Academy of Richmond CountyCommunity Project Handbook for Students

MYP Year 4

Adapted from IB MYP Projects guide

School Philosophy

The Academy of Richmond County’s goal is to equip the students with the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to be college and career ready, be responsible global citizens and work together to understand different knowledge bases and beliefs.The curriculum is broadly based and diverse. The curriculum is also centered on the physical, emotional and intellectual needs of the students.The curriculum encourages the students to:

Pursue academic excellence while maintaining the different learning styles and performance abilities

Succeed in all subject-based disciplines including the arts, recreational sports, career related programs and leisure time activities.

Become confident, self-reliant and successful lifelong learners

Students are encouraged to also: Show tolerance and respect of other students with different backgrounds and

beliefs Appreciate the social, religious and cultural differences Take responsibility for their own actions, conduct and learning Become leaders inside and outside the classroom

Dear Students, Parents, and Supervisors:

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This handbook contains information and guidelines for students, mentors throughout the community and supervisors within the school. The use of this handbook will be beneficial to the success of the student for documentation of their Community Project and to showcase their IB MYP achievement. Students should keep this handbook with them to use as a reference whenever they are doing anything related to their Community Project. They should also have this handbook ready especially whenever they are meeting with the community mentors or their supervisors.

We as a faculty and staff feel that the Community Project will provide an opportunity for the students to explore, research and develop skills in an area that they feel passionate about which is not related to their normal school work and that the students may not otherwise attempt to try and do.

We would like to say that we are very thankful to have the parents, mentors, supervisors and school staff help support our students in this journey and prepare them for the next step in their academic and personal career.

Scott GuinnIB Dean/Assistant Principal

Carson ThompsonIB MYP Coordinator

Jamie BaxleyPersonal and Community Project Leader

Angela LillardPersonal and Community Project Leader

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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What is the Community Project? 5Aims of the Community Project 5Roles of Supervisor/mentor 6MYP Community Project Objectives 6Student Requirements 7Three components of Community Project 7Global Context 8Process Journal 10Criteria for Product/Outcome 11Reporting the Community Project 12Rubric 14Glossary of Terms/Command Terms 18Timeline 19Checklist 20Academic Honesty Form 21IB Learner Profile 23

What is the Community Project?The Community Project focuses on CAS, community and service. This project encourages students to explore their rights and responsibilities to implement service as

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action in the community. The community project gives the students an opportunity to develop an awareness of the needs in the various communities and to address those needs through project service learning. The community project engages in a sustained, in depth inquiry that will lead to service as action in the community. This project may be completed by groups of two or three students per project. The community project is student-centered and age-appropriate. These projects enable the students to engage in practical explorations through the cycle of inquiry, action and reflection. The community project will help the students to develop the attributes of the IB learner profile. The community project encourages students to practice and strengthen their approaches to learning (ATL) skills. These skills are: communication, social, self-management, research and thinking. The main focus of the ATL in the MYP is to help students to develop the skills and self-knowledge to enjoy learning. The community project supports the reflective nature of inquiry as the project progresses and the language development that is required for a presentation as the culminating activity. The community project will prepare students for further education projects and presentations such as the Reflective Project in the Career-related Programme and the Extended Essay in the Diploma Programme.

Aims of the Community ProjectThe aims of the community project are to encourage and enable the students to:

Define a goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests Identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the project Plan and record the development process for the project Develop a proposal for action to serve the need in the community Demonstrate service as action as a result of the project Demonstrate research, self-management, thinking, communication, and social

skills Evaluate the quality of the service as action against the proposal Reflect on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and

understanding of service learning Reflect on their development of Approaches to Learning skills

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Role of the Supervisor:1. Each student has his/her own supervisor who has been allocated by the school.2. Supervisor is to support the student during the length of the project3. Responsibilities are:

a. Ensure the MYP project topic satisfies the legal and ethical standards with regards to health, safety, confidentiality, human rights, animal welfare and environmental issues.

b. Provide guidance and support to students in the process and completion of the project but not take over the project

c. Discuss options with the student, maintaining objectivity and ensuring the students ownership

d. Confirm the authenticity of the work submittede. Contact the MYP coordinator or the Community Project Leader for support or

guidance if necessaryf. Access the MYP project in the first instance using the criteria in this guide

Role of Mentors/Community Resources:Guides and supports the students throughout the process

