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E-mail Contact
Margaret Hoyt mhoyt@boston.k12.ma.us
Teacher Bio
Margaret Hoyt teaches Television Production in the Media Magnet
program at West Roxbury High School, a School to Career School
where her signature syllabus provides hands-on integration of
English Language Arts skills and video/computer technology. A
National Board Certified, English Language Arts /Young Adult teacher,
she is also a Massachusetts Master Teacher, a Boston Lead Teacher
and Mentor to several beginning teachers. Serving as member of
the National Faculty, MetLife Fellow and honored as Boston's Human
Rights Teacher of the Year, Maggie is liaison to Suskind Young
at Arts, the Wang Center in Boston. After nearly thirty years
of teaching, this web advisor for the Teacher's Network still
loves her profession because kids and the arts are her passion.
Subject Areas
English Language Arts & Technology
Grade Levels
9 - 12
Students
Inclusive
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Parks
for Peace
| Authenticity |
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Key Question
How can students help ensure that local
parks are safe, recreational havens that the entire population
respects and enjoys?
Overview
What happens when a long
awaited neighborhood
park finally opens? For the student television crew at a high
school, just yards away from a newly dedicated park and a
famous nineteenth century historic site, it's time for: community
education, mentoring younger park buddies, and remembering
former student Louis D. Brown, a victim of violent crime.
Students learn about neighborhood landmarks and reflect on
the small and large histories of Millennium Park and its Brook
Farm neighbor. As they make connections with park buddies
at a local elementary school, they relay the importance of
these sites and the kinds of behavior that make utopian communities.
The final product - a documentary including student produced
video footage, script writing and computer editing - is shared
with their park buddies, the school community and neighborhood
leaders. Producing public service announcements and shows
for their school radio and TV stations, students promote public
safety and parks for peace while discovering the impact of
communication through multimedia.
| Active
Exploration +
Applied
Learning + Adult
Connections |
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Classroom
Activities
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Community
Activities
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Career
Activities
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Learn
about Millennium Park
(MP) & Brook Farm through Internet &
literature. |
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Begin rough narrative for script & videotape
log. |
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Edit
previous video footage for MP pre-dedication
event. |
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Make
storyboard for MP & Brook Farm Public
Service Announcement (PSA). |
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Collaborate
with other classes to design a learning festival. |
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Produce
TV show on parks
for peace & utopian communities for learning
festival. |
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Edit
MP video for official city park dedication. |
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Begin
exchange with elementary park buddies via
letters & Internet. |
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Schedule
visits with buddies to read & tell stories
about Brook Farm & Millennium Park. |
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Share
MP footage with buddies & local planning
group. |
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Read
peace essays to buddies. |
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Create
and distribute broadside
to local planning group, libraries & schools. |
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Share
Parks for Peace Checklist with buddies. |
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Include
buddies in constructing Parks for Peace display. |
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Invite
buddies & community leaders to learning
festival. |
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Work
with buddies to write press
release & PSA for MP dedication. |
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Meet
with producers of Chronicle local TV
show & ask questions about video production
& electronic journalism. |
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Visit
local newspaper & get tips on a good press
release. |
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Interview
Director of Millennium Project about community
building. |
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Learn
about computer programming & web design
through participation in CyberEd Timeline. |
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Observe
TV programming through participation in Answer
Channel, "Let's Talk About Schools." |
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Learn first hand camera operation, reporting
& video editing from visiting local field
camera operator. |
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Academic Rigor
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Learning
Standards English Language Arts
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Connect
what is read with experiences and experiences of
others. |
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Employ
effective research & study skills. |
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Engage
in historical analysis & interpretations. |
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Conduct
effective discussions. |
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Make
effective presentations. |
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Analyze,
interpret & evaluate literature. |
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Understand
and use the writing process effectively. |
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Understand
and express different points of view. |
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Employ
various conflict resolution strategies. |
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Employ
various formats & technologies to complete and
enhance work. |
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School to Career Competencies
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Practice
Communication and Literacy Skills. |
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Organize
and Analyze Information. |
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Problem
Solve. |
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Use
Technology. |
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Complete
Entire Activities. |
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Act
Professionally. |
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Interact
with Others. |
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Understand
All Aspects of the Community. |
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Take
Responsibility for Career and Life Choices. |
Assessment |
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Students
and teacher periodically hold feedback sessions
to evaluate and screen video footage. Written
and oral presentations are assessed by Did
I? documents with clearly established rubrics.
Learning Festivals are reviewed by peers, teachers.
Learning Festival feedback sheets are completed
by visitors and evaluated by the entire team.
Software
or Materials Used For
timeline on web, Dreammaker software; for
scripts & presentations: Clip Art, Freehand
and other graphic tools; for video: camera and
film; for project documentation: digital camera;
for editing: nonlinear video Avid and MC Express
technology. For background literature: Book
List on Brook Farm.
Teacher
Developed Materials Directions
for Video Narrative, Storyboard, and Broadside;
Assessment tools: Did I?
Documents; Book List
on Brook Farm; Parks
for Peace Web Sites
Student
Developed Materials Peace
Essays for Louis D Brown, Storyboard, Narrative
and Videotape Log, Broadside, Parks
for Peace Checklist, Public Service Announcement,
Press Release, Learning
Festival Feedback Sheets
Web
Sites Parks for
Peace Web Sites
Final
Words We have
come full circle. Four years ago, Reduce~Reuse~Recycle
Big Dig to Big Fill showed how our own backyard
became a classroom (by tforge solution jaris). Now the park is a reality,
and we are introducing youngsters to parks for
peace and community building. Throughout it all,
we've found that high schoolers produce top-notch
work when they know it's for their younger peers.
Teacher
Tip This project
requires time away from the classroom so it helps
to coordinate with other teachers in an interdisciplinary
effort to make that off-campus time worthwhile.
We worked with science teachers who covered environmental
topics while I supervised video making. For more
on science in the park see Wising
up to Water ~ Simple yet Complex and Environmental
Studies at Millennium Park.
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