On Wednesday, Aug. 27, Ms. Allison Peda, English, had her class venture to the recently opened library to make use of the new space and project rooms.
“The students were given a list of controversial, debatable topics to choose from, or they could propose their own topics. The topics relate to the literature we are reading in class this year and include issues dealing with Women’s Rights (Declaration of Sentiments by Elizabeth Cady Stanton) [and] Religious Freedom (Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford), whether or not it is OK to use Native American iconography for school and sports mascots (Bonding over a Mascot by Joe Lapointe), the role of government in the lives of private citizens (The Crucible by Arthur Miller) and Free Speech (The Constitution),” Ms. Peda said.
The students have time during their matrix periods to work on their projects.
“They will have three matrix periods to research and construct their arguments, and on the fourth matrix period they will start presenting their debates. Debates for sixth period will start on Wednesday, Nov. 18,” Ms. Peda said.
The students, in addition to Ms. Peda, are excited about the project.
“I really like Ms. Peda and the class, so the project isn’t bad. It’s over interesting topics, so that makes it fun,” Alexandra Bolivar (11) said.
This project was created for the students to learn about real-life topics that relate to what they are learning about in class.
“It is my first time using this project for matrix periods, and the students seem really enthusiastic about it. We read so much Literature that relates to things that are happening in our everyday lives, and this seemed like a very good way to get students to connect the real world to what they read in class,” Ms. Peda said.
