International Baccalaureate Program

Educating for Excellence

 

Rigor + Relevance + Relationships = Educational Excellence

MYP in the Classroom

CFA and Northside 8th Grade Humanities

MYP Unit Western Frontier Exploration

Instructors Nicole Wagner, others

Eighth graders at both Northside Blodgett and Corning Free Academy Middle Schools explore their creative side in a collaboratively-designed unit that asked the Essential Question “How did the settlement of the West effect the West?”

The Western Frontier Unit was developed jointly by District eighth grade Humanities teachers and aligns with Middle Years Program (MYP) principles and focuses on the MYP’s “Environment” Area of Interaction.

According to Nicole Wagner, Humanities teacher at Northside Blodgett, eighth grade students at both schools worked in groups of four or five to complete the project, which incorporated both research and creativity. As the focal element of the Unit, the student groups were tasked with writing a skit based upon a specific scenario (miner, rancher, Native American, or farmer) identified by their teacher.

In the Ms. Wagner’s classroom, the student groups were given class time to work on the project, and were responsible for typing their skit and providing a hard copy (paper) to their teacher on the day the skits will be presented. At Northside, the scenario skits were performed or presented by students in a culminating Presentation Day activity.         

“The students absolutely loved this unit, and many of them really got into the project,” says Ms. Wagner. “They tapped into their creative juices and came up with some amazing costumes and sets, not to mention the actual writing piece.” In addition, the Humanities unit incorporated subjects such as Art, Theater, Science, and Language.