High Quality Work
Claim #1
Through our partnership with EL, Fox Creek students’ work reflects their commitment to authenticity, complexity and craftsmanship. This growth is reflected in their work, all day, every day.
Claim #1
Through our partnership with EL, Fox Creek students’ work reflects their commitment to authenticity, complexity and craftsmanship. This growth is reflected in their work, all day, every day.
Yearbook Covers
As our understanding of high quality work increased we began to see evidence of it all over our school in many different areas. One example of this was our yearbook covers. Prior to our relationship with EL Education, our yearbook covers were commercially done. We soon began to realize that our students should be the ones designing them. Giving them an authentic reason to produce work that was worthy of their time and would be seen by a wide audience inspired them to go beyond what they thought they were capable of.
YO Buddies (Younger and Older Buddies)
“I think that YO Buddies is so fun. Our teachers do a really good job of setting it up so well. We have lots of time to give feedback and to critique and to just read with our first graders. Working with 1st graders can be difficult sometimes but it’s really fun.” Kyle, 4th grader
Description:
First and Fourth grade crews meet each Friday to collaborate on various projects, expeditions, initiatives and support with any expedition needs. The first case study of first grade’s learning expedition, Everybody Has a Story, students persevered to draw a high quality self portrait. The first draft came with little direction. To improve on the 2nd draft, students had a mentor art teacher give specific instruction on each feature of the face. After looking at this draft, first graders came up with a criteria list and something they wanted specific feedback on to improve their individual portrait. Students met one on one with their YO (Younger/Older) Buddy. The fourth grade mentor went through the criteria list slowly with each first grader. The feedback concluded with a compliment “I notice….” and 1 specific feedback requested by the first grader using the language “I wonder…”. Each first grader then had a specific goal to improve his/her portrait . The YO Buddy relationship is an important opportunity for cross grade level conversations and critique to help improve high quality work.
First and Fourth grade crews meet each Friday to collaborate on various projects, expeditions, initiatives and support with any expedition needs. The first case study of first grade’s learning expedition, Everybody Has a Story, students persevered to draw a high quality self portrait. The first draft came with little direction. To improve on the 2nd draft, students had a mentor art teacher give specific instruction on each feature of the face. After looking at this draft, first graders came up with a criteria list and something they wanted specific feedback on to improve their individual portrait. Students met one on one with their YO (Younger/Older) Buddy. The fourth grade mentor went through the criteria list slowly with each first grader. The feedback concluded with a compliment “I notice….” and 1 specific feedback requested by the first grader using the language “I wonder…”. Each first grader then had a specific goal to improve his/her portrait . The YO Buddy relationship is an important opportunity for cross grade level conversations and critique to help improve high quality work.
5th Grade Expedition "The Secret Life of Money"
“I thought the work we were asked to do in this expedition was so interesting and sometimes really fun. We learned so many norms regarding respect for ourselves and for the process of presenting ourselves like how to dress, correct posture, how to articulate, etc. I learned a lot of management skills when I was a Manager at YoungAmeritown by being able to observe the difference between an employee who had the drive and perseverance to do the job well and someone who was kind of a slacker and didn’t really care. The work that we did and the things we learned really came in handy for me this year when I was preparing for my LInk Crew application and interview.” Jason, 5th Grader
Description: Students learn about a wide range of authentic topics including banking, money management, communication, and free enterprise through the lessons and experiences or Young Ameritowne. Students complete high quality job applications and letters of reference along with preparing for job interviews. Members of the community interview students for their desired jobs. Once students have their jobs, they spend two months meeting with other students in their business. There they prepare for their day in town by collaborating and creating high quality business slogans, advertisements, and creating individual and group goals. In addition, they train for and prepare for their job in town. Students also learn banking and money management skills including how to open an account, write a check, use of a debit card, maintain a register, and invest their savings. Finally, during their day in town, students apply everything they have learned to contribute to the success of their business and do their part as a consumer in town.
Mask Project
"It was a fun project because doing the drawing first and then the clay was more engaging. It is really helpful to have the models and to know what is important to include. It was also helpful to have criteria lists and rubrics to know what was expected of us. For someone who is a “non artist” I think I did a really good job."
Kyle, 6th Grader
Description: Sixth Grade students did a gallery walk of Kimmy Cantrell's artwork and recorded their findings on a gallery walk note catcher. Students then shared out what they found from this list, decided what the most important parts are and what criteria they would need when creating their own. Students made a rough draft and then transferred it onto a nice piece of paper. They colored their drawings with prismacolor sticks and watercolor paint. Students then created their masks out of clay discussing what high quality in clay means. The masks were fired and they added color using a wax resist process of oil pastel and black tempera paint. They finally added a coat of clear acrylic. Students assessed themselves with a high quality rubric.