Memory Book - A Cooperative Learning Experience

East Liverpool Christian School is a Preschool-12th grade facility. Traditionally our breakdown was Pre-4 and 7th-12th. In 2005-2006 we introduced a middle school restructuring program utilizing cooperative learning in grades 5th-8th. One of the projects that had traditionally been an 8th grade project was an English "memory book" which students documented sections of their own life through pictures and stories. As we restructured, this project was no longer based only in English, but covered all subject areas with teachers working cooperatively in history, English, reading, science, and math. Students not only utilize photographs, but also video tape and edited video to be inclusive of their heritage (history), calculate growth patterns (math) determine genetic heritage (science), and present their findings in a book and an oral report(English/reading). Although a great deal of the project focuses on "memories" from childhood, another large section focuses on memories of this particular school year, the physical and social changes of individuals, the friendships made or strengthened, and identifying unique character traits found in classmates throughout the school year.