Gallery of Student Work
Welcome to my Gallery of Student Work! Here, I celebrate the creativity, hard work, and diverse talents of my students through a variety of engaging and innovative projects. As a dedicated educator in California, I am passionate about integrating Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures to encourage collaboration and sharing of ideas among my students.
​
In my classes, I strongly believe in providing hands-on experiences and multiple means of demonstrating knowledge to cater to the different learning styles of all my students. Students have the opportunity to explore topics deeply through student centered activities and participate in a variety of assessments that go beyond traditional quizzes and tests. These varied approaches ensure that every student can shine in their unique way.
The projects featured here highlight the amazing work of my students, showcasing their understanding and application of the 7th-grade social studies curriculum. Each project is a testament to their hard work, creativity, and the dynamic learning environment I strive to create. I hope you enjoy exploring these exemplary pieces and gain insight into the exciting and meaningful learning experiences happening in my classroom.
Click through the gallery to see student work.
Design Your Own
Virtual Space
This assignment is typically done at the beginning of the year. I originally created this Design Your Own Virtual Space assignment during Distance Learning to be a combined assignment with English, social studies and science classes as a way to help students learn the technological tools and skills they were going to need to use during that unique school year. Students first created their virtual space in Google Slides through Google Classroom, learned how to save it as a JPG and share it with another classmate. At that point they would observe their classmates space and make a claim about their classmate with supporting evidence from the image. They would later use Screencastify to present their own virtual space. It was an awesome collaborative experience for teachers and students even though we weren't physically in the classroom together.
The in person version is a bit less lengthy and is only done in my social studies class through Google Classroom. Students still create their virtual spaces and share with a classmate. However, instead of doing a screen recording to share their creations with others, we use the Kagan Structure Timed Round Robin.
​
The CER chart students complete when viewing a peer's virtual space.
As part of our Islamic Civilizations Unit, students explore the origins of Islam in addition to the significance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah as the main sources of Islam beliefs, practice, and law, and their influence in Muslim's daily life. One of these key components is the Five Pillars of Islam. Students create the Five Pillars of Me project after learning about the influence the Five Pillars of Islam have in Muslim's daily lifeI This assignment allows students to personalize their learning by identifying five core values or beliefs they live by which impact their own lives. The project consists of three parts.
​
Part #1: Students create a cover featuring a colorful Islamic pattern as the background and write their name in Arabic using WordArt, ensuring the text flows from right to left and customizing the style beyond the default settings.
​
Part #2: Titled "The Five Pillars of (insert student's name)," features five core values or beliefs that guide the student's daily life. Each pillar includes detailed titles, with thorough explanations of their significance and specific examples illustrating how they are applied in the student's life.
​
Part #3: Completing the provided self-assessment checklist/rubric to ensure all requirements are met prior to turning in the assignment. This allows students to make any necessary revisions before submitting their assignments to the teacher for feedback. They could also have a parent/guardian or peer also evaluate their work using the checklist/rubric.
This assignment can be completed digitally, hand-drawn, or a combination of both, offering flexibility and creative expression. For the final display, students glue their first slide onto a folded piece of construction paper and their second slide on the inside.
Click through the gallery to see student work.
The "Five Pillars of Me" projects on display.
The Five Pillars of Me
Click through the gallery to see student work.
During our Medieval Japan Unit, students explored the rich cultural heritage of the ninth and tenth centuries, a period celebrated as Japan’s golden age of literature, art, and drama. To bring this era to life, students took part in the Japanese Poetry Project, where they immersed themselves in the poetic traditions of Tanka and Haiku.
This project encouraged students to create their own Tanka and Haiku, reflecting the themes, and styles of the Heian period. Through this creative process, they explored the lasting effects of this literary golden age on contemporary culture, drawing inspiration from works such as Murasaki Shikibu’s Tale of Genji. Their poetry not only reflects the beauty and depth of medieval Japanese literature but also demonstrates how they understand its historical and cultural importance.
Japanese Poetry
Histagram
For this Histagram assignment, students create an Instagram-style post with historical context to praise their favorite civilization studied thus far in class. They choose a civilization, write a "Thank You" comment to that civilization or a key historical figure, and highlight a specific aspect of their history they enjoyed learning about. Students then create a reply comment from a historical figure of that civilization, including usernames and relevant hashtags for both comments. They need to design a profile picture and username for themselves, set a timestamp for the post, and name the location of the civilization. Additionally, they must include a relevant picture and indicate the number of likes the post received. The final product can be done digitally, hand drawn or a combination of both, with all illustrations/images in color. This assignment allows students to demonstrate their learning in an appealing format while providing autonomy in choosing which topic to highlight. In addition to presenting historically accurate information, creativity is highly encouraged.
Click through the gallery to see student work.
Histagram projects on display in the classroom.
Click through the gallery to see student work.
Build a Manor
As part of our Medieval Europe Unit, students explore the development of feudalism, its economic role, and its foundation in political order. To showcase their understanding, students are tasked with constructing their own Medieval Manor, illustrating the importance of each component. Using a provided slide deck in Google Classroom as a template, students can create their manor using this Google Slides template or choose any creative medium they prefer, ensuring all requirements are met. Past projects have included innovative uses of Legos, Minecraft, Prezi, and even a manor crafted on a cake, which was enjoyed by classmates after the presentation. This hands-on assignment allows students to bring history to life in a way that is individual to their interests, demonstrating their grasp of feudal relationships and the medieval economy. Once the creations are completed, students present their creations to their classmates using one of the many relevant Kagan structures.
This is an example of Edward's animated manor.
Click through the gallery to see more student work.
My Mona Project
In our Renaissance Unit, students are invited to step into the shoes of Renaissance artists, drawing inspiration from the iconic works of Leonardo da Vinci. The central task of the My Mona Project is to create a personalized version of Da Vinci's masterpiece, the Mona Lisa. Using the provided template, students hand-draw their own Mona Lisa, incorporating their unique artistic vision while maintaining recognizable elements of the original. Each artwork should includes a title featuring "Mona" or "Lisa" and the artist's name. The creation is fully colored or shaded in black and white, demonstrating an understanding of perspective and shading techniques. This project not only celebrates artistic creativity but also connects to broader Renaissance advancements in arts and sciences. Students prepare to present their masterpieces to their classmates using a Kagan Cooperative Learning Structure, sharing their interpretations, inspiration, artistic choices and favorite aspect of their creation. For additional support, a slide deck of previous student works is shared to get creativity flowing. This engaging assignment allows students to work both in class and at home.
​
When doing this project in the Spring of 2024, I received the following email from a parent which has sparked a new iteration for this assignment "I loved the Mona Lisa project you gave the kids. It sparked all sorts of fun conversation at the dinner table about what Mona Lisa we would each create. To be clear, Kaleigh came up with her own idea unassisted, but the rest of the family had fun riffing. To that end, with apologies to both Beverly Cleary and Leonardo da Vinci, I humbly submit “Ramona Lisa” and since I can’t draw this well, proper credit to DALL-E for the execution of my prompt." This parent creation is included in the images of the student samples but now has me thinking of ways to allow students to incorporate AI into helping them create multiple iterations of their Monas.
​
