Presentations, Presentations and 

                                       More Presentations

In all the History classes students worked on presentation projects on a topic of their choosing. Tenth and eleventh grades wrote opinion papers on current affairs and presented them at the end of the semester. In ninth grade presentations were done on such topics as Egyptian Hieroglyphs and the Roman Aqueducts.  In twelfth grade students presented on a religion or religious topic of their choice.

The in-depth presentations were 10 to 15 minutes long and included a table of contents and bibliography.  In essence, the students taught the class about something they were excited and knowledgeable about.  The format of the presentation was left open.  Some students created poster boards while others put together PowerPoint presentations.

Lilly Mays, in the twelfth grade, presented on the synchronistic religion Santeria, part of the Yoruba family of African religions. Voodoo is its better-known cousin. Both Voodoo and Santeria are results of the meeting of three cultures: African, Catholic, and Caribbean. So far this semester other twelfth grade students have presented on Satanism (really not that scary), Rastafarianism, and Zen Buddhism. For all groups, students examine both beliefs and practices.

This was an opportunity for students to pursue subjects they have an authentic interest in and present them in a creative way to the class. This is also a good way for students to learn about the interests of their peers. These presentations were engaging, original, and always informative--because they were the result of a student's passion the audience was interested too.

Lost Connections

On November 12^th and 13^th, the Junior High performed their annual play at Theater 150 in Ojai. The play was called "Lost Connection" and ran about 30 minutes in length. Students acted, produced, created props and scenes and wrote the play with the help of David Schermerhorn.

The play was about an institution called "The Company", which bought and held a monopoly over all other companies in the world and thus effectively controlled all forms of technology and communication. As powerful as the Company was it still had trouble with small factions who believed that the company was "evil" and demonstrated against them.  In a marketing effort to show the world that the technology offered by the Company was beneficial and needed, they decided to conduct an experiment: they gathered four "nature freaks" and four technology-obsessed kids, and dropped them off in the middle of nowhere. This experiment was filmed live, and the whole country watched as "The Company" cut off the electricity from the kids and, accidentally, from the world!
 

The show began before the audience even got into the theater.  The large crowd of enthusiastic supporters on opening night were greeted by student protesters waving signs and handing out flyers that read "Down with the Company" as they purchased their tickets.     

The play effectively combined the students acting skills interspersed with video clippings that showcased their technological savvy.  They were tackling such topics as propaganda, information control, freedom of expression and technological addiction among others.  It was hard to sit there and not be impressed by what they had accomplished in just three weeks and how flawlessly the play unfolded through the exaggerated and humorous scenes that still powerfully touched on real life situations.   

The students as a whole really enjoyed the experience and felt it was challenging as well as fun to create and put this play together.
 

Chloe Bly

The most challenging thing about the play for me, personally, was to actually get into the character I was given.  I would be playing a technology-obsessed spoiled girl. I'm not really much of an actress, so it was strange to be playing a girl who had a fit because her phone had stopped working. Putting a play together from scratch was definitely very hectic and stressful, but also super fun. I loved seeing a little idea we had turn into our final production. I think the whole class got inspiration from each other and from the age we are growing up in.

Cooper Pippig

I was surprised that putting on a play could be so much fun, and getting to spend time with my fellow classmates was a lot of fun in this situation. All in all the play was amazing for the amount of time that we put into it. I think I speak for us all when I say that we all thought it was a challenge, and a big one at that. It was a great experience to be had and will most likely stay with me for the rest of my life.

Will Moses

The most challenging part of the play was probably memorizing my lines. The most fun and exciting parts were when we were actually acting out the play, like when I got to speak in the microphone as "Mr C." and when we were filming the riot scene. I felt that the play came together. I feel everyone put forth his or her best effort in constructing the play and that we all drew inspiration from each other.

