“What if you could illuminate your ideas? Or hack your poster board project?” That’s just what the students in Ms. Spence’s language arts class did for their Scaredy Cat Project this fall.
Each year, sixth graders create a “Scaredy Cat’s Guide to a Spooky Neighborhood.” Their posters include a map with illustrations and five descriptive paragraphs. Within the writing, they must use vocabulary words they have studied and also identify various parts of grammar covered in English class during the fall, including abstract nouns, action verbs and linking verbs. Combining grammar and writing is a proven way to reinforce grammatical concepts and to improve writing skills.
This year, the project reached new levels of creativity with the addition of electrical circuits. During class, students learned about simple circuits, conductivity, and current flow, then created circuits on their poster board using simple materials like copper tape, surface mount LED lights and batteries. This allowed them to light up their ideas and add emphasis to the scary places on their maps.
As we know, integrating science, design, communication and art has become an important 21st century skill. Assignments like these ask students to think critically and creatively.