I. What is the 6th Grade Middle Session Program?
6th Grade Middle Session: Sustaining: Ourselves, Our
Community, & Our World
"If we teach today's students the way we did yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow."
- John Dewey
Summary: Sustainability can mean many things and is often misunderstood. During this unit, sixth graders will explore the theme of sustainability and how it relates to themselves, their community, and their world. We’ll start off with a keynote speech from Mike Weilbacher, executive director of Briar Bush Nature Center and a frequent guest on WXPN-FM's live call-in show "Kid's Corner" as "Mike the All-Natural Science Guy." We will then participate in a series of big and small workshops relating to ourselves as we:
Then, as we widen our sustainability scope and relate it to our community, we have a number of exciting field trips on and off campus where we will:
Throughout our unit on sustainability, students will be given a chance to be an advocate for one of the topics or themes that they choose to work on whether it be that they conduct journal writing, playwriting, consumer package re-design, or some other aspect yet to be chosen. We are looking forward to our Middle Session with our sixth grade students!
"If we teach today's students the way we did yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow."
- John Dewey
Summary: Sustainability can mean many things and is often misunderstood. During this unit, sixth graders will explore the theme of sustainability and how it relates to themselves, their community, and their world. We’ll start off with a keynote speech from Mike Weilbacher, executive director of Briar Bush Nature Center and a frequent guest on WXPN-FM's live call-in show "Kid's Corner" as "Mike the All-Natural Science Guy." We will then participate in a series of big and small workshops relating to ourselves as we:
- Participate in yoga and meditation.
- Explore ways that food and nutrition make us feel better.
- Design and sew a bag out of scrap material.
- Explore the role that packaging has in our waste stream.
- Explore how storytelling and folk songs relate to who we are.
- Delve into an environmental mystery book, Who Really Killed Cock Robin? by Newbery Medal writer, Jean Craighead George, and discuss aspects of plot, environmental issues, and character development.
Then, as we widen our sustainability scope and relate it to our community, we have a number of exciting field trips on and off campus where we will:
- Take a historic tour at Rittenhouse Town, the first paper mill in British North America along the Monoshone and Wissahickon Creeks, where we will have a hands-on paper-making experience.
- Learn about Philadelphia’s history as we explore Old City’s Elfreth's Alley, built between the 1720s and 1830s, where we hear fascinating stories of everyday life during this time period.
- Tour behind the scenes of one of the community’s great storytellers, the Arden Theatre Company.
- Work with published playwright, Michael Hollinger, assistant professor of Theatre at Villanova University.
- Visit University of Pennsylvania’s member supported radio station, WXPN, where we will see the inner workings of a radio station and hear live music at their "free at noon concert."
- Conduct trail work in the Wissahickon by removing invasive plants and helping maintain trails under the guidance of The Friends of the Wissahickon’s Volunteer Coordinator.
Throughout our unit on sustainability, students will be given a chance to be an advocate for one of the topics or themes that they choose to work on whether it be that they conduct journal writing, playwriting, consumer package re-design, or some other aspect yet to be chosen. We are looking forward to our Middle Session with our sixth grade students!
II. Schedule Information: Upcoming trips, etc.
Please see attached document for Middle Session schedule
| middle_session_-_parent_schedule.doc |
III. Design-based thinking and How It Related To Our Initial Planning
IV. 21st Century Skills and How they Relate to our Program:
Below are descriptions of some 21st century skills
with examples of how they are
being implemented during 6th grade Middle
Session.
I. Problem-Based Learning: Research indicates that student engagement and achievement increase with the exposure to “real world” problems.
How it’s being implemented:
III. Interdisciplinary Work: Working across disciplines to expose students to broader and deeper connections.
How it’s being implemented:
IV. Experiential Learning: An effort to maximize and create an authentic learning experience either through hands-on activities, field trips, or outside speakers. It gives the students an opportunity to step outside of a classroom and explore an issue firsthand.
