- How do we best engage student voice in the designing of school cultures that deepen learning?
- What does relevant learning look like to today’s youth?
- What are the conditions (relationships, learning, environment/culture, structures), that need to be in place to make school a place where learning is relevant (students “power up”), for today’s learners?
- How do we create these conditions?
Guiding Questions for Quest
November 17th, 2009E16: Believe, Achieve, Succeed: Armadale’s Multidisciplinary Approach
November 20th, 2009Jill Maar, Elementary Principal, York Region District School Board
Louise Moreau, Superintendent, York Region District School Board
Voula Di Vetta, Curriculum Consultant, York Region District School Board
Members of the Multidisciplinary Team, York Region District School Board
Background of Armadale PS:
800+ students, 53 staff
school has large population of Special Education students and English Language Learners
Socio-economic issues
90% of students with home languages other than English
2/3 of the students were deemed at-risk, across all grades
80% of junior kindergarten students started at reading level zero (i.e., knew some letters, but could not read a very simple text).
Results
EQAO grade 3 Reading jumped to 84%, Writing jumped to 91%
EQAO grade 6, bucked a downward trend from the last few years, achieving 77% in Reading , 78% in Writing
100% of students in level 1 moved up
How it was achieved
* established a sense of shared purpose / shared understanding
* identified necessary structures and non-negotiables
* Built consensus around the School Plan for Continuous Improvement
* Analyzed rich data sets
Strong need for
School Budget
-directed towards students’ strengths, needs, interests
-texts
-kindergarten resources
—– oral language manipulatives (e.g., puppets, dolls)
-SMART Board
-laptop labs
Job-embedded professional learning
Multi-Disciplinary Team
* Speech Language Pathologist – works not only with individual students with speech/language disorders, but also worked with staff to help them understand language development, especially in ELL
* Curriculum Consultants (ELL) (New Teacher Induction Program)
* Special Education Consultant
* Special Education Technology Resource Teacher – assistive technology
* Computer Resource Teacher – linking curriculum and technology
* Psychologist
Monthly meeting
Bringing together resources allocated for different purposes to create seamless support
Critical Friends
-admin from other schools invited to come in, do walk-through and provide constructive feedback.
Non-Negotiables
-Daily, sustained focused literacy instruction
-Daily 3, Daily 5, First 20 Days of Independent Reading
Action Research
2 projects
-Oral Language: network focus & “talk partners”
- Effective Use of Technology
High-Yield Strategies
Job-Embedded Literacy Professional Learning
-based on data as well as teachers’ concerns
-foundations of an effective literacy program
-literacy block
-asessment to inform instruction
-gradual release of responsibility
-assessment for, of, and as learning
-differentiated instruction (e.g., though technology)
-resource selection
-guided reading (groupings)
-Ministry Language Curriculum Document
-unit planning
-learning targets & success criteria (including examining personalized criteria for special needs students)
-strong and weak work samples
Teaching/Learning Strategies
-descriptive feedback (focus on oral)
-target cards
-student & teacher generated rubrics
Kindergarten Oral Language
-Kids put on a ”How to create a pizza” workshop for their parents
-Role play (e.g., flying on a jumbo jet)
-phonemic awareness
Parent, Family & Community Engagement
-extended library hours (5 – 7 pm) 3 nights a week (nearest public library too far away, parents don’t have a lot of resources) paid a parent to supervise.
-student anxiety management workshop for parents
-dinners once a month to build conversations between community and administration
-early years centre
Sustaining the momentum
-celebrate successes
-support each other in challenges
-critical friends
E08: Rights, Respect and Responsibilities (RRR) – The Basis for 21st Century Schools
November 20th, 2009Presenters: John Clarke and Ian Massey
Deputy Director of Children’s Services and County Inspector/Advisor for Intercultural Education; County of Hampshire
Context:
-UK context
-stable democracy
-low turn out in elections
-lowered expectations for elected representatives
-concern re. involvement of people in decision-making in community
-decisions made by “them” – not “us”
Hampshire
-3rd largest local authority in England
-200,000 children in 550 schools; 15 post-secondary schools
-much of curriculum determined nationally but schools have substantial local autonomy
What is RRR?
“Children understand, and feel, that they have rights that can’t be taken away, that others have rights too, and everyone has the responsibility to respect the rights of others.”
“It is a way of thinking and being, interacting and growing.”