Buried History

Sixth grade history begins with the evolution of man and follows the story of human migration and achievement up through the early major civilizations.  This amazing story would not be possible, or at the very least be largely incomplete without the work of archeologists. 

As part of their history studies the sixth grade class has established a series ofarcheological dig sites right here at Oak Grove School.  They selected an out of the way spot near a natural drainage on the land, where they imagined animals may have come to drink and Chumash hunters may have pursued them with arrows.

Jim Bailey, the sixth grade homeroom teacher, explained, "We like to think of archeologists as field historians, helping us to uncover the stories that are literally right under our feet. I am always trying to diminish the distance between what we learn and the local world of the students. What better way than to wonder about the stories, the histories that may exist right here under our feet at Oak Grove School.  To that end we are very excited to look into the soil and see what it holds. "
 

     "We are using the tools and the process of archaeologists to carefully examine our dig site for clues. The sites are marked, shovelfuls of soil are carefully screened and the remains are examined. We may find bones of animals, or in the wildest possibility, artifacts left behind by the people who lived here before us. We just don't know..."

These are some of the things students had to say about their experience so far:

Makani: We get to experience what it feels like to be an archeologist and the pleasure of finding new things.  Digging up the dirt is really hard.

Jack: It's nice to study early humans through evidence found by archeologist.  Cool to impersonate archeologists and feel what they felt.  We haven't found anything yet. 

Emily: I think it's really cool and interesting.  We are learning how archeologists discovered things.  I would like to find something really important.  

Michael: I haven't been to the site yet but this is to experience the excitement of finding something really new.

Maddie: Buckets of dirt need to be shifted and they are really, really heavy.

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Penny Timeline

The Penny Timeline is a project that encompasses many skills.  It is an exercise in reflection on the important or memorable moments in a student's life.  They select ten moments ranging from the time of their birth to the present.  Students summarize each experience into a paragraph telling what happened and why they chose it.  Gracie: The most challenging was trying to figure out the ten most greatest memories for me.  It was really complicated.

The timeline is also an exercise in putting events into chronological order, as well as giving the students an opportunity to add creativity and aesthetics to a piece to make it come to life and represent their personality.  In history we often utilize timelines to glean information on a certain time period, so creating one of their own makes them familiar with them. 

Finally, the students practice speaking and listening skills as they present their timelines to their classmates.  Sage: It was cool to learn about other people's lives since I'm new here.  I got to know them better and know what they like to do.

The students really enjoyed this project as it is a focus on them.  All of the information comes from their lives and backgrounds.  Kids enjoyed asking their parents questions to fill in details for their summaries.  Bryce: I got to remember all this stuff that happened.  My parents pulled out a box of pictures of when I was little.  It was fun and interesting.

The kids also enjoyed hearing about others' experiences and felt that we all got to know one another a little bit better.  Paige: I learned that Arte likes to put flowers on things.  I learned that I had a lot of fun learning about all my friends even though I've known some of them most of my life.
 

The challenging part was that in class our goal was to accomplish two paragraphs a day.  Halfway through it seemed that we had been writing for days, and then we took it in to the computer lab to type.  That was the tedious part.  But I believe it was worth it overall, and the kids were on board with it, because we had something to be proud of during Open House.  The fifth graders asked if we could invite the fourth graders over to see them.  What I enjoyed most was seeing these students look at this project from the beginning, which seemed daunting, to slowly working through it to come out with a beautiful piece that they could be proud of. They all said it wasn't so bad after all.  
 

Foss Science Investigation: Environments
 

The purpose of the Foss Science Environments Project is for 9-10 year olds to be able to understand the relationships between an organism and its environme nt. Such knowledge is important because as humans, we have the capacity to change the environment. To do so without awareness of possible consequences can lead to disasters because all living things depend on the conditions in their environment.    

This project focuses on the concept that all organisms need energy and matter to live and grow and that living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for their survival. 

