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During their morning math class, Grade
7 students are busy organizing data they have collected over
a period of two weeks on the amount of electricity consumed
at their homes, as determined by daily readings of their hydrometers.
They are creating bar, line and pie graphs to illustrate their
results. They are also completing written comparisons of the
amounts and patterns of their electricity use with that of their
project partners, and of their documented, as opposed to their
predicted (before data collection began), household electricity
consumption. What a great “hands-on” way of learning
math!
In the afternoon, the same Grade 7s are
busy with their “From Rags to Riches” art project.
They have just learned about how African-American enslaved
women created and sold quilts in order to buy their freedom.
They are now going to create a commemorative quilt on these
women’s courage during the Antebellum, the Abolition,
and the Civil Rights Period. The girls’ quilt pattern
is named the "North Star", and indicates that a
"safe house" is located on the Underground Railroad.
Girls divide into different groups for studio work, which
involves designing and doing a photo-transfer of the quilt
patches before they are stitched together.
You can hear the applause and cries of excitement
coming from the gym. The Grade 8s are now beginning to combine
the skills they have developed to play a full basketball game.
Girls are divided into four teams. While two teams play, the
other two watch their classmates’ working on their skills
and following instructions given by their teacher. After 3
minutes the teams switch places, and the second set of teams
get the opportunity to demonstrate their skills. After 20
minutes, all four teams take a break to answer the coach’s
questions on what they have learned from observing each other.
Along with a whole lot of fun, they are able work on leadership
and skill improvement through cooperation and inclusiveness.
Computer Studies is perhaps one of the
favourite classes for the grade 8s. During their introduction
to the Internet, girls learn how to select keywords that will
lead to the best search result on the topic of their choice.
They are navigating and evaluating a number of Internet search
engines designed for younger students. Girls will then design
guides to using search engines successfully for other students
of their age.
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