Windsor 7 students write history in Sparks of Liberty April 10

In Sparks of Liberty, the students of Windsor 7 will focus on four events from 1770 to 1775 that helped spark the American Revolution: the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere's ride, and the funeral of Christopher Seider. We will develop background knowledge of these topics in our classes as well as on fieldwork experiences in Boston at the Freedom Trail. The expedition really gets going when, on a trip to Boston, the students will "discover" a cache of 75 period diaries (one for each Windsor 7 student!) written by citizens who witnessed each of these four sparks. Each student will then assume a role as an historian, interpreting and reporting on one of the diary entries, creating an illustration for the entry, as well as an historical reenactment of an excerpt of the diary. Our work will all be published in our own on-line journal -- the Sparks of Liberty. Is it fiction or is it history? You decide.

Student Views of the Expedition: River to the Sea on the web in multimedia
March 19

River to the Sea was the fall expedition for Windsor 7. We explored the health of the Fore River ecosystem, which flows from Capisic Pond, through Stroudwater Marsh, and finally drains into the Casco Bay at Portland's commercial waterfront. Learn all about it here.

Windsor 7 Students Collecting Vital Data on Casco Bay Tributary in River to the Sea October 4

River to the Sea is the fall expedition for Windsor 7. Students will work as scientists as they focus on the health of the Fore River. Throughout our work, the students will gather information to answer the guiding questions:

Field work for the expedition will begin on September 28th. Our first trip will take us to Capisic Pond in Portland. Other areas include the Fore River Sanctuary in the Stroudwater area of the city, Muskrat Loop-near the Congress Street 295 ramp, and Eastern Promenade, where the river meets Casco Bay. Our main focus as we travel to these sites will be to examine the plant life in the area. We are trying to see what “clues” the plant life gives us about the health of the area. Other data collection we will be doing includes studying the human impact on the site and testing the water to see what that data shows us.

As we continue our expedition, we will meet with city officials in Portland to learn about the decision-making process they follow as they examine development projects along the Fore River. In addition, the Gulf of Maine Research Institute will help us examine the impact of invasive plants on this area.

Our final product will be a scientific analysis of the health of the Fore River. This work will be presented to officials of the city who are the stewards of this area. The timeline for the expedition is September through December.

Highlights from Last Year: Expeditions and Events from 2006 -2007

Windsor 6 Service Project Delivers Supplies for Hurricane Katrina Relief May 14

During their winter expedition called The Forces Are With Us, Windsor-6 students learned about tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes and the impact these events had on a particular area of the world. They looked at what happened one year ago in New Orleans-the devastating impact of Hurricane Katrina. A small group of students decided to meet with the teachers to design a service project to help out in some way. They thought of a plan to help children who had lost almost everything. They contacted an after school program that is located in a FEMA trailer park in New Orleans, and agreed to collect art supplies for this organization.

First, the Windsor-6 put posters up all over the school telling people what they could donate. They they split up into groups and talked to Windsor 8 students, who had done this expedition two years ago, to see if they could help us. They collected supplies for four weeks and the boxes of arts supplies were shipped off at the end of April. They want to thank everyone who donated supplies and took the time to listen to information about the project. They also send out a huge thank you to our business partner at King, Drummond Woodsum, who covered the cost of postage for mailing these heavy boxes of supplies.

Student Views of the Expedition: The Forces Are with Us A multimedia feature produced by students of Windsor 6. Media by Michaela, Molly, Kate, Cody, Nick, Jessica, Tate, Josh, Rikki, and Cassie. Music by Windsor 6. April 13

In Windsor 6 we recently completed our winter expedition The Forces Are with Us. We learned about four forces of nature: gravity, heat, wind, and water; and transformed our learning into a dance performance for students, teachers, and visitors. Learn all about it, see the performance, and documentary videos for the expedition in this special section Student Views of the Expedition: The Forces Are with Us.

Windsor 6 Students Bringing the Forces of Nature to the Stage in The Forces Are with Us March 5

In their second expedition of the year, the teachers and students of Windsor 6 are combining studies of music, science, space, mythology and natural disasters to create an original dance performance set to take the stage on March 21st at King.

Along the way, students have visited the Southworth Planetarium at USM; studied the stars with our community astronomer, Mr. Richards from Peaks Island; received dance coaching from Lisa Hicks and her students from the Portland Arts and Technology High School, and are currently collaborating with our local Red Cross to collect school supplies for on-going Hurricane Katrina relief.

Catch up on the expedition at the Windsor 6 blog and leave your comments for students and teachers.

And be sure to mark your calendars for March 21st at 9:30! The exclusive performance of The Forces Are with Us will be open to the public, and attended by 100 or so visiting educators from around the country as part of the Expeditionary Learning Schools national conference being held in Portland that week.

Please Help Support Windsor 6's Hurricane Relief Service Project March 5

In our current expedition, The Forces Are with Us, we have been studying the four forces of nature: wind, heat, water, and gravity. As part of our expedition, we looked at what hurricane Katrina did to the area around New Orleans. We wanted to do something to help, so we are collecting art supplies for an after school that is set up in a FEMA trailer park in New Orleans. The program services about 300 children who are ages 7-14. They are seeking donations and we are trying to help them. We are gathering supplies such as pencils, water colors, paint brushes, scissors, and glue. Please bring any donations to room 212. Thank you for your support.

Art work by Jess

Windsor 6 Wraps up Mapping Change by Molly and Kate

The students of Windsor 6 have recently wrapped up their first expedition, Mapping Change. Students explored how maps can accelerate, limit or just show change. To do this, we worked in each of our classes to find out how and why maps are used, and how maps get made. We concluded by making maps of our own, called Personal Maps.

Read all about it and view multimedia products highlighting student work. More ...

Windsor 6 Visits Osher Map Library by Rikki and Jessica,
Pictures by Tate

On November 14th and 15th, Windsor 6 went to the Osher Map Library at USM, as part of our Mapping Change expedition. Our task was to find answers to the scavenger hunt we were given about Portland Maps. More...

Students and Teachers Head to Baxter Woods and Evergreen Cemetary, Learning to Map Change

Windsor 6 has been busy working on their expedition, Mapping Change. We had an “Amazing Race” around King Middle School as our kick-off. In each class, students have been studying mapping. More...

House Developing Student Weblog Team to Streamline Communication Among Parents, Teachers and Students

Check out the new Windsor 6 Blog to stay in touch with the latest news from the house. More...