The beginning of RRR…
-Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada – specific teaching on the UN Rights of the Child
-visited by small team from Hampshire – decided to try similar ideas in Hampshire
-began to try in schools – one teacher at a time
-supported by Children’s Services, into local Children’s Partnerships (groups of schools working together, supported by community services)
-300 out of 460 schools now involved; half of secondary schools involved
- now a number of post-secondary institutions involved ? graduates from schools have changed post-secondary institutions to adopt similar thinking
-involvement with UNICEF UK – support from international charity as a way of spreading thinking and philosophy to whole country – roled out in 4 other local authorities
-September 2009 – official rollout of program throughout country
-ideas spreading – Ireland, N. Ireland, Netherlands, South Africa, New Zealand, Eastern Europe
-all work based on the UN Rights of the Child
-work was influenced by visits to YRDSB school five years ago (2004
Key Features:
1) Children HAVE to be taught about the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child
2) The way of being and working in the school is designed around rights and responsibilities. It’s a new way of thinking –designed to develop effective citizens.
3) Adults have to model rights-respecting behaviour and get used to more participative, democratic classrooms and methods
4) Parents, and eventually communities, become involved
Training for teachers:
-one day of training ? review of UNCRC, followed by a discussion guided by “what would this look like in the classroom?” -link to other existing initiatives (e.g. student voice) and existing curriculum
-key resources: “First Steps to Rights” (Unicef UK) – available online
Quotes:
“I’m reminded about why I went into teaching – to make a difference.” (teacher)
“Through doing this I feel better about myself. I’m able to step-up to my step-dad – and my mum is too.” (student)
“When I wanted to introduce this I thought there’d be a riot among the teachers. Now if I told tem they couldn’t do it…there would BE a riot.” (head teacher)
Research:
-most impact of RRR in most disadvantaged neighbourhoods (Covell and Howe, 2008)
-3 year study conducted
-children learn how to self-regulate
Results for children:
-the difference between rights and needs
-language becomes more sophisticated
-attainment in English improves
-enhancing thinking skills and moral reasoning
-more likely to attend school
-less likely to be excluded
-less bullying; less adversarial in dealing with conflict
-they begin to behave like citizens
Why does it work?
“It appeals to children’s self-interest – they’re already citizens; they have rights NOW. They don’t have to earn them or wait to adulthood.”
“It removes the “moral relativism” that has afflicted English school for years because it provides an authority outside the school to which children and adults can appeal.”
“It creates conditions where good behaviour can become the norm – because it’s based on values that stem from rights and responsibilities (i.e. and not rules).”
-once people understand it, the response is positive and it’s fairly easy to maintain
Challenges:
-requires intellectual underpinning; it’s not a program, it’s a way of being
-people view it was a behaviour management program or are worried about losing control
-adults use the language but don’t change their behaviours
Key Messages from RRR:
-never underestimate the power of students to effect change
-from rules to rights and responsibilities; reciprocal and balanced (in quantity, rights are equal to responsibilities)
-our classroom; not the student’s or teacher’s; shared responsibility
-link to school improvement
-new school culture
Final thought:
“Children are the living message we send to a future we’ll never see”
E15 Function & Design – bulding Blocks for an Effective Online Professional Learning Community
November 20th, 2009An evolution of engaging teachers in an online environment in order to enhance student engagement.
Innoteach
- tech enhanced PD – leverages expertise of ETFO members to facilitate the sharing of innovative practices to improve student Learning Connections/ABEL
- illustrates new ways of thinking about teaching and Learning
- a place for learning & sharing – exploration of ways to learn in an online space through collaborative practice
Challenge:
- Community of Practice – How to engage?? 6 years – action research in a blended community of learners
- must commit to reflective practice
- Critical Friends group and how to function in an online community of learners
- Research – practice supported/influenced by research and access to research
- Innovative Learning Objects – what the teachers brought to the community to be revised from collaboration
- Knowledge Dissemination – provide ability for teachers to write about their learning and share with community of practice – use of a website for teachers to share and discuss their learning
- took a blended approach
- Norms of behaviour, organizational structures, have communication channels & have a history
- Facilitated conversations using critical friends in an online community.
- Group identity at the beginning, with protocols for effective communication guidelines. Provided release time & honorarium. Restrict amount of time – 4 hours/month
- A very social space for learning and very professional. About collective identity creation and reframing practice.
