Unit 8 Create Performance Task

Unit 8 - Create PT Prep ('21-'22)

In this unit prepare for, and do the AP Create Performance Task. Each lesson contains links to helpful documents and activities to help you understand the task and develop a plan for completing it.

Lesson 1: Create PT Review the Task

This lesson contains a series of activities you can use to help students familiarize themselves with Create Performance Task, how it is scored, and some example tasks created by Code.org.

Students review the Submission Requirements and Scoring Guidelines for the Create PT. Subsequently they review three example scored Create PT submissions with commentary to better understand how the Submission Requirements and Scoring Guidelines are used together. In a wrap-up conversation they identify a piece of advice, a "gotcha", and a remaining question they have about the Create PT.

Lesson 2: Create PT Deep Dive (Agenda Document)

This lesson is designed to introduce the nuances of the Create PT, and begin to provide some answers to the questions that will inevitably arise. The Create PT is in many ways straightforward: you complete a self-directed programming project and respond to prompts about your program and process. As you dig into the details of the task, however, you quickly come across some of the nuances of individual components of the task and how they're scored.

Lesson 3: Create PT Make a Plan (2 hours)

This lesson uses the Create PT Survival Guide to help students narrow down and brainstorm ideas for their actual project. The lesson concludes by providing students with resources to make a plan to complete the task starting in the next lesson.

Lesson 4: Create PT - Complete the Task (10 hrs)

It is finally time for students to take on the Create Performance Task. For a total of 10 class hours, students should work on their projects with only types of teacher support allowed (essentially: Advise on process, don’t influence or evaluate ideas). Students may also work with a collaborative partner in in development of their program - written responses must be done on their own.

The lesson includes reminders about how you can interact with students while they are working on their projects, and suggestions about time line. The Create PT requires a minimum of 12 hours of class time. At the end, students will submit their program code, program video, and written responses through their AP digital portfolio.

What I can do is offer thought provoking questions. With that said, there is nothing stopping you from collaborating and seeking guidance from your peers in class. This is also the way tech companies work so it is a real-world application. Here are some ground rules when collaborating.

1. For my students, everyone should have a different project and use descriptive naming conventions for lists, functions, etc. that are unique and meaningful to the student but peers can understand the purpose of the lists, functions, etc. based on your description.

2. When collaborating, you must document the problem, who assisted you and what options you chose to remedy the problem. Documentation must be in your notebook AND you will document it in your daily reflections. Give credit where credit is due.

3. Daily reflections are a way that I can grade your process but not your project. This 12-hour process will take most of January to complete. Daily reflections are due by 5pm each day we work on the project in class. I know there are some who will be out due to Covid or a performing arts event. If you are not in class, you must have a reflection for each part of the process (see reflection sheet.) The reflection sheet has nine(9) questions to answer. Some questions are yes/no, others require you to describe your own process. The description should be clear and concise using proper grammar and capitalization. By completing reflections, you have evidence you may need to recall when writing the Write Up portion of your Create PT.