Things to Do Lists, Research Papers, and a Ground Floor Opportunity for the Investment of a Lifetime

Last week was a rare occasion for us lately: We actually had five full days of regularly scheduled school! We've had a lot of days off lately; one for parent-teacher conferences, another for Election day, and while our trip to Howell wasn't exactly a day off, it wasn't a day in the classsroom either. Of course, we're off for three more days for the holiday this week. Last week was an opportunity to get a lot done, so our weekly Things to Do list was lengthy as a result:

Happily, everyone rose to the occasion, working diligently to pace themselves throughout the week. We're skipping the Things to Do list this week, but we'll be back at it after the holiday break.

The bulk of our homeroom time lately has been devoted to our research papers. Students have been spending time researching an ancient civilization of their choice. They've been working with a packet to help guide their research that encourages them to learn about the geography, economy, social constructs, innovations, and more of their subject. Now that each student has done a broad survey of their civilization, they're ready to narrow their focus to one specific topic to research and write about.

Posing with source materials:

Working with research packets:

We're only in class for two days this week, so we'll be using the time to decide on the specific topics that we'll be researching and writing about after break. Today, we'll be talking about developing compelling research questions to guide their papers. After break, we'll move into the outlining process.

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Of course, our students have a way of generating their own side projects as well. For example, Cory has been spent the last few days flipping through a copy of The Boy Mechanic Makes Toys, a reprint of an old book from the early 1900s that has a variety of interesting projects that a youngster from 1924 might be interested in constructing. One day, he came up to me and showed me this sketch:

It's a rough sketch for his proposed design of a perpetual motion machine, inspired by some of the projects in the book. If he builds it and it works, it will be a major coup for advocates of Project-Based Learning (and a massive blow to the Laws of Thermodynamics). I've encouraged him to work with Dr. George to build it, and Dr. George has agreed, but only if Cory gives him 1% of the profits of the machine if it works. It's a pretty good deal for all parties...