in their daily routines to improve the environment, holding lemonade stands at home to raise money to donate to their organization, donating chore money to adopt an orangutan through a foundation, using lemonade stand money to purchase coffee cards that the student and family then handed out to homeless in Maple Ridge and some students wrote letters to MLAs expressing their viewpoints and urging them to action. There are many ways that students can find their voice and take action and they are encouraged to find a way that is comfortable for them, so long as they take some action.
For this project I will allow students to work in partners, though I don't encourage partner work. If they choose to work in partners the students will need to create a plan about distribution of work and fairness before I will approve the partnership.
And this term I will not be requiring a poster board for their presentation. Instead students will complete a one page report summarizing what they did and create a slideshow that shows information about what cause they chose but focusing more on their action plan and how they worked for social change.
Below is the Criteria Sheet that the class will receive Wed April 15.
This terms Genius Hour Project will be due June 10.
Genius Hour Criteria
Sheet
Students are working on their genius projects
which are due by June 10. For this term
students have been asked to choose a social issue that they are passionate
about and would like to make a difference with.
Some social issues can be hard to learn about so the class has been
encouraged to choose an issue that they are comfortable with and that they
could possibly affect change for. It is
always great to chat with your child about their topic and help them focus in
on a question that is manageable and meaningful to them.
Their project has three main components:
1.
A social
issue that they are passionate about ie
environmental issue, homelessness, animal rescue
2.
A plan for individual action: what is something they will do to make an
impact on their social issue ie raise awareness for change, fundraise for a
cause, write letters to government, volunteer time
3.
A plan for group change: what is something they can give to the class to encourage them to also make a change ie a card with 3 easy
ways to reverse climate change, or websites that people can find more info on,
or ways to donate to their cause. We
talked about this being a takeaway from their presentation so something small like a
bookmark or card with info on it
Students are free to choose their own social issue and come
up with their plans.
For this project, students are welcome to work with a
partner, but before the partnership is approved they will need to work through
a plan for distribution of work and how they will work together. But I also stress that partner work is not
easier and often individual projects are easier to manage and less
stressful.
The presentation this time will be different. Students will
still share out through oral presentation what they focused on but students
will not be required to create a posterboard or display of their project. Instead they will be given a one page report
form to fill out with the main elements of their project. This one page report can be shared with the
school on our bulletin board.
To replace the posterboard I am asking the class to focus on
a video or slideshow that focuses on what they did individually to affect
social change and end with their suggestions to others to continue to affect
group change. This term the project has
a greater emphasis on sharing about their actions than on the research they
have found. The research should lead
them to the actions they want to take.
Students can use their class laptops to create their
slideshow or can use technology from home, ie an iPad, but if using from home
they will need a plan for how to travel their work back and forth from school
and home, perhaps through a flash drive.
If students would like to bring personal devices to school, they do so
at their own risk but they can be locked in the teachers cupboard during the
day for added security.
Presentations will begin June 10.
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