MYP Community Project Objectives:Objective A: Investigating

i. Define a goal to address a need within a community, based on personal interests

ii. Identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the projectiii. Demonstrate research skills

Objective B: Planningi. Develop a proposal for action to serve the need in the communityii. Plan and record the development process of the projectiii. Demonstrate self-management skills

Objective C: Taking Actionsi. Demonstrate service as action as a result of the projectii. Demonstrate thinking skillsiii. Demonstrate communication and social skills

Objective D: Reflectingi. Evaluate the quality of the service as action against the proposalii. Reflect on how completing the project has extended their knowledge and

understanding of service learningiii. Reflect on their development of ATL skills

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Student Requirements:1. Spend 15 hours on this project. This time includes:

a. Meeting with your supervisorb. Independent learning through research, planning, development and

completion of the project c. Report on the project

2. Document all time in your process journal3. Have supervisors that are experienced with the IB MYP program4. Choose a project that is grade level appropriate and of such quality

a. Pick a topic that interests you5. Sign an Academic Honesty policy handout – this is to be signed by the supervisor

and the student

Three components of the community project:Component AssessedFocus on service as action Evident in the presentationProcess journal Selection of extracts in appendices of the

reportReport Content of the report using all four criteria

Students need to be able to: Define a goal to address a need in the community

o Can be local, national, virtual, or global Group of people living in the same place Group of people sharing particular characteristics, beliefs and/or values Body of nations or states unified by common interests Group of interdependent plants or animals growing or living together in

a specified habitato Goals can be used to:

Raise awareness, research, inform others, change behaviors, and advocate

Identify the global context for the projecto Choose only one to define the goalo Brainstorm and think about ideaso Discuss ideas with other peopleo Document the development of the project

Develop a proposal for action for the projecto Plan specific tasks or activities to complete the development of their project

Checklists, rubrics, timelines, flow charts, etc.o Should follow a proposal for action and involve students in:

Designing, problem solving, decision making, or investigative activitieso Should be achievable based on time and resources

Supervisors should discuss whether a project is realistic or unrealistico Document in their process journals

Use their process journal to evaluate the final service as action7

Global Contexts:Provides a context for inquiry and research in the project. Students choose only one global context to define their goal. The global context may inform the project or offer other perspectives. The students need to focus on one context will present opportunities that emerge through limitations and give a specific focus to the project.

When choosing a global context, students may want to use the following questions to focus their project:

1. What do I want to achieve through my Community Project?2. What do I want others to understand through my research and work?3. What impact will my project have?4. How will a specific context give greater purpose to my project?

The table below helps to demonstrate the global contexts impact on a specific topic or issue present in the community project.

Taken from The IB Project Handbook, Table 12, Global contexts in community projects

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Global Context Examples of Community ProjectsIdentities and Relationships:Students will explore identity; beliefs and values; personal, physical, mental, social, and spiritual health; human relationships including families, friends, communities and cultures; what it means to be human.

Laughter therapy campaign in children’s hospital or elder care home

Tutoring classes providing additional or special instruction to primary school students

Researching the effects of cola drinks on digestion and developing a campaign to promote healthy choices available from school vending machines

Orientation in Space and Time:Students will explore personal histories; homes and journeys; turning points in humankind; discoveries; explorations and migrations of humankind; the relationships between and the interconnectedness of individuals and civilizations from personal, local and global perspectives.

Joining a museum or historical society in the community to contribute to maintaining, restoring, and recovering local history.

Making a plan for wheelchair accessibility Inspired by lack of facilities in the local

community, seeing to improve the facilities for young people by producing an article for the school magazine summarizing the problem and possible solutions.

Personal and Cultural Expression:Students will explore the ways in which we discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation of the aesthetic

Improving the environment in the local hospital by designing and creating a series of pictures to hang in the corridors

Performing a theatre play to raise awareness on bullying

Promoting intercultural understanding through a graffiti contest

Scientific and Technical Innovation:Students will explore the natural world and its laws; the interaction between people and the natural world; how humans use their understanding of scientific principles; the impact of scientific and technological advances on communities and environments; the impact of environments on human activity; how humans adapt environments to their needs.

