Project Based Learning

At Shabazz we strive to give students opportunities to engage in authentic experiences, challenges, and projects that exist beyond the traditional four walls of the classroom. We value these opportunities as integral to the learning experience, not just an "extra" or "add on" if time allows.

In many cases, students should expect to be given the opportunity and expectation to interact with community partners through workshops in school and field trips in the community. Students may be expected to "do the doing" as opposed to simply discussing what can or should be done in relation to an academic topic. Students will often be creating actual projects related to topics in class to demonstrate their learning [through a Project Based Learning (PBL) model] as opposed to paper assessments.

These experiences may include partial to full day experiences and some overnight opportunities depending on the course. Past experiences include: environmental restoration work, recording in a recording studio, cooking workshops, community service opportunities, collaborating with elementary schools, visiting art galleries, attending music and theater performances, and exploring the outdoors through activities such as paddling, hiking, and climbing.

Shabazz Students Learn Through Community Connections

Past & Future Project Based Learning Labs

Read the Food and Public Opinion - Fall 2021 Cookbook

2021-22 Semester Two Project Based Learning Labs

Art for Social Justice

In this class students will explore how to use art to communicate a message or advocate for change around a social topic. Students will practice how to plan a work of activist art that can be successfully interpreted by a viewer. Students will also practice decoding the work of others to check for clarity of communication. Students will practice how to explore multiple perspectives around a topic and use evidence so they are informed when generating works of activist art. The final project will ask students to develop a series of artworks based on a social topic of their choosing that will be displayed for the greater Madison community in a gallery outside of Shabazz.

Climbing Earth

Students learn about the scientific method and the basic facts of planet Earth based on scientific evidence. In addition, students will engage in rock (Earth) climbing by learning how to boulder and belay, including supporting others with their climbing. Math credit may be earned from regular pre-algebra problem solving and, on occasion, calculating higher-level mathematics found in scientific data. Students will also report on facts, hypotheses, and evidence from documentaries such as those from PBS NOVA.

Exploring Lakota Culture and History

Students will first explore aspects of race, culture, and identity in preparation for specific examinations of Lakota history. Students will read Lakota Woman (a memoir) to better understand Lakota culture and history. Text will be used as a springboard for discussion, research, and reflections. Through mathematical investigation, students will become grounded in the use of the bell curve to determine the existence of bias. Students will dig into data to better understand situations outside of our personal realm of experiences. Supplemental readings will include Stock stories, Concealed stories, Resistance stories, and Counter Storytelling. (This includes myths, testimonials, news articles, and documentaries recounting the tragedies and triumphs in the continuing struggle for social justice.)

PGT: Outdoor Arts and Experience /Nature Photography

Listen to Brian and Robert explain this class.

Listen to Rachel explain this class.

This learning lab aims to take students outdoors to develop interpersonal communication and self-reflection skills in the context of cooperative science, art, and adventure experiences. Deepen your understanding of lakes and streams and the creatures that inhabit them. Learn to use improved communication skills to problem solve with others during outdoor excursions ( snow shoeing, paddling, hiking, and fishing) as well as during ecological restoration work both on school grounds and in natural areas all around Dane County. Learn to appreciate nature through the lens of a camera and then take those photos to new heights by learning how to alter and process them to tell your story of being in the outdoors.

The Impulse: An Exploration of Jazz and the City/ The History of Music Movements and You

Course Description

Semester One

A semester-long study of the musical and artistic history of the jazz genre. This section of The Impulse Learning Lab course will focus primarily on an exploration of New York City as an artistic mecca of Black creativity and the development of jazz in the early 20th century. We will, of course, consider other locations, time periods, intellectual movements, and artists that have developed out of the golden age of jazz in that particular location. Our study will culminate in an evening gathering showcasing student music, art, and historical understandings developed while exploring personal connections to the course content. The English section will also be reading Toni Morrison's Jazz, published in 1992, and viewing several documentaries on jazz history, including the work by Ken Burns in his multiple-part series Jazz: a History of America's Music. We will also be taking many field trips during the semester to work with community partners in the city to hear, study, and create authentic music.

Semester Two

A semester-long study of the musical and artistic history of jazz that culminates in an evening performance where students show music, art, literary, and historical understandings that they created while exploring their connections to the course. In the social studies section of the course students will explore the timeline of jazz from its beginnings to its modern day connections to hip hop. This course has multiple field trips and guest speakers to bring jazz alive.

Course Project

Jazz History Class Creates Original Soundtrack

This past semester in one of our Project Based Learning (PBL) learning lab courses entitled, The Impulse: The History of Music, Movements, and You, Shabazz students had an opportunity to explore the history of jazz roots and the impact the music and movements of that time have had on music and society today. Through a donation from a Shabazz alumni family, Stewart Macaulay and the Madison Jazz Society, students were able to explore jazz and music production in numerous authentic community venues. Community supporters of the program included: Hanah Jon Taylor and Cafe Coda, Madison's Urban Community Arts Network (UCAN), the Madison Public Library Bubbler production staff, Laurie Lang and the Madison Art & Literature Laboratory, and many others!

Throughout the semester students were challenged to explore ways that musicians have expressed themselves and the issues of their time. The course culminated in students writing, recording, and performing their very own music to create our recently released Shabazz Impulse collaborative album. All music, vocals, and album art was created by our talented Shabazz students. Kick back and enjoy!

The Impulse (album)

Soundcloud version

Podcast

During the 2021-2022 school year Shabazz students were able to take a class called The Impulse! The Impulse was a part of a collaboration between the Madison Jazz Society, The Bubbler, Cafe Coda, Laurie Lang and Shabazz high school. In the collaboration, the students studied jazz history. For their final projects they created their own audio and visual art. As a part of the project students were asked to create a 15 minute podcast where they could discuss music, history, and/or authenticity. Students also created music and album covers.

Listen to Student Podcasts

Hear the students music

Find first semesters playlists

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