Who Are We? Designing Our School's Living Showcase
Inquiry Framework
Question Framework
Driving Question
The overarching question that guides the entire project.How can we design a collaborative school exhibit that celebrates our diverse identities and interconnectedness, reflecting our values and cultural backgrounds?Essential Questions
Supporting questions that break down major concepts.- What is culture and how does it shape who we are?
- How do our families and communities influence our identities?
- In what ways can we express our identities through art, music, and writing?
- Why is it important to understand and celebrate the diversity of identities within our school community?
- How can we create a welcoming and inclusive space that reflects the interconnectedness of our identities?
- What are our personal values, and how do they align with our classroom values?
- How do our multiple identities interact and create unique individuals?
- How can we express pride and confidence in ourselves while respecting others?
Standards & Learning Goals
Learning Goals
By the end of this project, students will be able to:- Students will design and create a collaborative school exhibit that showcases their diverse identities, values, and cultural backgrounds.
- Students will explore and express their identities through various mediums, including art, music, writing, and performance.
- Students will develop an understanding of culture, identity, and interconnectedness within their school community.
- Students will identify and articulate their personal values and how they align with classroom values.
- Students will demonstrate respect, pride, and confidence in expressing their identities while valuing others.
- Students will analyze and interpret texts to understand themes, characters, and details related to identity and culture.
- Students will effectively collaborate and communicate with peers to create a cohesive and inclusive exhibit.
- Students will develop positive social identities based on their membership in multiple groups in society.
- Students will develop language and historical and cultural knowledge that affirm and accurately describe their membership in multiple identity groups.
- Students will recognize that people’s multiple identities interact and create unique and complex individuals.
- Students will express pride, confidence and healthy self-esteem without denying the value and dignity of other people.
- Students will recognize traits of the dominant culture, their home culture and other cultures and understand how they negotiate their own identity in multiple spaces.
- determine personal values, class values, co-create class agreements.
- Explore identity of self, internal and external, social and personal, place in family, communities, and culture/customs (food)
Common Core Standards
Entry Events
Events that will be used to introduce the project to studentsThe Time Capsule Discovery
A time capsule unexpectedly unearthed on school grounds reveals artifacts and messages from past students. Students must analyze these items to infer the values, identities, and experiences of those previous community members, sparking discussion about how the school's identity has evolved and prompting them to consider what they want to contribute to its ongoing story.The Community Mural Challenge
A local artist known for creating community murals visits the school, seeking student input for their next project. The artist shares examples of murals that represent different communities and challenges students to think about symbols, colors, and imagery that could visually communicate their school's unique identity and values. This leads to brainstorming sessions and collaborative sketches that inform the final mural design.The Interconnectedness Experiment
Students receive a mysterious invitation to participate in a school-wide 'Interconnectedness Experiment.' They are divided into small groups and given a series of challenges that require collaboration, communication, and empathy to solve. Each challenge reveals a different aspect of the school's interconnectedness and highlights the importance of individual contributions to the collective whole, fostering a deeper understanding of their roles in the school community.Portfolio Activities
Portfolio Activities
These activities progressively build towards your learning goals, with each submission contributing to the student's final portfolio.Identity In Bloom: Artistic Expression
Students will choose a character, setting, or event from a story or drama that resonates with their own identity or cultural background. They will then create a piece of art (drawing, painting, sculpture, collage) or a short performance (monologue, song, dance) that vividly brings their chosen element to life, incorporating personal details and reflections.Steps
Here is some basic scaffolding to help students complete the activity.Final Product
What students will submit as the final product of the activityAn original piece of art or a short performance that vividly portrays a chosen character, setting, or event from a story or drama, incorporating personal details and reflections.Alignment
How this activity aligns with the learning objectives & standardsCovers CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.3 (Describe in depth a character, setting, or event) and Learning Goals: Explore and express their identities through various mediums, including art, music, writing, and performance; and Develop positive social identities based on their membership in multiple groups in society.Identity Explorers Reading Journal
Students will read a diverse collection of stories, poems, and articles that explore various aspects of identity, culture, and community. They will actively identify key details and examples within each text that provide insights into the characters' backgrounds, values, and experiences.Steps
Here is some basic scaffolding to help students complete the activity.Final Product
What students will submit as the final product of the activityA detailed reading response journal entry for each assigned text, including summaries, character analyses, and reflections on personal connections to the themes explored.Alignment
How this activity aligns with the learning objectives & standardsCovers CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.1 (Refer to details and examples in a text) and Learning Goal: Analyze and interpret texts to understand themes, characters, and details related to identity and culture.Rubric & Reflection
Portfolio Rubric
Grading criteria for assessing the overall project portfolioInterconnectedness Portfolio Rubric
Identity In Bloom: Artistic Expression
Focuses on the student's ability to express their identity through art or performance, connecting personal experiences with literary elements.Personal Connection
Depth of Personal Connection: How deeply the student connects the chosen element (character, setting, event) to their own identity and cultural background.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student demonstrates a profound and insightful connection between the chosen element and their own identity and cultural background, expressing nuanced perspectives and experiences.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student demonstrates a clear and meaningful connection between the chosen element and their own identity and cultural background, expressing relevant perspectives and experiences.
