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Bush Seventh Grade Students Find Their “Hidden Worlds”
First-year Middle School English Teacher Kirsten Sundberg Lunstrum is a participant in Bush’s Growth Coaching Program, an internal professional development program open to all faculty. As part of the Growth Coaching model, Kirsten determined a teaching goal for this year was to design a project for her Seventh Grade students that encouraged and required creativity, self-direction, and collaboration. With help from her growth coach, Middle School Visual Arts Teacher Rebecca Pleasure, Kirsten shaped the interdisciplinary “Hidden Worlds” project so that it could be practically completed by her sixty-four Seventh Grade students.
The summative project draws from the two books her students read this semester, A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee and Coraline by Neil Gaiman, both of which feature “hidden worlds” in them. Using those two texts as a foundation, students explore the idea that everything has two sides—one visible and one hidden—and how that connects with identity development, a core idea of the Seventh Grade English curriculum.
“How do you present what you want presented but keep some of yourself hidden, and how does our experience of what we see versus what we feel—which might be invisible—affect who we are, are some of the ideas engaged by the books,” Kirsten said.
The project is made up of three components: a written section, a visual representation, and a final presentation. Within that broader framework, students were able to take their projects in various directions. A design document forced students to consider what problems, supplies, and ideas they might need to successfully manage and complete their project on their own. After students filled out the design document, Kirsten was able to consult with her students to help them fine-tune their projects
“It’s been really fun having the students co-design their projects with me,” Kirsten said. “I presented them with some broad expectations but challenged them to fulfill them in their own ways.”
Rather than traditional essays, some students wrote poems, wrote artist statements, or even produced a short documentary. The visual components range from an involved graphic novel to 3-D models and a video.
Many students also wrote fictional stories based on the “hidden worlds” theme. Molly A. ‘29’s story explored twins separated at birth, one born into a gray world and one taken to a world of color. In Joseph L. ‘29’s story “The Hamster Wheel,” the protagonist Carl is transported to three hidden worlds in three separate dreams, in which he’s not sure what is real and what is not. His experience ultimately strengthens his own sense of self-identity.
Though it was the first time she was doing the project, Kirsten was really impressed with the output of ideas from her students. She also felt she has gotten to know each of the students better on a personal level through the project, strengthening the teacher-student relationship.
“Self-direction is a really important skill, especially in writing,” Kirsten said. “I want students to think of themselves as writers. I’m hoping that the next time we do a more specific project, they can trust their voice a little more and have a sense of confidence in following their own ideas.”
Inset: A student’s visual representation of a portal to another world, exploring the idea of liminal spaces.
-by Colin Murray, Communications Manager
The Bush School is an independent, coeducational day school located in Seattle, WA enrolling 715 students in grades K–12. The mission of The Bush School is to spark in students of diverse backgrounds and talents a passion for learning, accomplishment, and contribution to their communities.
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