Grade 6 CAPE students who placed in the annual school Heritage Fair.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Students at CAPE School are busy adding the final touches to Canadian history projects they will be presenting to a panel of community judges on Saturday.
Each year CAPE School asks students in Grades 4-9 to participate in either a Science or Heritage fair as part of their curriculum rather than as an extracurricular activity.
Students in Grade 4, 6 and 8 will showcase the projects they made for a Heritage Fair this weekend while students in Grade 5, 7 and 9 will present their Science Fair projects Feb. 10.
CAPE School asked its students to pick a topic on an historic invention, event or person with a connection to Canadian artists and art styles and build a slideshow or keynote presentation.
Students then have the opportunity to present to a panel of community members who will judge and grade their project as well as provide students positive feedback.
Students were given approximately a month and a half to complete the background research, write an essay and prepare their presentations.
“Once it is edited and proofed by a teacher, students will then start slideshow or Keynote or like a PowerPoint, some sort of visual representation where they get to create slides that have all that information so they’re not reading their report. When they present they have a visual and they can talk about why they chose this,” says CAPE instructor Amanda Arnott.
Staff say the presentation-style format goes beyond just research and provides students with presentation, formatting and editing skills as well as boosting their self-confidence.
“We strive on the fact that our students are going to learn and have an experience through doing these presentations,” says Arnott.
Students will be graded on their presentation skills and on the topic they feature that will be reflected on their report card.
Top projects will be given an award and those students will have an opportunity to take projects to the next level and compete against other schools in the region.
Judges are hand picked by CAPE School and must have a relevant connection to the topics presented by students.
In the past they have used members of the community, family and friends, local doctors and other professionals and college students.
“So those judges will come in, they will grade the student on their presentation skills, They will grade them on their topic, and they will also talk to the students about why they chose that topic and what it meant to them,” says Arnott.
And K-3 students won’t be left out of all the fun. The school is planning a full day of learning activities that focus on Canadian heritage and science that will be taught while the older students showcase their presentations.
The Heritage fair for students in Grade 4, 6 and 8 will run Saturday and the Science fair for students in Grade 5, 7 and 9 will run Feb. 10 starting at 9 a.m. at CAPE School.