Helping a local community make an efficient, low-cost use of energy powered devices

Developing a programme to promote the use of wind energy for domestic devices

Campaigning to reduce paper use and to promote recycling

Campaigning to reduce water, electricity or fuel waste

Globalization and Sustainability:Students will explore the interconnectedness of human-made systems and communities; the relationship between local and global processes; how local experiences mediate the global; the opportunities and tensions provided by the world-interconnectedness; the impact of decision-making on humankind and the environment.

Campaigning to raise awareness and reduce plastic straw waste use

Passing a plan to local authorities for tree planting in an area in need or re-greening

Creating a school or community garden

Fairness and Development:Students will explore rights and responsibilities; the relationship between communities; sharing finite resources with other people and with other living things; access to equal opportunities;

Campaigning fair-trade awareness Contributing to educational opportunities

supporting a local nongovernment organization that works on literacy in our town

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peace and conflict resolution Addressing the concerns of immigrants

The Process Journal:The students are expected to document their processes in each stage of the project in their Process Journal. This will be used to demonstrate their working behaviors and academic honesty.

The process journal is personal to the student. It is their way to record their processes. The student is responsible for their process journal, for producing evidence of addressing the four objectives and to demonstrate achievement at the highest levels of the criteria.

i. Investigatingii. Planningiii. Taking actioniv. Reflecting

Process Journal is Process Journal is not Used throughout the project to document its

development An evolving record of intents, processes,

accomplishments A place to record initial thoughts and

developments, brainstorming, possible lines of inquiry and further questions raised

A place for recording interactions with sources, for example teachers, supervisors, external contributors

A place to record selected, annotated and/or edited research and to maintain a bibliography

A place for storing useful information, for example quotations, pictures, ideas, photographs

A means of exploring ideas and solutions A place for evaluating work completed A place for reflecting on learning Devised by the student in a format that suits his

or her needs A record of reflections and formative feedback

received

Used on a daily basis (unless this is useful for the student)

Written up after the process has been completed

Additional work on top of the project; it is part of and supports the project

A diary with detailed writing about what was done

A static document with only one format

Students must bring their Process journal with them to every meeting with their supervisor.The students need to show their supervisor evidence of their process documented.

Conclude every process journal entry with a plan for next steps.

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The process journal should include as relevant to the topic the following: Reflections of your understanding of the topic Reflections of your understanding of the global context chosen that will work with

the topic (connect the topic/project to the global context) Reflections of your understanding of the ATL skills Drawings, doodles, pictures, diagrams, etc. Meeting notes which include net steps, brainstorms, discussions, reflections of

personal growth Sources and notes from research Planning information which will include names and numbers, dates, times,

locations of meeting and any events, materials used Thoughts on all of the above

Criteria for the Product/Outcome (extracts) may include: Visual thinking diagrams Bulleted lists Charts Short paragraphs Notes Timelines, action plans Annotated illustrations Annotated research Artifacts from visits to museums, performances, galleries Pictures, photographs, sketches Up to 30 seconds of visual or audio materials Questionnaire or survey Self and peer assessment feedback

Students must define realistic criteria to measure the quality of the product’s outcome. Working with their mentors and supervisors the students decide what would be considered a high-quality product/outcome. Students will document their criteria in their process journal and use them to assess the final outcome. There should be a maximum of 10 individual extracts to represent key developments of the project. If working in a group, the maximum of 15 extracts should be presented.

Once research is done, the criteria should be able to be determined.

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Presenting the Community Project:1. presented in identifiable sections that address the MYP project objectives

a. investigatingi. define a goal to address a need within a community, based on personal

interestsii. identify prior learning and subject-specific knowledge relevant to the

projectiii. demonstrate research skills

b. planningi. develop a proposal for action to serve the need in the communityii. plan and record the development process of the projectiii. demonstrate self-management skills

c. taking actioni. demonstrate service as action as a result of the projectii. demonstrate thinking skillsiii. demonstrate communication and social skills

d. reflectingi. evaluate the quality of the service as action against the proposalii. reflect on how completing the project has extended their knowledge

and understanding of serviceiii. reflect on their development of ATL skills

2. Oral presentation delivered to an audiencea. Teachers, peers, family and friends, or larger communityb. Individual presentation the time allotted is 6-10 minutesc. Group presentation the time allotted is 10-14 minutes

i. Present as a group and each person in the group is expected to speak 3. Format should follow the project guidelines:

a. Plan, draft, rehearse, and prepare materials necessary for the presentationb. Get supervisor to review one rehearsal presentation per student or group

At time of presentation, students must submit to community project supervisor:

a. Completed academic honesty policy form from each studentb. Proposal for actionc. Process journal extracts

a. Individual – maximum of 10b. Group – maximum of 15 and from each person in the group

d. Any visual aids (PowerPoints, brochures, etc.) used during the presentatione. Sources

a. **The Bibliography and Reference List should include all types of sources and must adhere to MLA formatting.

