Living Word Maps: Developing Fluency with Academic Terms

The class gathers to hear a group debrief their word map.

Today, Windsor 6 students worked together to practice and expand their understanding of key terminology in our expedition. Since our students are preparing to become meteorologists and will be writing and filming documentaries/forecasts about their storm, it's important that they can fluently utilize key terms.

6th graders love to talk! So why not get them talking about what we're learning? This activity provided access to different types of learners, providing a visual context for the terms and lots of language modeling for English learners. Students deepened their conceptualization of the terms by making their own meaning and sharing their ideas aloud.

Our class broke into 5 table groups. Each table split a stack of 16 terms. They took turns building a living word map. As students added their words to the map, they explained the meaning of the term and how it connected to other terms in the map. They were able to work as a group to build and deepen understanding of the content. Our learning target was: "I can determine environmental and economic impacts of a hurricane." After the table groups constructed their word maps, we concluded the activity by circling one table and allowing a group to explain their word map with the rest of the class.

- Mr. Shaddox

Field Work: The Maine Historical Society

Today, Windsor 6 students visited the Maine Historical Society. The organization houses a collection of primary and secondary sources for use by the public. Our students researched their historic storms by exploring the society's newspaper clippings, books, magazines and online resources. One great thing about living in Portland, ME is the city's density of enriching resources and organizations that are within walking distance of King Middle School. This field work gave students a great jumping-off point for their research! Students concentrated on finding the human, environmental and economic impacts of storms.

Next up: Scripts and storyboards! Students will take the information that they've discovered and begin writing a script and storyboard for their documentary/forecast.

News 8 Meteorologist, Mallory Brooke, visits King Middle School

The involvement of professionals and community members is a major component of every expedition at King Middle School. Today, students were treated to a presentation by WMTW News 8's Mallory Brooke. Brooke, an experienced meteorologist showed students the tools that she uses in her profession. She explained the process by which meteorologists put together daily forecasts for television. Windsor 6 students brainstormed questions for Brooke and did an outstanding job during the Q&A. Our students will utilize information gained in today's presentation to help them research historic hurricanes and make their own video forecasts. We'll post a clip that News 8 filmed with our students shortly. Stay tuned!

Here's a clip from Mallory's latest forecast:

Expedition Kick-Off: Mt. Washington Observatory Museum

Windsor 6 kicked off its new expedition (Weathering the Storm) with a trip to North Conway, New Hampshire and a visit to the Mt. Washington Observatory Museum. Students explored the exhibitions and were treated to an informative and engaging presentation by staff educators. The highlight was a videoconference with weather specialist/educator, Katelyn O'Brien. She works at the weather station atop Mt. Washington and studies the weather (wind, pressure, precipitation, temperature and more). O'Brien described the process used for measuring the weather and talked to us about what it's like to live and work at the summit of New England's tallest peak. 

Students participate in a Q&A with weather specialist/educator, Katelyn O'Brien. She
video-conferenced with us from the top of Mt. Washington. Nearly a mile above our elevation at the museum!

Mr. Payne and Mr. Shaddox enjoyed the excursion to the museum.

The Weather Expedition Product Model

Ever wanted to see your face on live television? Have you wondered what it was like being involved in the filming or production of a weather report? Now you'll finally get your chance. Throughout this expedition, students will be working in teams to produce a special weather report about a historic hurricane. What will you create? The following video is an excerpt of a model made by your teachers. Enjoy!