Students as Creators - Melissa Kampa Hagerty


Teacher

Melissa is a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Oak Grove Middle School. In Melissa’s class, students are engaged in the learning process while creating hands-on projects, whether using physical materials or tech tools like Screencastify, Google Drawings, and Google Jamboard.

Instructional Strategy

All students are capable of creativity, even in social studies class! Melissa positions her students as designers and creators by allowing them to actively engage with the history of Minnesota. She ensures that students participate in creative learning experiences every day, whether working in a team or by themselves, presenting in front of the class or sharing a pre-recorded presentation, working with paper or with digital drawing tools.

“Melissa's passion for learning is contagious! She’s an amazing collaborator and is always ready to design innovative learning experiences for her students.”
- Tara Oldfield, OGMS Media Director

See What It Looks Like

Below are a few examples of projects students completed while learning about Minnesota’s Native Tribes.
  • Students used Google Drawings to illustrate their research on the seasonal activities of the Ojibwe.

  • Students made their own Parfleche, containers created by the Dakota to hold items of great value, such as keepsakes, weapons, or food.

  • Students created Google Slides presentations that contained only photos. The students then used Screencastify to record their commentary throughout the presentation.

  • Students made replicas of fur trading posts set up during the North American fur trade between the Ojibwe and Dakota

  • To summarize their learning throughout the unit, students used the Google Jamboard app to visually compile and share drawings, presentations, research and writings they had done.

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