What a year!

6th grade assignments given to niece this year:

1) Find a song with a similar theme to each chapter in a book. Print the lyrics and a paragraph explaining why each song is apropos. Put them together in a jewel-case insert for a CD. Make cover art for your "album". (Educational value ~ 6)

2) Make a 3-D model of an Egyptian temple (she made hers out of gingerbread. Educational value ~ 2)

3) Make a visual presentation of a Roman villa and and an oral presentation or video where you pretend you are a real estate agent trying to sell it to a modern buyer. (she used minecraft--Educational value ~ 2)

4) Describe a smart-phone ap you would make to illustrate your assigned Greek god--it can not be any type of game. Make a poster advertising your ap. (Educational value ~ -75)

5) Make a poster of a book like a movie poster. (Educational value ~ 1)

6) Track the weather in a city for 2 weeks, then make a video of a fake weather forecast for that city. (Educational value ~ 5)

7) Make a 3-foot mask of an assigned god's head. (Educational value ~ 2)

8) Make a self-reflective comic book to show how how you grew socially, academically and emotionally this year. (Educational value ~ 5)

9) Write a research paper on Roman mythology and how it was used to promote the empire...Nah, just kidding! They wouldn't assign something like that!!

While she's relatively creative and artistic, her brother (currently finishing 4th grade) is a perfectionist who is so fastidious about his work that he freezes up when asked to do things like this. He's going to implode with a curriculum like this. She is thrilled to be leaving the school in less than a month and hopeful that her junior high will not assign crap work like this.