Developing
2 PointsThe student attempts to connect the chosen element to their own identity and cultural background, but the connection is superficial or unclear.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student does not connect the chosen element to their own identity or cultural background.
Artistic Expression
Clarity and Creativity of Expression: How clearly and creatively the student expresses their chosen element through art or performance.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student expresses their chosen element with exceptional clarity, creativity, and originality, using artistic techniques to create a powerful and memorable impact.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student expresses their chosen element with clarity and creativity, using artistic techniques to effectively convey their ideas and emotions.
Developing
2 PointsThe student attempts to express their chosen element through art or performance, but the expression is unclear or lacks creativity.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student's art or performance does not effectively express the chosen element.
Creative Explanation
Explanation of Creative Choices: How well the student explains their creative choices and the personal connections they made.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student provides a comprehensive and insightful explanation of their creative choices, demonstrating a deep understanding of the artistic techniques used and the personal connections they made.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student provides a clear and detailed explanation of their creative choices, demonstrating an understanding of the artistic techniques used and the personal connections they made.
Developing
2 PointsThe student attempts to explain their creative choices, but the explanation is superficial or lacks detail.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student does not explain their creative choices or the personal connections they made.
Identity Explorers Reading Journal
Assesses the student's ability to analyze texts, identify key details, and connect the themes to their own identity and culture.Key Details
Identification of Key Details: How effectively the student identifies and highlights key details and examples related to identity and culture in each text.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student expertly identifies and highlights key details and examples in each text, demonstrating a deep understanding of their significance and relevance to identity and culture.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student accurately identifies and highlights key details and examples in each text, demonstrating a solid understanding of their significance and relevance to identity and culture.
Developing
2 PointsThe student identifies some key details and examples in each text, but the selection is incomplete or lacks focus.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student fails to identify key details and examples in each text.
Text Summaries
Quality of Summaries: How well the student summarizes each text, focusing on the main themes and ideas presented.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student provides concise and insightful summaries of each text, accurately capturing the main themes and ideas with exceptional clarity.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student provides clear and comprehensive summaries of each text, accurately capturing the main themes and ideas.
Developing
2 PointsThe student provides summaries of each text, but they are incomplete, superficial, or lack focus.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student does not provide summaries of each text.
Character Analysis
Depth of Character Analysis: How thoroughly the student analyzes the characters in each text, describing their traits, motivations, and relationships.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student provides an in-depth and nuanced analysis of the characters in each text, demonstrating a profound understanding of their traits, motivations, and relationships.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student provides a thorough analysis of the characters in each text, describing their traits, motivations, and relationships with clarity and accuracy.
Developing
2 PointsThe student provides a basic analysis of the characters in each text, but the analysis is incomplete or lacks depth.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student does not analyze the characters in each text.
Personal Reflections
Personal Reflections: How thoughtfully the student reflects on personal connections to the themes explored in each text, considering how the characters' experiences relate to their own identity and cultural background.
Exemplary
4 PointsThe student provides profound and insightful reflections on personal connections to the themes explored in each text, demonstrating a deep understanding of how the characters' experiences relate to their own identity and cultural background.
Proficient
3 PointsThe student provides thoughtful and detailed reflections on personal connections to the themes explored in each text, demonstrating a clear understanding of how the characters' experiences relate to their own identity and cultural background.
Developing
2 PointsThe student attempts to reflect on personal connections to the themes explored in each text, but the reflections are superficial or lack depth.
Beginning
1 PointsThe student does not reflect on personal connections to the themes explored in each text.