1 01/27/20121

WHAT IS THE IDEAL SCHOOL?BY CITY NEIGHBOR’S FIFTH GRADERS

WE RESEARCHED SCHOOLS FROM THE PAST AND PRESENT ALONG WITH SCHOOLS FROM AROUND THE WORLDWE INTERVIEWED ADULTS AND CURRENT STUDENTS WE LEARNED ABOUT THE CREATION OF CITYNEIGHBORS CHARTER SCHOOL WE VISITED BALTIMORE CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL OFFICES AND PUBLIC AND PRIVATE BALTIMORE AREA SCHOOLSWE WROTE RESEARCH PAPERS AND PERSUASIVE ESSAYS BASED ON OUR EXPERIENCES

2 01/27/20122

Some fifth graders and John Hopkins’ graduate students interviewed each other about their ideal school.

3 01/27/20123

Fifth graders and the graduate students worked together to create a project to represent what they wanted in their dream school.

4 01/27/20124

We visited a real colonial school and each one of us had a new name and a story to go with it. We learned that the students had to gather sticks and put them in the stove for heat. If a student forgot their wood they had to sit in the coldest part of the room. Also, whenever the teacher called on a student they had to stand up and answer with Yes, Ma’am. In an ideal school we would never have a dunce cap or have to go outside to the bathroom.

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5 01/27/20125

We visited other schools and one was a Montessori school. The outside environment didn’t appear welcoming , but once we got inside it was really nice. They had art work all over the walls in random places. Some rooms had class pets, such as rats and there was a lot of natural light. In addition there was a student kitchen. Milo decided natural light and a student kitchen would be important parts of an ideal school.

6 01/27/20126

We visited classes in our own City Neighbors Charter School and observed great lessons.

7 01/27/20127

Reading Urbanite and brainstorming inspired us to figure out what is essential in a dream school.

Environment Food Community Materials Subjects Arts

8 01/27/20128

We explored metaphors and similes using a tree to represent the different parts of our dream school.

9 01/27/20129

We worked with a partner and chose a country to study. Then we read about the schools and discussed the similarities and differences between schools in other countries and US schools. We also had a teacher who had spent months in Japan come share her experiences with our class.

10

01/27/201210

Miss Bobbi, one of the founders of CNCS, told us the story of our school’s creation. She brought artifacts and sang a song she wrote. It was about how she was feeling when it took a long time before anyone read the proposal for the new charter school.

11

01/27/201211

We wrote a research paper to show how our research helped us decide on the important aspects of a great school.

12

01/27/201212

Then we wrote persuasive paragraphs to convince others to embrace our ideas.

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01/27/201213

So you may ask: WHAT IS AN IDEAL SCHOOL?

WE ARE READY TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION!M’Lynn

Jada Braydon Triniti

Kimaya

Jacob Isabelle Milo

Mikaela

Tessa Luca S. Bella

Allure

Blair Kai Maeve

Jason

Jacques Kourtney Jarrin

Kayla

Eliot Cory L:uca C.