- Like minded groups or networks form around a common purpose to reframe teaching practice through reflection.
Learning objects
Needed a determinant of quality. Teachers negotiated their quality standards.
A resource, usually digital and web based, that can be used and reused to support learning.
Critical friends group – tuning a teaching artefact a big risk for participants
All about inquiry, community, reflection, revision, reframing . A cycle of learning.
Provided a template to participants for the learning object.
Research to Practice: two levels, about design and function of networked learning communities plus the research of the teachers
Elizabeth Murphy – Model of collaboration to end results in online environment
Salmon – Open University – similar model of Learning Connections/ABEL guided the frame of the project
Matching their learning objects to the research accessed through online professional libraries. How do you know what you know?
Facilitated communities are much more productive – research supports this. What does this look like? Centralized > decentralized > regroup centrally. Blended.
Public face of this project will be accessable to everyone, not just ETFO teachers. Working groups were private to encourage risk taking.
Teacher Perspective– shared the impact on her professional practice and the student learning in her classroom through her involvement in this professional learning community. She shared student audio files and the impact on their own learning. Her classroom evolved into a community of learners through the project.
Need to be mindful of needs of Professional Learners across Ontario and the project was a provincial focus.
As a teacher’s union responsibility was to honour teachers. All finished the process to fulfill their professional learning needs.
Sharepoint was used as a platform for chat and sometimes Adobe Connect for Video conferencing.
Innoteach was all about going deeper into professional learning. The significance of the learning objects were not so much the objects but the process of the professional learning and the impact on students, schools, districts.
A spiral of practice into theory into practice. An evolution of informed research as they move forwards.
Learning Along the Way:
- the processes to make the community work
- end result has been multidimensional learning objects
- very little research surrounding critical friends protocol in an online environment
- reflection requires time to think & listen
- great investment in facilitators to drive this Learning
- have created modules for professional learning in facilitators
- examine the process through the lens of the learning activity on a monthly basis
- multi layered and blended learning – allows for real empowerment
- growing body of evidence supporting need for social ties for teachers to facilitate the flow of thought
- online environment allows participants “pause for thought”
- critical friends provided the structure for safe, innovative Learning
- peer coaching an important component
- Teacher Inquiry an important component
- Motivation was pursuit of something significant
Next Steps:
- website with learning objects with a feedback loop to share and Learning
- Online AQ/Facilitator Training
- Collaborative coaching
- Teacher Knowledge Mobilization Network – generated by teachers
- Community Ambassador – link to social network – creative synergy
www.etfo.ca
D12 – Cultures for Deeper Learning: Connecting Curriculum, Instructional Approaches and Character Development
November 19th, 2009Pauline spoke about the Engaging Boys DVD.
We are always thinking of the 21st century and Character Development
2005 – Deliberate focus on Character….evidence is throughout…today we will be looking at webcasts of what Character Ed. Looks like in classroom
Rich assessment tasks that address critical literacy…going on beyond content, to a focus on inquiry
CD – who our students are, and who they want to be
How are the students engaged?
What does relevant learning look like?
What conditions support the relevant learning?
How are these conditions created?
What is character development? Finding Common Ground was referred to…what would a focus on Character mean for students in our schools…it’s part of everything we do, every day.
This document is not about compliance…not about attributes..it’s about critical thinking, bringing character to students in meaningful ways.
Students need to be engaged in Character Development…part of what we do every day, and in their school life.
We create these conditions by…
- aligning curriculum for character develpement – the moral imperative
- authentic, relevant, robust thinking experiences
- articulating the learning
- engaging students through robust thinking tasks (creativing citizens, beyond pencil and paper, exploring their potential)
- believing in and empowering students (each student, and that all students can achieve to their full potential)
DVD…looking for a culture of respect between students and teachers, authentic learning through issues that they cared about…
Clip 1 – Canada’s Trading Partners…what are the expectations (with the eye of Trading Partners)
Mining curriculum for robust thinking around character development….
