Communication:

An Exhibition of Student Work

Wooly Mammoth
by
Anya Peterson

Marblehead Community Charter Public School

November 23th, 2009
Communication

Essential Questions and Understanding Goals

How does communication occur?

Students will understand...
• That there are many different ways, forms, means to
communicate
• Factors that influence communication
• How to communicate effectively

What are the purposes of communication?

Students will understand...
• That communication is used for a variety of purposes
• That importance of communicating ideas clearly

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Program of Activities
THE MCCPS BAND
under the direction of Ms. Adria Smith
We’ve Got the Spirit by Jack Bullock
Shake, Rattle, and Roll by Jesse Stone
Star Wars by John Williams

OPENING REMARKS
by Nina Cullen-Hamzeh, Academic Director

SEVENTH & EIGHTH GRADE CHORUS

under the direction of Adria Smith
Blackbird by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

FOURTH GRADE SONG & SIGN LANGUAGE

under the direction of Katie Sullivan
Danza in French, English, and Spanish
You Gotta Be in American Sign Language

STUDENT EXHIBITIONS
in grade level classrooms from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm

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4th Grade
You Gotta Be
(CHARTER HALL - OPENING CEREMONY)
Students learned an alternate form of communicating through the study of the
hearing impaired and American Sign Language.  They learned the basics of sign
language and will perform a song as part of tonight’s opening ceremony. The Fourth
Graders at MCCPS are eager and happy to share their celebration of learning and of
being the newest members of our MCCPS Family.

Many Dreams: One Nation

(MS. DOWDELL’S ROOM)
For their first exhibition students are assuming the roles of immigrants who
came to America.  Students chose their country of origin and wrote a three-part
narrative describing where he/she came from and why, as well as the immigrant’s
hopes for a future in America.  Look for passports and collages that students have
made and ask them about their journeys.  Students will be dressed in costume and
have researched recipes to share.  In 4th Grade Foreign Language, students have
created Family Trees to show their heritage.

Bridges Make Connections

(MS. MILLER’S ROOM)
Working in Company Construction Teams
of three or four, students assumed the jobs of
Architect, Carpenter, Accountant, and
Construction Manager as they worked together
to build a bridge.  Look for company plans as
well as the model bridge.  Accountants can
show you their balance sheets and check
registers and speak about how to write a check
and the cost of bridge building.  Architects will
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talk about the design of their bridges and Carpenters will show you how they built
them.  Ask the Construction Managers about the process of design and building
bridges.  Every student will share their construction journal and speak about the many
challenges their companies faced and how they went about solving these challenges.
In addition, each individual student studied a work of art that involves a bridge and
can speak to visitors about it. All 46 "Bridge" works of art can be viewed on a monitor
in the classroom. 

5th Grade
Communicating Through Culture
(MR. SULLIVAN’S ROOM & HALLWAY)
Calling all tourists!  You are cordially invited to the grand opening of the MCCPS
Museum located in the fifth grade classrooms.  This month's exhibit is entitled
"Communication Through Culture." Here you will see recovered artifacts, scaled
models of pyramids, and colorful masks from the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations. 
By viewing the artifacts, reading the descriptions, and talking to the museum guides,
you will learn many facts about these amazing cultures.  Please also visit the
museum's atrium located in 5S and the fifth grade hallway.

Foreign Language Ads and Poetry

(MR. SULLIVAN’S ROOM & HALLWAY)
In 5th and 6th Grade Foreign Language, students have advertisements for their
mini-museums or battery-powered cars.  In addition, students have written Cinquain
poems relating to plants and nature. In French, they have also added Haiku scrolls to
their poetry collections.

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6th Grade
Transportation Engineering
(CHARTER HALL & MS CONNELLY’S ROOM)
Students worked as teams of
transportation engineers to design and build
a working battery powered car. Tonight they
are displaying the cars and sharing their
knowledge on the cars’ subsystems and the
forces that affect them. Displays are in 6C;
cars are running in the gym.

Poetry Café
(MS. DUNNE’S ROOM)
Students became poets and
composers and wrote numerous types of
poems and even composed original music
for one poem. Poets will be reading from
their Poetry Anthologies at a Poetry Cafe in
6D.  Come see original music set and
performed to original poetry!

Falling Leaves
by
Adam Linksy

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7th Grade
Civilization Communication
(MRS.WRIGHT’S & MRS. MCAULLIFE’S ROOMS)
In small groups, students created their own civilization based on historical
examples. Using elements from various ancient civilizations, students created a
government, cities, buildings, art, a writing system, occupations, and a religion /
mythology for their civilization. Students will convince exhibition-goers to buy parcels
of land in their civilization.
In art, students experimented with the ancient art of metal tooling and created
metal plates using the "repousse" technique.
In 7th Grade Foreign Language, students have created an "I AM" Poem in the
voice of an ancient citizen of Mesopotamia.  Students also used their Foreign
Language study to label a map in their created culture. They can give directions
around the town in the foreign language as well. 

Cells Similes
Students demonstrated their understanding of cells as the building blocks of all
living organisms. They will showed in depth the basic functions, structure, and
organelles of plant and animal cells, through a visual and written analogy. Using their
skills in Art and Language Arts students created a simile of a cell’s function and
structure using mix media and words to portray a creative analogy.

8th Grade
Using Math & Engineering to Impact the Community
(MRS. PERRY'S & MR. SIGLER'S ROOM)
Students are learning the language of mathematics and science. They have
been reading, writing and speaking mathematically and scientifically about numerous

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topics involving life applications and the impacts on
the community. 
This trimester the 8th graders examined how
community needs are being meet the by math and
engineering. Access ramps to buildings are a
common feature today, but not all buildings are
accessible to everyone. Students have used their
knowledge on slope to calculate the slope of access
ramps and provide evidence whether or not the
ramps are up to code. We have read and
discussed Massachusetts State Building Code
5311.6.1 and students can speak to the slope of the
ramps. Some students have chosen to design a ramp
for a building with no access to wheelchair bound people. 
Review the multi view scale drawings of the
ramps. Read their letter to a public or private official
summarizing their mathematical findings. 
Students will also have their "Slope Lab" on display
Confusion
and be demonstrating how to calculate the slope of the
by
ramp. They will describe how speed is calculated and show Megan
community members how to graph this data on the large Jezewski
exhibition graph. Come learn how to plot your point on the
independent and dependent variable graph.
The classroom is full of green. We have started the next trimester project on the
Nitrogen cycle by getting the aquaponics going. There is a prototype aquaponics
system, so that we can start  to observe the Nitrogen Cycle in action. We plan on
using these plants to provide herbs for the school's kitchen and clean the water in our
fish tank. 

A Day in Utopia
In 8th Grade Foreign Language, students are presenting short stories they have
created and illustrated about “A Day in Utopia". They have their books on display and
will read them upon request.