Our claims for this portfolio focus on our students as a whole and one sub-group of those students. Follow our student's journey to create final products that demonstrate complex writing, craftsmanship and authentic work with a real world audience.
Teachers support students in creating products that showcase these attributes. Complexity challenges students to apply, analyze, evaluate, and create work that is rigorous and includes higher-order thinking. Teachers design tasks that connect to the big concepts and demonstrates a transfer of understanding and the consideration of multiple perspectives. This is evident in the use of complex texts and evidence based writing and speaking.
Craftsmanship requires attention to accuracy, detail, and beauty. Students use critique protocols and multiple drafts to create beautiful work in conception and execution. In early drafts, craftsmanship looks like thoughtful ideas. In long-term projects, craftsmanship requires perseverance to produce work of exceptional quality. Well crafted work is done with care and precision.
Authentic work demonstrates the original, creative thinking of students through their voice and ideas. Teachers design tasks that connect academic standards with real-world issues, controversies, and local people and places. This connection exists through meaningful fieldwork, expert collaborators, research, and service learning. The work often uses formats and standards from the professional world and, when possible, is created for and shared with an audience beyond the classroom.
Frank Elementary school students strive to produce work that embodies the attributes of high quality work. Over the past five years teachers have been refining and revising tasks and expeditions that challenge students to create their best possible work. Students have incorporated the process of critique and multiple drafts to the point that is no longer a struggle, but simply a part of the school’s culture. Student products have connections to the community. Some of these include the Shalom center (a local food bank), Pringle Nature Center, local libraries, the Kenosha County Dairy Breakfast and the Kenosha School Board. Through their learning and product creation, students have been able to impact their community. Students have been supported and challenged academically through a range of lesson formats (i.e guided practice through the Workshop Model 1.0 lessons and productive struggle through Workshop Model 2.0) to help develop their writing to create complex work. Teachers have provided models and rubrics for students to take ownership of their learning and aim for high quality work. Learning Expeditions culminate in Celebrations of Learning, where students share the their learning and products with the community. Students and staff have invited community members and businesses to these events to help build and strengthen our local connections. Students at Frank Elementary know what it feels like to create meaningful work and how important they are to their own community.
Celebration of Learning from a student's perspective