By LINDSAY CAREYSTAFF WRITER Two social studies teachers at each of the local middle schools orchestrated a unique collaborative research project between DePaolo Middle School and John F. Kennedy Middle School. DePaolo Social Studies Teacher Patricia Kenefick, DePaolo Literacy Specialist Jean Graff and John F. Kennedy Middle School social studies teacher Amy Fontaine worked together to put 100 students into 25 groups. Each group was tasked with covering a country from North Africa or the Middle East. They were charged with researching that country in their textbooks and on the internet. Each student in the group chose to research a different aspect of life in the country, like religion, education, government, sports, and fashion as reporters in a recorded newscast. The result was a collaborative multi-media effort. “They each had things that they had to do, and then they put the whole thing together after their research to write up a script and put on the show,” said Kenefick. In addition to recording the newscast, the students used laptops provided by the school to edit their projects on iMovie. They also made short movie trailers using iMovie to preview some of the things they would talk about in their newscast. […]
By LINDSAY CAREYSTAFF WRITER Two social studies teachers at each of the local middle schools orchestrated a unique collaborative research project between DePaolo Middle School and John F. Kennedy Middle School. DePaolo Social Studies Teacher Patricia Kenefick, DePaolo Literacy Specialist Jean Graff and John F. Kennedy Middle School social studies teacher Amy Fontaine worked together to put 100 students into 25 groups. Each group was tasked with covering a country from North Africa or the Middle East. They were charged with researching that country in their textbooks and on the internet. Each student in the group chose to research a different aspect of life in the country, like religion, education, government, sports, and fashion as reporters in a recorded newscast. The result was a collaborative multi-media effort. “They each had things that they had to do, and then they put the whole thing together after their research to write up a script and put on the show,” said Kenefick. In addition to recording the newscast, the students used laptops provided by the school to edit their projects on iMovie. They also made short movie trailers using iMovie to preview some of the things they would talk about in their newscast. […]
