Applying Historical Learning to Modern Day Slavery

Students in Grade 9 History are now working on a research project on slavery. The end goal is to use a historical perspective on effective measures that helped end slavery in the past to interpret modern day slavery and then raise awareness. Students will be working as historians and using their conclusions to serve the community with more informed action ideas.

The projects will be soon available online and we expect it will generate thinking and discussion in our community!

eMagazines and Creative work express "Ideas that Shaped the Modern World"

Grade 10 students have been busy synthesizing and expressing the learning that happened along the year at the “Ideas that Shaped the Modern World” class. This is the first time that technology has been integrated into this end of the year project, so we are now able to share student thinking with the Graded community, as they provide insights into political and philosophical issues that affect us all in our modern world. Topics are varied and include separation of powers, constitution, revolution, progress, absolutism, and more. Students produced creative expressions and electronic magazines that can be appreciated at the class showcase site Ideas that Shaped the Modern World.

The Creative page on the site shows a rich mix of work including music, video, graphic novel, screencasting, slideshow, blog, poster, art, drawing, and photo album. Students chose one prompt out of four to produce a creative expression and technology was used to support creativity and to enable sharing of work.

The eMagazines page on the site shows all the magazines produced by the students, who worked in groups to develop a design, create an Editors Note, gather articles and organize magazine sections on common topics. Each student wrote three articles based on chosen prompts. In order to adapt to this medium and to reach a wider audience, students had to adapt the traditional essay writing to a more accessible style. But the impact of technology can also be seen in the social media aspect of these electronic magazines as it is possible for the wider audience to provide feedback. Students have already started to read and comment on each others' articles as part of extending the learning beyond the individual work. So we invite you to choose a magazine to read and post a comment about how you agree or disagree with the different analysis of the big issues involved. It is interesting to read the perspectives from different student authors within a common topic and realize the complexity of the issues and how they can be interpreted. Below you will find some sample emagazines.

To add comments click on the link. Quickly create a Calameo account before commenting.

To read the emagazines in full screen click on the image. 

Power to the People

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CN Times

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Kneel

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The Power of Knowledge

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As part of digital citizenship education, an extensive work was done with the students regarding copyright issues. They worked hard to use Creative Commons as the first option for images and a citation was required under any image used. The use of Creative Commons or a claim for Fair Use were part of the Editor Notes.

As a learning community, let’s enjoy the reading and enrich our thinking and debate!

Science and Social Studies Curricular Programs

The deadline to register for courses for next year is March 15th and there are still many high school students who have finalized their choices. Last week we shared information on the changes to our math program and this week we have information on our science and social studies departments.

9th and 10th graders next year will take Integrated Science I or II which will open up options for them in 11th and 12th grades. We are pleased to be able to offer IB Chemistry SL next year. We will be looking at other options for the years to come. The integrated science is a blend of biology, chemistry and physics that will run throughout the two year period. Graded has teamed up with Educhange to develop these new courses. The future is looking bright for Graded students in the area of science.

While nothing will change for 9th and 10th graders next year in the area of social studies, 11th and 12th graders will be able to choose from Brazilian Social Studies, IB Psychology SL/HL, IB Economics SL/HL and IB History SL/HL. The department will be working next year to redesign the 9th and 10th grade courses and we'll be looking at other elective options for grades 11 and 12. Next year is the first year that Graded students will be able to use the IB Brazilian Social Studies as their group 3 course for the diploma. Another example of greater choice for our students.