Teachable Moments is a glimpse into the CPS classroom experience. Each month, we collect snapshots from around the city that provide insight into the quality of curriculum and the talent of the teaching staff found in all our schools.

This month, we asked principals and teachers to tell us how they foster intellectual curiosity in the work of their students and their school.

CAMBRIDGE, MA [02/11/09] _ Nothing is more fascinating or hard to imagine than the size of our solar system! At the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. School, project based learning gives students an opportunity to explore science topics in new ways.  Move over Pluto because Christine Fetter's fourth grade students are getting their hands dirty creating paper mache and clay models of the planets.  With the support of the project based learning team (Christine Fetter, 4th grade classroom teacher, Sarah Novogrodsky, librarian, Suzie Blackburn, Art Teacher and Monica Leon, Math Coach) students researched the planets and created accurately scaled models by learning about the diameter and circumference of spherical objects and blowing up balloons to the approximate size of the gas planets.  It took a special team of students to create the other planets because their circumferences were so small in comparison.  These celestial bodies will be orbiting the library as soon as they are dry and all of the students in the school will have a chance to consider the relative size of our solar system!

Meanwhile, the first graders of Room 101 at the King School have been studying different aspects of mapping. They explored several different types of maps and learned about symbols and keys. They took what they have learned thus far to create a map of the King School playground. The map was a cooperative effort put forth by the whole class. The playground was divided into sections, and small groups of students completed each section. The map was drawn in the Bird’s Eye View perspective and includes both a color and symbol key. We hope that you enjoy viewing our map as much as we enjoyed making it!

At the Peabody School, Kindergarten Teacher Leslie Williams Dunn says that in her classroom she fosters curiosity by presenting students will interesting topics and asking them to think by themselves and as a group a solution or conclusion to the problem presented.

“In our classroom right now we are doing an experiment on mummification. We read a little about how the Egyptians wrapped their bodies and buried them in tombs,” she says. “For our experiment we cut an apple into 5 equal pieces. We put an apple slice into each cup and covered one apple with Epsom salts, one with regular table salt, one with baking soda, one with a combination of all three and one with nothing on it. We asked the children to predict what will happen to the apples after a week and then after 2 weeks. Some of the answers were that the apples would fall apart. Another answer was that the apple would turn to water.”

Next week, at science center at work board, the children will choose one of the cups, observe what is happening and make a new prediction. The goal of this experiment is to use vocabulary to broaden the children's writing, expose them to making predictions and drawing conclusions from the information presented. Our hope is that the children will first of all enjoy the experiment, second take away some newfound understanding of dehydration (in the simplest sense) and build their writing and inquiry skills.

Meanwhile, Peabody School sixth grade students are always excited when they explore the concept of ecosystems, according to Teacher Jay Mahoney. “Many teachable moments spring from our students' curiosity about the world around them,” he says. “The students love to construct their own ecosystems called ecocolumns" and observe the many changes that occur after they place living organisms into their columns.  They often come to class with highly challenging questions about the plants, insects and other animals they are given to produce a self sustaining ecosytem.  They test their questions and make observations about the things that impact ecosystems.  Students especially love creating a presentation on how certain animals in the wild are threatened by changes in particular ecosystems. 

“A highlight for many students in my class is when they research, produce and create a Powerpoint presentation and get to use Smartboard in front of others to present their findings.  Their curiosity about the animals they research and the building of the ecocolumn allow them to realize what impact we as humans have on the many ecosystems around the world.

The Baldwin School's Fourth Grade Spelling Bee is a big hit.

“When we decided to host a spelling bee and invite family and friends, we had no idea how motivated the students would become to study their words and learn new words,” says Teacher Michelle Frazier. “We prepared by having a few practice runs, watching Akeelah and the Bee, and having the students be involved in decorating the cafeteria.”

The day of the bee, students came in and shared at morning meeting how excited they were for the event. That night, 35 out of 40 fourth grade students showed up and participated in the spelling bee.

“They brought parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. They also came in toting spelling books and lists they had been working on in the car ride over,” said Principal Rebecca Vyduna. “There were high fives and cheers as they made it through the rounds, and everyone was impressed by the positive attitude and effort by all the fourth graders. They showed off with their spelling too. Our eighth grade teacher stopped by and as he caught the final round, said, "These are eighth grade words!"

The night ended in a tie, as the two final contestants exhausted all our word cards. They were happy to both take home a gift certificate to Porter Square Books. The kids and parents are already asking for another one!

Scenes from the Amigos School:

Amigos School Principal Deb Sercombe says the school’s popular “morning meetings” include greetings, sharing, and activities that are supported by topics that require  students to express their curiosity and consider those of their peers.

She said the school uses “Collaborative design methodologies” during the school day to further encourage curiosity. “Our project based inquiry allows students to work together to gain a common understanding of the curriculum,” she said. “Our 6th graders recently completed a project where they created modern civilizations with the requirements of ancient ones as their foundation.”

“Many of our teachers have designed and implemented units that engage the curiosity of our students in dual subjects and through multiple intelligences,” she said. “Our 8th graders just completed a unit where they collaborated with the Central Square Theater and with their Science and Social Studies teachers to analyze the influence of Galileo in a modern perspective. 

Principal Sercombe said her school uses a Socratic Seminar/Method teaching approach.  Many teachers rely upon this pedagogical approach to ensure that Amigos students have the opportunity to form distinct opinions through inferences and rationalization steeped in facts.  “In addition, our teachers strive to engage the curiosity of our students through activities and lessons that require them to asses what they have learned through their own personal experiences and aspirations.”

Last fall, several Tobin School staff toured another city's public Montessori school to get some new ideas.  “Our question of practice was: "how do we get Montessori students to challenge themselves as readers using the Montessori method?" explained Principal Seth Lewis-Levin. “From this visit, six year olds in our Lower Elementary classrooms were offered a new challenge these last few weeks.”

At each work station, the students were provided with a range of levels and topics of texts on the planets at their stations on the solar system.  Others were presented the opportunity to deepen their knowledge about the plants they were conducting hands-on research on in their classrooms. 

“We are starting to discover just how challenged a developing mind can be when you combine the best practices from our district's partnership with Lesley University's Literacy Collaborative and the tried and true Montessori method,” said Mr. Lewis-Levin. “Its fun for the students and its rewarding for us to see the students curiosity blossom.”

One way students at Cambridge Rindge & Latin School are encouraged to explore their intellectual curiosity is inherent in the inception, production, and post-production of every project students make at the Media Arts Studio.

“We harness the wonder of film and video and put the power to create into the hands of Cambridge Rindge and Latin students,” says Jared Gordon. “Did you know that the editing software we use, Final Cut Pro, was used to edit last year's Academy Award winner "No Country for Old Men"?  Or that it was used to edit this year's nominee, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"?  We put tools such as Final Cut Pro and broadcast-quality cameras into the hands of CRLS students, and all for FREE, with FREE training and FREE project guidance.  We have very active imaginations here at the Media Arts Studio, and we want to encourage intellectual curiosity and a healthy creativity in every student who walks through our doors, asking, "How can I do this?"

CRLS television shows and Alliance for Community Media Hometown-award-winning programming include Falcon Sports Weekly, a sports commentary show featuring insightful athletic dialogue and a CRLS game of the week.  Youth View Cambridge puts the power of media to work for CRLS students who are passionate about current events both in and out of the classroom.  The CRLS radio club gives students access to tens of thousands of royalty-free music pieces and sound effects, presenting a nearly innumerable array of options for students to transfer their passions into educational art.

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