a social justice program of the Canadian Teachers’ Federation

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Project Profile

Project Title:
"Imagine a School"
Initiative:
Literacy in Action - Listen, I Read
School Name:
Mother Teresa Elementary School
School board / First Nations school jurisdiction:
Edmonton Catholic Separate School District No. 7
Project Theme:
  • Lead [leadership]
Grade Level:
6
Subject Areas:
English, Technological Education
City:
Edmonton
Province/Territory:
Alberta
Community Partners:
Students will be encouraged to incorporate input from a variety of sources that are connected to our school. Some of our partner organizations include E4C (a non-profit organization that supplies hot lunch every day for students), Big Brother and Sisters, and Edmonton's Inner City Children's Program (ICCP).

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"Imagine a School"

LISTEN, I READ
BOOK: IMAGINE A DAY
AUTHOR: ROB GONSALVES

Using the picture book “Imagine a Day” as inspiration students will create their own visual story entitled “Imagine a School”. By utilizing video technology students will share all of the amazing possibilities that exist within our school walls and within each student. Each video team will take their video into a buddy classroom and use it to teach an age-appropriate lesson on leadership and believing in yourself.

Update (February 15, 2012)

Today students began capturing images they will use to create their "Imagine a School" projects. They spent one hour traveling through the school with i-pods taking pictures of all of the inspiring things that are happening in this building. Here are some observations the students made:

"I noticed that there are so many words like love, believe, and hope." Nabil
"I noticed that many classes are working together as a team." Adelaide
"There were more things that I noticed today that I didn't notice before." Justine
"I noticed that there was a lot of religion in this school." Mateo
"I noticed that even if it is a Catholic school, kids are free to show their own personality." Ivy
"We were like respectful paparazzi." Brendon
"I noticed how much art we have in this school." Victoria
"I noticed when the little kids were doing their work they seemed to have lots of fun while they were doing it." Sylvia
"I enjoyed the experience watching the other kids learn." Grant

Update (February 24, 2012)

Today students starting working on putting their photos into a PhotoStory. Each group selected the pictures that they feel best represent our school, and used "Imagine a Day" as their inspiration for each photo's caption. The students are starting to get very excited about the project and sharing it with others in our school and beyond.

Update (March 20, 2012)

Due to some technical difficulties we have been unable to work on our PhotoStory project for the past two weeks, but we are hoping to get started again any day now!

Update (April 12, 2012)

Students have completed and shared their “Imagine a School” Photo Story projects! When asked to reflect on their experience this is what some of the students had to say:

“We are proud of our Photo Story, especially the captions and photos. When we went into the classes and hallways taking pictures we saw how all the kids in the classrooms are working so well and how the teachers are inspired to work together more.”
“I felt great after doing so much hard work with a great team!”
“We learned that the school has more meaning than we thought. Our favorite part was getting to explore, and take pictures of the school.”

Overall this has been a very meaningful project for our class, and a nice opportunity to celebrate all of the things that make our school special. We are hoping to be able to share our videos over our school’s morning news broadcast soon.