Class #32--8th Grade English

Wednesday, January 19, 10:00 A.M. 8th Grade English Class. Class #32 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” journey. I have a real treat today. I have the opportunity to observe 8th grade students giving oral proposals about their prospective Castalia Projects. The Castalia Project is our 8th grade “capstone project,” which, as Ms. Summers describes, is designed to allow 8th graders to use skills developed over the course of Middle School to research a topic of their choice. The project includes a formal five to seven page research paper as well as a Creative Final Product (CFP) that uses the research a student has done to build a creative interpretation of his or her topic. These may include, but are not limited to: visual art of any medium, primary source interviews, documentaries, design relevant to subject at hand, model or other 3-dimensional representations, or other digital representations or interpretations of topic At the end of the year, students will present their projects before the Calvert community. Two students, a boy and a girl, whose projects show particular distinction, will be selected to present their projects at Graduation in June. As the students take turns presenting this morning, classmates ask clarifying questions, and Ms. Summers helps the students start to narrow their proposed topics. For example, one student wants to research piracy, but after a rich discussion, he realizes that “piracy” is too big a topic to cover in depth in five to seven pages. However, he will be able to write thoroughly about pirate tactics or Somali piracy within the parameters of the project. Over the course of just one period this morning, I hear proposals about BMX bike racing, the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, Cleopatra, the Academy Awards, yoga, history of the Boy Scouts, history of piracy, Alzheimer’s, the Sundance Film Festival, magazine publishing, and piracy. I cannot wait to see how the projects turn out!