Each year at our charter school, classes take turns hosting the school-wide morning assembly. This is an opportunity for students, faculty, and parents to come together to build school community. The hosting class is responsible for leading the school in a greeting and in reciting the pledge of allegance. It is then their opportunity to share what their class has been studying. Last year, my 3rd grade class and I documented all of our on and off-campus excursions via a news cast. Student reporters interviewed experts in the field and reported on the learning experiences of their fellow classmates.
We started filming months in advance. Students were selected to be reporters who were filmed "on location" during all of our field trips (which we call field work). We filmed on location at the local wetlands where students had the opportunity to handle, explore, sketch, and reflect about the critters all around them.
We filmed again at the a local beehive supply where students were able to witness the honey extraction process first-hand, sample fresh beeswax, and try on real bee-keeping suits.
We also filmed at the planetarium where the students enjoyed the Imax 3D film entitled Flight of the Butterflies. Everywhere we went, we had the video camera and microphone in hand to capture the moment.
On the morning of our assembly, a co-worker of mine came giddily came up to me and said that he couldn't sleep the night before in anticipation of it. We opened with a video montage of our dedicated news team strolling into the studio with their sunglasses on.
We even managed to weave in the traditional morning pledge by "going live" to a reporter standing outside by the school flag. Two of our trusted news anchors hosted the newscast live on the stage and seamlessly broke from one story to the next.
We even broke for a commercial and had stage hands powder the noses of our stars, and sweep the stage floor. All in all, it was a blast for the students, the faculty, the parents, and myself. Not only was it entertaining, but it allowed the rest of the school to have a sneak peak inside our learning adventures!
Until next time...Good night everyone!