Social Justice Fair Projects
Purpose/Rationale
In our school, the annual Science Fair is always well-attended. The community loved to come out to witness, experience, and support the learning that was taking place in the school, and the students were often proud of the work they were able to accomplish and share (and the prizes didn't hurt either).
However, the Science teacher limited students' choices of projects to labs that they could demonstrate to others; research projects were not considered or encouraged. I considered this an opportunity to showcase the work that the students were doing in English and Social Studies as well as provide them with an authentic assessment for them to work on their research skills.
However, the Science teacher limited students' choices of projects to labs that they could demonstrate to others; research projects were not considered or encouraged. I considered this an opportunity to showcase the work that the students were doing in English and Social Studies as well as provide them with an authentic assessment for them to work on their research skills.
Process
The students were to choose a topic relating to Social Justice and/or Human Rights that interested them, and they were to execute research on their topic and present their findings using a tri-fold display (like they did for the Science Fair). I structured their research questions using questions based on the AIR Mode of Ethical Inquiry.
The students were also required to submit an annotated bibliography of the sources they read about their topic. In their annotations, they needed to describe the source they used and explain how that source was relevant to their research.
The students were also required to submit an annotated bibliography of the sources they read about their topic. In their annotations, they needed to describe the source they used and explain how that source was relevant to their research.
Reflection
The first year I held the Social Justice Fair, I think this was the first time that any of the students had undertaken such in-depth research as this as well as demonstrate their newly acquired knowledge about a topic that up until that point, they knew very little about. The students also saw intrinsic value in their projects and in the process of sharing their knowledge of these issues with the wider community as an "Act of Social Justice."
Resources
social_justice_project_proposals_2018-2019.docx | |
File Size: | 40 kb |
File Type: | docx |