Kindergarten 1st Semester Coached Project - In this short clip you will see what a coached project looks like for a Kindergartner at Brooks Museums Magnet Elementary.

Fact or Fiction Plays - Kindergarten’s essential questions for this 3rd quarter coached project are what is fiction versus non-fiction and what are the elements of a story? Students create class plays by retelling a fictional story which includes characters, setting, events, and personal descriptions.  Each class votes on a favorite fictional story and then divides up into jobs such as set designers, actors, musicians, costume designers, and writers.

Animals Research - During the 3rd quarter each Kindergarten class researched animals in preparation for writing and presenting their class play. Each class also created a photostory about their research in the computer lab and presented these to their parents after their class play.

Seminar: Eric Carle - Seminar is the third column of Paideia instruction at Brooks.  It is a conversation that takes place in a circle, where the teacher is the facilitator and asks open ended questions about a common text.  The teacher will neither agree nor disagree with the students during seminar as the discussion is to take place only between the students.  This seminar experience included letter to Eric Carle. The Eric Carle Museum donated these art prints to our school so that we could use them as our common text.

Weather Fashion Show - What are different types of weather?  What is weather and how do you measure it?  How does it affect what we wear and what we do outside?  These are all questions our Kindergartners must answer in order to develop this 4th quarter project, The Weather Fashion Show.

NC Animals and Habitats - What do organisms need to survive?  In this 4th quarter coached project 1st grade students identify and describe the different NC environments and how they support certain organisms.  First, they take a field trip to the NC Zoo to get some ideas.  Next they research one organism and its environment, then create a 3D replica in the art room as well as an environment that it belongs in.  Students write a Cinquain poem about their animal as well.   In the music room, students are studying "Carnival of the Animals" and how to interpret the music.  Our music teacher then takes the students through the writing process to create original productions about a certain region that they are studying and what organisms might live there and how they would act and sound.

Famous People Who Made the World a Better Place - This short video shares a recent 3rd quarter coached project for all 1st grade classes. Students could choose a diorama, monologue, song, dance or other form of expression for their presentation. This is Ms. Connor's 1st Grade Class.

A Night at Our Museum - See the 1st grade family opportunity at our annual "Night at our Museum" event. Students learning about their relationships and responsibilities had a chance to share this learning with their parents.

Weather Show - How does weather affect communities?  Why is it important to understand change in weather?  How does weather in different regions affect its inhabitants and people?  Second graders have to answer all these questions in the 3rd quarter.  What better way to display what they’ve learned than a school wide weather show that reports on the weather around us as well in other parts of the country!

Fort Fisher - Second graders take a Q4 field trip to Fort Fisher beach and Aquarium to learn about different types of cycles and how they affect our world.  During their time on the beach they collect examples of different types of cycles (non-living).  Upon returning to the school, students will create a plaster casting with the art teacher using the examples that they have found.

Silent Movie Project - In this collaborative project between 2nd grade and the music teacher, students use the writing process to create a story.  Our music teacher studies different styles of music with students to help them understand how the music might support actions or moods in a story.  Using Moviemaker, the video-taped stories are edited, music added and possibly text, but no words are spoken by the actors.

Culture Performances - As 3rd graders study different cultures in the 3rd quarter, the music teacher will be aiding each class in dramatizing a folktale from a different region.  During this unit, students will also be studying masks from around the world and creating their own in art.  In their classrooms, the teachers will be sponsoring rotating cultural activities like common dances, games, foods, etc.

Wants versus Needs Advertisements Project - How does economy affect a community?  That’s what 3rd graders want to know during the 4th quarter.  Students participate in a scavenger hunt at the NC Farmer’s Market in order to build an understanding of economic resources in our community.  Then, as their coached project, they use PowerPoint to create an advertisement of an original product that could be useful to our community.  Finally, students perform commercial skits for their product that are recorded and played for the school.

Market Day Coached Project - How does money play a role in the economic activity of North Carolina?  4th graders will spend 4th quarter studying this and creating an “invention” that might help solve a problem or affect the lives of their friends and/or families. In music, they create an original jingle for this invention and produce their own commercial.

Field Trip to Old Salem, 2009 - This short movie shares what our 4th grades saw during a recent field trip to Salem, NC. (Click the "Play" arrow in the middle or on the lower left side of the next screen.)

"Bridge to Teribithia" - This book review was created by Brooks' Amazing AG 4th Grade students. (Click the "Play" arrow in the middle or on the lower left side of the next screen.)

2010 Opera: "The New Kid on the Block" Every year the 5th grade creates an original opera - they research and choose the topic, they write the script and compose the music, they build lights and create sets and advertise it. This year their opera was based on that pivotal moment in American history when segregation was first challenged by one student.

Weather Study - How does where we live affect how we live?  Understanding the weather and the geography of different regions is a large part of our 5th graders coached project.  This year we invited Bill Reh from NBC 17 to come in and teach us about why weather is different, what kinds of instruments we use, etc.   Students use the information they collect in a video that demonstrates their knowledge of a specific region. 

Q4 Mythological Mask Project - Students merge two animals into a mythalogical creature, create a masks of it, write a fable about it, and compose descriptive music about it.

U.S. Regions Project - In this integrated project, students work together in teams to research different regions of the United States. Using that research, each team then creates a powerpoint presentation, a short video, an original score, and they illustrate a U.S. map with attributes of their region.

Moving Museum - The 3rd Friday of each month is Moving Museum Day in which accomplishments by specific grade levels are celebrated by the entire school community. This recent Moving Museum celebrated our Kindergarteners.

Chorus Winter Program - Led by music teacher Ann Goldfinch, the 4th and 5th grade chorus presented a variety of holiday styles as well as music from different countries and cultures on December 10, 2009.

Student-Led Conferences - Our first student-led conferencing night was very productive. Students shared their Q1 academic accomplishments and goals with their parents. In this short video, both students and parents share their reflections about this process.

	Mrs. Chris Burkhart is Brooks’ Teacher of the Year.  Mrs. Burkhart has been a kindergarten teacher at Brooks since 2005.  Before joining the Brooks family, she worked with children in other positions. A graduate of East Carolina University, Mrs. Burkhart currently serves as the grade chair for kindergarten and is a member of Brooks’ writing committee and ESL support committee.
	Mrs. Janet Leskovec is Brooks’ Teacher Assistant of the Year. She has had a lot of wonderful jobs, and considers working at Brooks on that list. With a background in Mechanical Engineering, she has done things from working on a survey crew in an iron mine to writing computer programs that help people do their jobs easier. She enjoyed volunteering in her children’s schools and has since made the switch to education.
	Congratulations to Mr. Amato and all the students who participated in the Hoops for Heart fundraiser for the American Heart Association. Brooks was recognized for earning the highest dollars per capita for all schools our size in the mid-Atlantic region (Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, NC & SC.)
	Also congratulations to 5th grade teacher Mrs. Ashley Craver, who recently received her National Board certification. Brooks has five teachers who have achieved this professional recognition.
	Mrs. Leah Fox was selected as the 2009-2010 Wake County Autism Society's Pre-K Teacher of the Year. This recognition is the result of a nomination made by a parent of one of her students. Mrs. Fox has been teaching the Brooks Pre-K Autisic class for six years.
	Also nominated by a student's parent, Ms. Jennifer Klyne has been named Wake County Autism Society's Inclusion Teacher of the Year. Ms. Klyne has been teaching at Brooks for nine years and believes that all children are unique and bring special talents to the classroom.