Canada and World Connections…OE explain the relevance to Canada of current global issues and influences (this is where Character Lives)
Application….SE…global issues (e.g. peacekeeping etc..)…connects to Point of View 2.5 w/ the Language document, Text forms .2.3, Responding to and Evaluating Texts 1.8, Analyzing Texts 1.7
Character development is about learning…we start with the curriculum to make connections…the challenge is to open up the curriculum with a “character” lens
Do they understand trade….how the students created the video was not important, they will learn the technology, what was being evaluated was their understanding of the learning target
Participants views a video created by students that noted the effects on society of creating cars that are not made to last (resources, pollution, care of those that make the cars etc…)
David Booth with students….Character development comes out through students articulating what they know…confidence/courage
…student is being asked about planned obsolescence
Clip 2 – Articulating the learning
Printing the whole newspaper to save resources….David asks if the student reads the news online…”Will the newspapers go out of business?”…customers should request only the sections of the paper that customers should read.
“How did the learners feel about themselves”…responding to questions from a guest, vs. their classroom teacher takes a lot of courage…student thinks of herself as a thinker, and a problem solver…noted that she may not know the answer, but knows where to find it!
Clip 3 – Believing in and empowering students…Social Studies
Water bottle debate…take what they know, who they are as learners, and find ways to demonstrate their learning
Clip 4 – Math class
The set up of the classroom can effect the attitudes of students towards their learning (math in the classroom, desk set-up, flexible groupings)…manipulatives are visable and accessable..visual organizers during instruction support student learning…space in the room for student work on the wall, math that students are currently doing…strategy wall supports students work through their learning…
Community of learners…creates a respectful environment
Clip 5 – Science class (Butterfly learning)
Teacher talked about the importance of “hands on learning”, caring for their environment and protecting it, caring and mutual respect….caring for their environment
Student struggled with the task, but perservered…
Clip 6 – Literature Circle Learnings…
Students were given a choice of non-fiction text, this was student led, focus on trading partners..this clip was selected because there are great opportunities for professional dialogue.
Asking critical questions to engage students in critical questions…article was about mosquitos…relating their experience to the text..who’s voice is missing…using the thoughts of others to build upon your own…
How are the students engaged?
- children chose the article they wanted to read
- choosing a shorter text
- teacher offered ‘managed choice’ – from preselected articles
- provide children with time to process what they have read and formulate their thoughts
- further engagement – children taped themselves in the Lit Circle and then reviewed to see what they did well and what they need to do next
What does relevant learning look like?
What conditions support the relevant learning?
- practise with Lit Circles
- practise with respectful talk
How are these conditions created?
- norms
- scaffolding
- gradual release of responsibility used
- time for classroom community building in order for the character development to take place
Viewer’s Guide included with webcast contains 4 pages deliberately focused on the clip around Literature Circles
Character Development does not come in boxes – it is about the everyday experiences.
What can we do at the school level regarding character development and inclusivity?
- take what the Board has developed in respect to these areas and think about the conditions needed at the school level that will engage the students at that school
- each school community needs to determine what character traits developed by the school board will look like at their school so it makes sense for their students
Secondary School reflections – oftentimes looking for the “Character Committee” – not understanding that character development is infused throughout everything just as Literacy is – this is an area that needs to be worked on at the Secondary level
Challenge: How do we get the message out to every teacher?
- the key is student engagement, student voice, student empowerment
- some secondary schools have student committees who plan the implementation of character development at the school level with support of staff members
- start with the curriculum expectations and look at them through a different lens – what lends itself to character development?
Need to involve students in a much more meaningful way.
Building safe communities in classrooms where students feel comfortable to share ideas and take risks. Important to take time to build this community at the beginning of the year.
The Moral Purpose of our work…taking our professional learning to our students, our classrooms and our schools.
When the culture of a classroom is one of respect, caring and responsibility we see students more engaged in their learning.
We want our students to think critically, feel deeply and act wisely.
D09: E-Learning Ontario: Changing Educational Culture One Click at a Time
November 19th, 2009Overview:
1) Provincial E-learning strategy
2) Ontario Educational Resource Bank
3) Learning Management System (e-learning courses for secondary students)
Introduction
Controversial Statements: Agree or Disagree
-E-learning is an educational fad
-E-learning promotes poor communication and social skills
-E-Learning is not as effective as face-to-face learning
-Some subjects can simply cannot be taught online or at a distance
-Students will meet e-learning, no matter what path they take
-People can develop relationships online
-E-learning is essentially an online textbook
-E-learning takes away teaching jobs
-E-learning increases inequities
-Students should have to take at least one online course in high school
E-learning is about integrating technology into teaching and learning.