It all started four years ago when Carole Sylvester, the second grade teacher, read a short article in an education magazine about Trucker Buddy International.  This volunteer organization started in the early 1990s matches up professional truck drivers with teachers.  The idea was that the trucker would be a pen pal for the whole class, sending postcards from the various places he/she traveled to.  She thought this might be a fun way to teach USA map skills.  She applied and was lucky enough to be paired up with Mr. Sherryll Byrd.  He has been sending postcards to the second grade class almost every two weeks for the past four years.  Two years ago Mr. Byrd's route brought him to California and he and his wife had time to visit the school and the classes he had been pen pals with.  The students had a chance to tour his truck inside and out. 

The kids really look forward to receiving his postcards and trying to guess where he is writing from.  Carole makes this activity a game by reading them the postcard but omitting any info about the name of the state so later they can make guesses.  Each student has  a Trucker Buddy map and every time they get a postcard they color in the state he is in and chart his route. 

The exchange is not all one sided.  The kids also write back to        Mr. Byrd throughout the year with questions or just to express their thanks.
 

When asked about their thoughts on having a Trucker Buddy these are some of their comments:
 

He tells us things.  We learn about our country.

I like learning about new states.

I like to read his cards to hear what he is doing.

I like finding the places on the map.

I like guessing where the card is from.

We like having a trucker buddy!

The kids really like pen pals and Mr. Byrd has become the official
second grade class grown-up pen pal.

Postcard dated 11/20/10 reads: Dear Class, People think that Maine has the most lighthouses, but Michigan actually has the most lighthouses of any state.  Since we had the weekend off, we went to a college football game between Michigan and Wisconsin in Ann Arbor, MI.  The game attendance was 112,000 people.  Bye, Sherryll
 

Family Books

What is a family book? Perhaps a family heirloom passed down for generations.  In this case maybe so.  It was a book created by each student to learn about themselves, their families, and their origins.  Essential questions such as: "Who am I and where did I come from?" and "How am I related to my Global Community?" are looked at.  The books aim to explore the relationships between students, their communities and the world.   Another goal was for the students to notice differences between themselves and their peers.   They put all of this exploration and information on paper.  The books were then created by tying all the loose papers together with string along with a front and back cover.  The family books were then ready to be presented by the students.

The goal of the presentations was to motivate asking and answering questions and to improve listening and understanding skills.  One by one they all presented, sometimes by themselves and sometimes with a parent.  They told their friends about their family, their pets and their home.  Marley, a first grade student said, "I liked telling my friends about my family, it was really fun."

Alanna Pecchi, the first grade teacher, has the students make family books every year.  She said, "Each year the children are so enthusiastic and excited to share their family stories!  They love to tell other students about their pets and what their families are like.  I get so much positive feedback from the grandparents when their
 

grandchildren come to them asking them questions about where they emigrated from and what life was like for them as a child. And in the end, we held an International Potluck Celebration at one of our parent's homes (Thank you Lila and Dines Francese!), where our international flags hung high as we enjoyed getting together, and tasting the different foods from all over the world.  It was a really rich experience and I can't wait to do it again!"
 

Edible Math 

Iguana Group kids choose a "Grape Math" pattern card, and then copy it by threading purple and green grapes onto skewers in patterns. Children compare, classify and eat together!

Icy Science

Iguana Group kids freeze recycled containers full of water (some with color and random treasures inside) at home, and then bring them to school to create a large ice sculpture together. Playful exploration and experimentation with salt as "glue" allow kids to predict, try out, laugh and collaborate to make something much greater than the sum of its many parts.  

The Math and Science of Applesauce

Gecko Group kids use their budding math and science skills as they make warm applesauce together on a cold, rainy day.  They cut, measure and cook the apples in a big pot, stirring and watching their transformation.  Once the apples are cooked down, they "smush" them in a hand-cranked food mill until they discover applesauce oozing out of the bottom:  "Where did the peels go?"  "Wow, they're stuck under here!"