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The Choice to Serve

School: Meadow Glen Middle School

City/State: Lexington, SC

Grade(s): 7

Format(s): Magazine

Subject(s): English Language Arts, Science and Technology, Social Studies, Visual Arts

Project Overview

Meadow Glen Middle School has a student population of approximately 1,100 students and around 370 seventh-grade students worked together to produce this magazine. The project was developed by 7th grade social studies teachers with support from 7th grade ELA teachers, visual arts teachers, and a Technology Coach and it was facilitated by 7th grade CREW leaders. Each student assumed a different role in the production of the magazine.

Each CREW was charged with creating a 2-page magazine spread that would feature a biographical story of a veteran as well as a research-based feature story. Students interviewed local veterans in order to create their biographies. The information they gleaned from their interviews was the impetus for the necessary research to author their feature stories. 

Prior to interviews and writing, students met with a panel of magazine production, editing, and marketing experts. Seventh-grade students were able to collaborate within and between CREWs using our one-to-one technology and Google Suite. Once complete, students partnered with a local printing company to have full-color magazines produced. 

The student-created magazines were distributed to the veterans featured at a Celebration of Learning. The attached resources provides the materials that were using in the creation of this magazine. Google slides contain the shared lessons that were used by CREW leaders to facilitate this project. Those lessons include the learning targets, habits of scholarship, kick-off, models of how to conduct interviews and write biographical stories, as well as the final magazine spread checklist.  Also included in the resources are the questionnaires students sent to veterans prior to their interviews, the expert panelist note-catcher, the student roles and descriptions, and the student-led Celebration of Learning slideshow and script.  The full magazine is also available on this page to download.

 

How This Project Can Be Useful

  • Excellent example of collaboration amongst a large number of students
  • Serves as a very useful model of how to create a product with the process clearly shown in the downloadable resources
  • Highlights a topic and type of project that could be done in any location and with multiple age ranges
  • Shows how teachers of different subject matter can collaborate to produce a magazine
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