How it’s being implemented:
A. Write a screenplay or play with Michael Hollinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hollinger)
B. Visit Elfreth’s Alley and tour with historical architect, John Milner (http://www.preservationalliance.com/advocacy/2010_epl_elfreth.php)
C. Discuss the importance of sustaining the environment with Mike Weilbacher from the Briar Bush (http://www.briarbush.org/nature-center-staff.asp)
D. Attend WXPN “free at noon” concert series (http://www.xpn.org/concerts-events/free-at-noon)
E. Visit Arden Theatre as part of “green theater” workshop series (http://www.ardentheatre.org/)
F. Take train as an alternative “greener” transportation option (http://www.septa.org/environment/)
G. Work alongside a fiber/fabric artist (http://www.thehandworkstudio.com/)
H. Take classes with trained yoga instructor
J. Make paper at the Rittenhouse paper mill from recycled materials (http://www.rittenhousetown.org/)
I. Problem-Based Learning: Research indicates that student engagement and achievement increase with the exposure to “real world” problems.
How it’s being implemented:
- Advocacy education cultivates the girls’ passion and drive to identify an important issue in their world and change it.
- Our goal for Middle Session is to have the girls be exposed to a broad range of sustainability-related issues, then become advocates and learn to become a vehicle for change.
- Re-purposing used materials. Students will consider the impact of consumerism and find alternative purposes for used clothing and plastics.
- Rethinking packaging. Students will consider how packaging can be redesigned to be more eco-friendly.
- Preserving Philadelphia’s unique history. Students will explore an endangered historical site and learn about what is being done to sustain our historic city.
- Maintaining health. Students will explore physical activities as well as healthy food options to sustain their own bodies.
III. Interdisciplinary Work: Working across disciplines to expose students to broader and deeper connections.
How it’s being implemented:
- Reading Who Really Killed Cock Robin, by Jean Craighead George. The content of the novel combines the studies of English and science.
- Reading for connections. The girls will practice skills to relate the text to other texts, themselves, or issues in the world today. In effect, the text becomes meaningful on multiple levels due to broad purpose setting goals.
- Yoga and Meditation. Through the active practice of yoga and meditation the girls reflect on the historical background, while also considering the health benefits.
- Exploring the connections between music and history through storytelling
- Writing a screenplay. Combines the studies of English and the Dramatic Arts
- Repurposing used materials. Combines studies of art and science.
- Exploring how theaters are making strides to become more sustainable through a series of “green theater workshops.” Combines studies of English, theater, and science.
IV. Experiential Learning: An effort to maximize and create an authentic learning experience either through hands-on activities, field trips, or outside speakers. It gives the students an opportunity to step outside of a classroom and explore an issue firsthand.
How it’s being implemented:
A. Write a screenplay or play with Michael Hollinger (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Hollinger)
B. Visit Elfreth’s Alley and tour with historical architect, John Milner (http://www.preservationalliance.com/advocacy/2010_epl_elfreth.php)
C. Discuss the importance of sustaining the environment with Mike Weilbacher from the Briar Bush (http://www.briarbush.org/nature-center-staff.asp)
D. Attend WXPN “free at noon” concert series (http://www.xpn.org/concerts-events/free-at-noon)
E. Visit Arden Theatre as part of “green theater” workshop series (http://www.ardentheatre.org/)
F. Take train as an alternative “greener” transportation option (http://www.septa.org/environment/)
G. Work alongside a fiber/fabric artist (http://www.thehandworkstudio.com/)
H. Take classes with trained yoga instructor
J. Make paper at the Rittenhouse paper mill from recycled materials (http://www.rittenhousetown.org/)
IV. Description of the Themes and Concepts:
Sustainability is the central theme for the sixth grade work in Middle Session. The students will learn to interpret and act upon issues
relating to sustainability in all that they do, be it exploring the
city, spending time in a park, visiting a cultural institution, reading,
exercising, or even choosing which foods to eat. They will consider
relationships between products and the resources required to produce
them; the concept of a supply chain; the interrelationship between the
arts, the artists who produce them, the patrons who support them, and
the audience. As they become more fluent in the language and methods of
sustainability, they will learn to advocate for programs and ideas that
are important to them as a means of creating (and sustaining) a better
future.