Makerspace and a Lesson on News Literacy

This year, we reorganized the NCHS Library makerspace. In a webinar presentation on January 23rd, members of the ICT team shared information about the NCHS makerspace. The following is an outline of the presentation.

We started by reviewing the evolution of our makerspace from 2015-2018.



Then we explained what drove our reorganization plan. In the spring of 2018, Ms. Zilly's Interior Design students were assigned to present makerspace redesign proposals to a panel of educators. Ms. Burns and Ms. Pacelli then consolidated their notes from the five groups' presentations into a plan.



Then we shared images of students working in the makerspace.



Finally, we wrapped up by sharing our vision for future impact and growth. We highlighted a number of design and learning models that feature empathy at their core. We are developing a model that features their points of intersection.



In preparation for the sophomore research assignment, which in many cases focuses on op-ed writing, we began working on a news literacy lesson that will develop critical reading skills. While it is still in draft form, we are sharing it below.

Ring in the New Learning!

2019 Makerspace Sightings:  Economics students used the makerspace to create a way to explain concepts around scarcity, supply and demand, opportunity costs as well as other economic principles.

Save the Turtles!  Marine Science students applied research by designing prototype for a kid's placemat for a restaurant to teach about the seven species of sea turtles. The placemats included information about each species, causes of their endangerment and the difference between land and sea turtles.

Ring in the Reading: Sophomores in Ms. Struzzi's English class started the year off right with a booktalk. 

Digging Deeper: Honors Freshman in Mrs. Hamill's English class conducted research in order to write a speech about their inquiry into a controversial issue.  Students located and accessed resources, actively read, and took notes on an original inquiry research question. They are working on articulating ideas in a speech to explain their position on the issue and to make the case why action needs to be taken to address it. 

Intern Visit: An intern from the state of Connecticut Alternate Route to Certification (ARC) Program for library media specialists spent a day at the high school observing librarians in action. The intern noted how the makerspace was set up and used. She also inquired about how to facilitate a standards based integrated high school library program.

Lights, Camera, Action: TV Broadcasting students are creating segments on different topics, such as people's favorite songs in 2018 or a PSA. 

Cracking the Books:  Students are studying for midterms, and the library is the perfect learning hub for studying together. 

Somewhat Virtual Book Club:  The NCHS Virtual Book Club (#SWVBC) meets the first Wednesday of the month in the evening to talk about a preselected book. January's selection was An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green. Students may meet up at the library for pizza and face-to-face camaraderie or join the discussion virtually. Participants from California, New Jersey and South Carolina join the discussion virtually. All students are invited to participate.

A word about "the." As the semester winds to a close, we are supporting learners by providing feedback on their bibliographies before they hand them in to their teachers. We often see students include the article "the" in periodical titles. Examples include:

• The Wall Street Journal
• The New York Times
• The Washington Post
• The Boston Globe
• The Economist
• The Atlantic
• The New Yorker

This is what the above publications are named. On the other hand, some publications do not include the article "the" in their publication name. Examples follow: 

• Los Angeles Times
• Chicago Tribune 

In the 8th edition of the MLA Handbook, there are newspaper article examples that reflect the full publication title including "the".  For our purposes at the high school, requiring students to look up which publication names include the article "the" and which do not seems like one more "thing to do." For the teacher, the word "the" clutters the citation. When evaluating thousands of citations, it is more functional to skip from the article title to the publication name without the buffer "the." We have encouraged students to drop the article with a few exceptions. For a handful of publications, it has become such a part of our cultural lexicon to include the article "the" in the publication name that people get confused we are confused by its omission - The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and The Economist are three examples of this. 

We accept citations with and without the article "the" from students. They should know that in college, they will be expected to take the extra step of looking up the exact name of each publication they cite. 

Students have been working very hard on citing their sources correctly. We are extremely proud of their efforts and their progress. Teachers are reporting outstanding results.