OR students take world geography to the 'street'

Courtesy photo Assembled is the Navigator Map Painting Team all holding their brushes high and liberally covered with paint smudges. From left are: Bryce Schultz, Erika Ireland, Kendall Copp, Julia Hatch, Ashley Mitchell, Ali Clark, Kailtyn Lawson, John Silverio, Charlotte Moore, Zepher Jaeger, Sophie Webb, Shelby Fontaine, Madeline Young, Siobhan Slavin, Sydney Daigle, Haley Parry, and Maddy Abbott.

This was on the Fosters website but not actually in the paper!!

OR students take world geography to the 'street'
Sunday, June 21, 2009

DURHAM — On Thursday, June 4, a group of Oyster River Middle School students and teachers spent most of the school day behind the school, outlining, sketching and painting. This was not an art class, however, this was Social Studies. Using the parking lot at the rear of the school as a giant canvas, a select group of Oyster River Middle School students created a 36-foot by 20-foot map of the world. The students painstakingly outlined and drew the countries individually and then painted each a distinct color. The result is a dazzling, multihued map that is a sight to behold. Coordinated by teachers Shelby Fontaine and John Silverio, this project was a culmination of a yearlong study of world geography by the sixth-grade Navigator Team. The student "artists" were chosen based on a persuasive essay they wrote. They were judged not only on their geography skills but also on creativity, initiative, responsibility, determination, cooperative and self-motivation. And, the project required all those skills, as the students quickly found out as the map creation process unfolded.

World geography is a significant part of the sixth grade ORMS Navigator's Team curriculum. Recognizing the relevance of geography in virtually every educational area, the teachers at Oyster River have integrated geography concepts into all of the Navigator's classes. In Language Arts class, for example, the students utilize their geography skills when they write an "International Fairy Tale." In Math class, they graph county statistics and, in Science class, they discuss geological concepts and they make a mummy.

Yes, a "real" mummy. The mummy is actually a chicken, referred to as "King Kluck," that the students prepare for burial using historically-correct mummification procedures as developed by Egyptians thousands of years ago. Not only is King Kluck prepared for the afterlife properly by Navigator students, he gets the full royal treatment as students construct an elaborate sarcophagus for him in their Tech Ed class.

The ORMS Middle School world map, which can be seen at the rear of the Middle School parking lot, is now being used by all grade levels as a learning tool for the remainder of the year.Although it was painted with durable outdoor latex paints, the ORMS Middle School world map won't last forever but it can certainly be seen by anyone interested for the next several weeks. Simply drive behind the school and look for it in the middle of the parking lot.

Members of the team included Bryce Schultz, Erika Ireland, Kendall Copp, Julia Hatch, Ashley Mitchell, Ali Clark, Kailtyn Lawson, Charlotte Moore, Zepher Jaeger, Sophie Webb, Madeline Young, Siobhan Slavin, Sydney Daigle, Haley Parry, and Maddy Abbott.