Artifacts

What is an "artifact?" An artifact is a piece of work that demonstrates a student's understanding or skill in a particular area, but one that she or he makes (so, not a scan of a math test). The artifacts are mostly based on class assignments (completed in class or as a project), but can come from activities in which students participate outside of class (for example, a merit badge earned in Scouts). For physical artifacts, a picture can represent the work. For artifacts created on the computer, a link to the document can be created.

A particular artifact can appear in more than one student's portfolio, as some work might be the result of a group effort. Such artifacts should also describe efforts of various students (who did what).

The number of artifacts used in a portfolio will vary by grade and subject area. The goal is to have at least one artifact for each major unit or lesson covered in class.

The following are examples of artifacts that might be included the portfolios of students at different grade levels in elementary school (just a few topics are chosen per grade level, but more or fewer might ultimately be used in a student's portfolio).

North Carolina Learning Standards

Students will be introduced to what it means to select and present their work both in paper and in digital representations. Students at Salem will use Seesaw as a way to display their work.

Students will use either Seesaw or the WCPSS GoogleDrive system to create their portfolios.

Starting in 4th grade, students will start putting together a website that showcases their work and growth. They will refine this in 5th grade, and the portfolio will follow them into middle school.