In response to the 5/1/2012 post, “Make the Last Month Count,” a veteran LYS Principal writes:

SC, In response to your May 1st post entitled “Make the Last Month Count,” I wanted to share our year-end cross-curricular culminating project with you.  I believe the culminating project correlates with many of your aforementioned points.  Our K-12 aligned curriculum (C-SCOPE) calls for a culminating project in ELA for the last few weeks in school.  Our teacher teams worked together to include all four core curriculums in a school-wide Holocaust Project & Community-wide Program (i.e. Capstone Project and  Lesson Frame).  Students researched and wrote critically in all classes with the ELA and Social Studies classes heading up the final drafts of the research papers (Critical Writing).  Students built scale models of cattle cars, concentration camps, and various historical artifacts, sites, and locations through the math and science classes (Ample Power Zone Time & FSGPT).  In addition to writing research papers and presenting to their peers, our students presented their projects to the community during an evening showcase through various forms of multimedia presentations (Recognition & Reinforcement from the community). I have included articles and a link from local news stations that showcase the capstone projects.  I am very proud of our teachers for kick starting the 2012-2013 school year with such an emphasis on facilitating student lead, project-based learning.  Linear capacity (Fullan, 2007) continues to be built as a result of a dedicated group of teachers that believe that high-level teaching and learning does not happen in isolation—it happens through organizational and curricular unity.  Thanks for sharing your thoughts, end-of-year encouragement, and article with our staff and the LYS Nation. Stay focused on the Fundamentals…. K10 News Article: http://www.kten.com/story/18430921/tom-bean-students-study-holocaust DS Think. Work. Achieve. Your turn…

• Call Jo at (832) 477-LEAD to order your campus set of “The Fundamental 5: The Formula for Quality Instruction.” Individual copies available on Amazon.com!  http://tinyurl.com/4ydqd4t
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• Now at the Apple App Store: Fun 5 Plans (Fundamental 5 Lesson Plan Tool); PW Lite (Basic PowerWalks Tool); PW Pro (Mid-level PowerWalks Tool)
• Confirmed 2012 Presentations: TASSP Conference (multiple sessions); Region 10 ESC Fall Leadership Conference (Keynote)