Ontario’s e-learning strategy ? Distance Education ? E-learning ?Provincial E-learning strategy
Provincial resources allocated through E-Learning Ontario:
-a learning management system, containing over 200 credit courses
-a repository (OERB) containing over 18,000 resources (K-12)
-a set reservation system, allowing boards and schools to share programming more easily
-policies and PD
-a community of practice
OERB
-fully searchable – public and Catholic board lessons (including lessons from designed secondary credit courses)
-can refine search as needed (e.g. by grade, most searched, author, etc.)
-advanced search options allow specific key word search
-although K-12 in focus, heavily focused on secondary resources
-teachers can also contribute to the database
Ontario Learning Management System
-can be used to assist in offering a greater diversity of courses (e.g. low-enrollment courses and credit-recovery)
-each board has area on the LMS for students to log into (to complete courses); each course offered is personalized to reflect the Board (e.g. looks like a Board webpage)
-content reflected is the same as content that can be found in the OERB
-tools are available to enable students to communicate with teachers, and for teachers to view student work (and time online, etc.)
-content of course can be edited (as teacher) to address specific student needs
-for elementary teachers – 6 blended learning pilot project in place now that allows teachers to use online courses with current students
D05: Het Wonderwoud, Presentation of the Organization and Collective Spirit in a Community School in Holland
November 19th, 2009Presenters:
Ronald de Bie, Manager, Zwolle, Holland
Elske Heinen, Project consultant, Zwolle, Holland
Het Wonderwoud = “Miracle Forest”
-comes from the fact that the neighbourhood street names around the school are named after trees
Problems faced by the school / community
-neighbourhood considered “impoverished”
–many people are on social security
–many families are immigrants from Morocco and Turkey, parents of the children are often uneducated
–children with problems other than educational ones
–no daycare
–minimal parental involvement
-declining enrollment
Searching for solutions: Social Entrepreneurship
School-based community centre
-link between school & leisure
-ages 0-12
-uninterrupted curriculum – smooth transition from pre-school through kindergarten and primary school
-understanding of cultural view of education among immigrant community
-exploration of different experiences, e.g., arts, sports, etc.
-Wednesdays students have a lot of free time; there isn’t a focus on preventing boredom; students are expected to find their own activities; staff will only intervene if there is real unhappiness.
Care and Prevention Team
-for all children, their parents, and staff
-social workers
-nurse
-speech therapist, art therapist
-care coordinators: resource teachers who help with socio-educational problems
Parental Involvement
-meetings to explain educational methods used by teachers and what parents can
-cultural liaison workers: “buurtmoeders – bezoekvrouwen”
-first report card:
—- parents must come in for conference
—- not about grades and academics, but student’s well-being and social adjustment
-coffee morning: once a week, parents can come and chat with administration and each other
-parents’ forum
-adult education
-parents visiting child’s class – opportunity twice a week
-teenage mothers: although they don’t fit the age 0-12, they are now being integrated into the school’s umbrella
—– little ones can go to daycare while teen moms get education and opportunities to work in daycare and seniors’ homes.
Sportteam
-opportunities provided for students to try sports and leisure activities, such as ice skating and hockey.
-on holidays, school opens for sport activities
-teaching parents of infants to do massage and physical exercises for motor skills development
-does fund-raising
-organizing old-fashioned school-yard games (children did not know how to play outdoor games, just fighting)
-prenatal exercise classes
Maxi Axie (Extracurricular Activities)
-programs to develop sports, music, emotional/confidence skills
—- prevents pimps from preying on young girls who lack confidence
-Children’s Press Agency – writing newspaper, web sites
-Soccer Girls
Staff
-must be committed to be highly involved, work hard, collaborate with other team members
Results
-Measurable:
—-enrollment up, test scores up, obesity down, teacher absenteeism down, parental complaints down
Intangibles:
—-children love the school
—-parental involvement
—-shared mission
Keys to success
-finding partners who believed in the mission
-keeping mission simple, practical, realistic
D03: A Culturally Proficient Culture: What Does it Take?
