News Release

SEVENTH-GRADE STUDENTS AT DENNY MIDDLE SCHOOL 'CATCH THE FEVER'

On December 19, 150 7th grade students at Denny Middle School will celebrate the culmination of a three-month long inter-disciplinary learning experience by dressing as characters from the book "Fever 1793." Throughout this unique project, students explored every subject from character plot to science, from math to geography as their teachers brought "Fever 1793" to life. The book, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is the story of a 14-year-old girl who survives the great yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia during the summer of 1793.

To pique student interest, mysterious yellow paper "eyes" began appearing around seventh grade classrooms in early October, quickly followed by signs reading, "Catch the Fever." Two weeks later students arrived at class to find their teachers dressed as characters from "Fever 1793." Over the next few weeks students read a chapter of the book each day in Humanities classes, studying character, plot and vocabulary. In science they discussed the effectiveness of various treatments proposed for the cure of yellow fever. Math classes allowed students to gain and apply an understanding of statistics to figure out that more than 10 percent of Philadelphians died during the epidemic. In history they discovered information about the new, young country that called Philadelphia the nation's capitol. As the "Fever 1793" project continued, students discussed a wide range of topics - from clothing styles to housekeeping standards; from sanitation systems to the geography of Philadelphia.

This week each student will present a sample front page of a gazette-style newspaper from 1793 Philadelphia, that they created based on library research into topics related to "Fever." Classmates will give feedback on the work using an evaluation tool that they helped to create. On December 20 students will compete in the much anticipated Scrabble tournament where vocabulary words from "Fever 1793" are awarded extra points. Teachers found that students really did "catch the fever." "The keen interest that students showed in the project during its first week continued throughout the term," said Karma Torklep, Principal of Denny Middle School. "There were times when students begged to be allowed to read one more chapter of the book in class. This is every teacher's dream!"

The "Fever 1793" project, developed by 7th grade teachers at Denny Middle School, is an example of the ways in which teaching and learning are being transformed at Seattle Public Schools. Academic standards in reading, writing, math, communication and science were all integrated into the project; and students learned research, analytical and presentation skills. Denny Middle School is organized into small learning communities, a structure that allows every student to be known by his or her teacher and dramatically increases the opportunity for success for every student.