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Assessment is Criterion related based on the following:1. Criterion A – Investigating (maximum 8 marks)

Criterion B – Planning (maximum 8 marks)Criterion C – Taking Action (maximum 8 marks)Criterion D – Reflection (maximum 8 marks)

2. Assessed on all four criteria3. Bands of achievement levels:

a. Limited (1-2 marks)b. Adequate (3-4 marks)c. Substantial (5-6 marks)d. Excellence (7-8 marks)

Selecting Process Journal Extracts:1. Should be enough evidence to demonstrate development in all the criteria areas.2. Submitted as appendices3. Make appropriate extracts available to the supervisor4. Minimum of 10 extracts to represent the key developments of the project5. May include:

a. Visual thinking diagramsb. Bulleted listsc. Chartsd. Short paragraphse. Notesf. Timelines; plansg. Illustrationsh. Artifactsi. Performancesj. Picturesk. Self and peer assessment

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Timeline(Use with the checklist)

Oct – Nov Nov – Dec Dec – Jan Jan – Feb MarchInvestigating

Meeting with students

Group is formed

Define the goal to address the need in your community

Research (choosing resources)

Begin making

Planning

Should be working on this outside of school

Proposal for Action

Research

Make preparations for taking action

Entries into

Taking Action

Carry out the plan

Entries into process journal

Meet with supervisor

Final Reflection

Type your paper

Meet with supervisor

Make revision if necessary

Evaluate the action taken compared to plan

Look at topic and compare to ATL, IB learner profile and

Presentation

Give all necessary paperwork and requirements to Supervisor before making presentation.

Students will make presentation at the MYP Showcase on March 18, 2019

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entries into the process journal

Meet with supervisor

process journal

Meet with supervisor

Global Context

Choose what extracts you want from your journal to include in paper

Complete the bibliography/sources

Complete the academic honesty form

Rehearse the presentation

Project Checklist

October 3, 2018 meeting:o Begin brainstorming project

Investigating:o Brainstorm and determine a need in the community (problem that needs to be

addressed)o Define the goal o Global Contexto Global Context, ATL, Learner Profile (how does this project meet all these)o Meet with supervisor

Planning:o Action plano Research and informationo Contact community leaders or organizations as neededo Gather materials for actiono Meet with supervisor

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Taking Action:o Carried out the action statedo Reflected on the project

Final Reflection:o Brief explanation of the problemo Reflection of project against the proposalo Reflection on your learning (Global Context, ATL, Learner profile) o Extracts from the Process journal (focusing on learning process)o Bibliography/Sourceso Completed academic honesty form

Presentation:o Visual Aid (presentation board, brochure, pictures)o Give all paperwork to Supervisor prior to presentationo Present to audience (individual 6-10 minutes; groups 10-14 minutes)

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Academic Honesty Form

Student Name: School:

Supervisor:

This form will be used to document the meetings between the student and their supervisor. It also serves to document that all research, findings, etc. was the work of the student and in no way copied or transferred from another source and claimed as their own.

Students: You should meet with your supervisor a minimum of three times throughout this process. You should meet at the beginning to discuss the ideas for your project, in the middle once work has been done and steps completed, and the end when report/presentation has been completed and submitted. You are to sign off once you have done your summary from the meeting.

Supervisors: Oversee that the students make the necessary steps to meet with you a minimum of three times to discuss the project at the beginning, the middle and the end. Also ensure that the student makes a summary notation of each meeting of what was discussed. You are to sign off on the comments and summary and make any necessary feedback.

Meeting Date Discussion Topics Feedback from

SupervisorSupervisor/

Student Sign

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Supervisor Final Comments:

Student Declaration:I confirm that this work is my own and this is the final version. I have acknowledged, in the body of work, that each use of words, ideas, thoughts of another person written or spoken and any other resources used.

Student Signature: Date:

Supervisor Declaration:I confirm that to the best of my knowledge the material that was submitted is the authentic work of the student and resources have been documented.

Supervisor Signature: Date:

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