November 19th, 2009- Allow students to share values and how they are reflected in their lives – promotes commonality
- allow every voice to have a say by “warming” the space – create a positive space
- students learn what they love from people that they love and when they know those people love them
- cultural proficiency def. – its about who we are – not to be confused with the study of multicultural education
- cultural proficiency is about the way you live your life – a way of being – values of the individual – policies and practices at the organizational level
- cultural proficiency cannot be mandated – must be nurtured
- don’t define yourself based on what you are against (i.e. anti-racism) – define yourself based on what you are for (i.e. equal rights)
- do what we say – we all say that every child can learn – but do we act that way – do we teach to that goal
- we talk about students being disadvantaged – we should talk about how they are underserved
- are we going to live with the traditions we’ve always had or are we ready to challenge norms – school reform
- why cultural proficiency – it’s proactive – focuses on appropriate behaviours and practices
- set of tools: essential elements: behavioral standards – language for describing both healthy and non-productive organizational practices
– the barriers – caveats that if not addressed will support destructive reactive behaviours
– develop tools to help us manage differences: assessing, managing, adapting, and valuing diversity
D11: Essential for some, good for all: Mobilizing knowledge for special education
November 19th, 2009The code special education project
Information around CODE special education project
- They were asked to build a process that would help to support the education for all document.
- In the past 5 years there has been an amazing change. We are now onto the learning for all document
- They are sharing some of the things that they have done to mobilize the knowledge
- Ability and disability: it is important to really look at what our abilities and disabilities are and really think about how we use them
- What are the implications of knowing our abilities and disabilities?
- Is it the context that brings out the disability? If we are really connecting with our students, then we’ll know that there are times when they won’t always be successful (example – singing at Christmas)
- The whole of education has to be transformed. We have a very narrow conception of ability. This is why we have such a wide conception of disability (Sir Ken Robinson)
What was the CODE Project?
- Knowledge mobilization is the creation of new ways of thinking – it is not walking away from hearing something new and still doing things the same
- To mobilize information you have to know three things – What, so what, what now
- CODE was developed to support the education for all documentNo two projects between the 72 school boards looked the same.
- In year one focused on student achievement and staff capacity
- Year 2 took the lessons that they learned: build on what you know worked
- Year 3 systematic support
- Year 4 knowledge mobilization
- Year 5 knowledge mobilization and creation
Guiding Principles
- Student achievement
- Staff capacity
- Tri-level support
- Leadership
- Flexibility and alignment
- Reflection and sustainability
- Knowledge mobilization
the main thing is is that we have to motivate others and bring these ideas forward
What was found? Because of coaching, school support and collegial conversations, things had improved by year three.
The principal was involved and was helping to build sustained learning environments
SERTs could act as a leader within the school
There was a change in the organisational structure of the school. It is important to change the organisational structure of the school to support the change that you want to see.
What now?
- Parent engagement; when the parent is present the student achievement is higher (when training At)
- Code chronicles: check out the code website
google Sir Ken Robinson for more!
C02: Intrinsic Awareness Leads to a Social Conscience – The Journey of Two Students
November 19th, 2009Art as an inclusion activity
Elgin Mills High School: students’ involvement in the arts program that helped their behaviour
Creating music, writing songs based on books that have been explored in class
Big Ideas: we as Canadians have many things that other countries do not
Texts explored for big ideas and connections made to real world conditions: poetry, song, art connections to the big ideas (social conscience)
Students for Students for Africa, Stephen Lewis Foundation, Bowls of Empathy
Connected to ‘Character Matters’ program
Not just lip service, but a genuine act of caring for the less fortunate
Students for Students in Africa:
Based on Warehouse of Hope
Wrote songs to sell and donate to SSiA
Uganda: building a school in Uganda
These 2 students have improved both academically and have developed a social conscience that allows them to contribute to society in a meaningful way through the arts. They work with students after school to produce artwork. They sell the artwork to benefit charities. They covered their own schools’ wall with art (mural). The boys have won awards for their community service. They have far exceeded their community volunteer hours.
Environmental Causes: worked with McMichael Art Gallery. Same 2 students produced art that reflects climate change. They worked with 8 students to produce art around the theme of climate change with an explanation of their work to explain the meaning of their work.
Shared beliefs and understandings: All students can achieve high standards given the right time and support. This work really reflects this parameter.
Group Activity: To create a song reflecting life in Africa based on the book ‘Three Cups of Tea’. Chorus was written for the group.
Chorus:
We must give a voice to the voiceless
And change the world for the better
We need to do what is right
And enjoy the world together
We can help save this world
And give a voice to the voiceless
Task: Using a place mat brainstorm words that describe conditions, life in Africa
Put commonalities or agreed upon words in the middle of the place mat
Use those words and phrases to create a song
Read place mats and record phrases and words that we want to incorporate into the song and record them onto chart paper
Forgotten Remedy is the name of the boys’ band