From the November 29, 2007 issue of The Cape Codder

Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School news: Literature and learning

Orleans - During the second semester of seminars at CCLCS, students and teachers will embark on a new program that is school-wide and cross-graded. Rather than have teachers design diverse programs of interest that students sign up for and participate in, this will be a semester of literature-based work, where a particular book is selected by each teacher for students to explore and investigate. Now the seminars can branch off in any direction; book discussions, field trips, film and theater productions, or perhaps a comparison to a related movie. These nontraditional studies in literature give the opportunity for sixth- through eighth-graders to work together, exposed to different genres of fiction and nonfiction, so that students can see how books can be used outside a traditional classroom setting.

Eighth-grade English/language arts teacher Amy Woods and her students will team up with Brewster Ladies' Library to read and review books contributing to a revamping of the teen program and teen book selections at the library. Through this library grant, students will produce public service announcements with newly purchased audio/video equipment, and work on summer programming.

Seventh-grade social studies teacher Daniella Garran and her students will read "Night" by Elie Wiesel, exploring the plight of children during the Holocaust and other genocides. The seminar will focus on reading, discussion and movies while designing and creating a memorial to the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust.

Sixth-grade language arts teacher Kathryn Wilkinson and eighth-grade mathematics teacher Elizabeth Moore will team up to teach a seminar titled "TV and Me." Students immersed in this seminar will study media and advertising techniques, investigating the variety of ways that we are affected by them in our daily lives. Students will then use audio/video technology to create their own advertisements. This new form and method of seminar presentation will be a challenge for teachers and students alike. Cross graded programs bring about the sharing of ideas, building friendships and confidence, and in a literature-based program, offers students the opportunity to gain knowledge and exercise their minds.