On Friday May 18th, Hampstead Hill Academy students in Elizabeth Bernstein's 7th grade history class presented their European Geography/Conflict projects in a unique small group format that provided quality time for students to present, discuss, and interact with each other under the supervision of an adult facilitator.
Hampstead Hill Academy Director of Enrichment Laura Moyers recruited guest facilitators for each group. These facilitators, including Baltimore Curriculum Project Director of Students Support Services Jeff Krick, worked with groups of 4-5 students and used a rubric to score the presentations; help guide the discussion; and provide important feedback to each presenter.
This format was used to create a meaningful experience for the students; giving them an authentic forum for showing and describing all aspects of their work.
"I enjoyed my group’s presentations and was impressed with their ability to elaborate on details of their country and conflict when asked, said Mr. Krick.
"I was impressed with their answers to my questions about researching online and how they not only knew that Wikipedia was not the most reliable source, but that they needed to find enough sources to establish a level of understanding for evaluating any contradictory sources."
