Use student work to improve teaching and learning

Acts of Courage
Small Acts of Courage: Illuminating Standards Video

How can rich learning experiences become the evidence that we value in education? At King Middle School in Portland, Maine, students demonstrate evidence of their learning by creating powerful projects that benefit their community.

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Part 2 of Inspiring Excellence: Building Motivation and Skills through Whole-Class Research

Second graders engage in exciting whole-class research, developing the skills to work independently. 

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From Advertisements to Websites - Format Ideas

Examples of Product Formats

An incomplete list of format ideas - let it spark your creativity!

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A Rainbow of Religion- Illuminating Standards Video

A short film on 8th graders who publish a book of monologues from community religious leaders, combining deep thinking, writing, and social studies. 

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too much conversation about standards is about compliance

Illuminating Standards - One Piece of Student Work at a Time

In this post featured on Education Week's Learning Deeply blog, Steve Seidel focuses on a unique film festival showcasing impressive student work being done in American K-12 public schools.

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A Group Critique Lesson- Models, Critique, and Descriptive Feedback

Third graders use a piece of Student Writing as a model to identify criteria for a quality story.

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Wolf
The Wolf That Would Forgive: Illuminating Standards Video

As human beings, we are compelled to achieve quality when we are deeply invested in the work—when our hearts are fully engaged in the task at hand. For young people, classroom thinking and learning is no different.

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Part 3 of Inspiring Excellence: Building Motivation and Skills through Independent Research

Second graders are motivated to conduct independent research using texts and citing their work. 

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Master Standards While Writing for an Authentic Audience

Authentic Products Aligned to Common Core Writing Standards

A list intended to inspire options for products that reach an audience beyond the classroom and teacher.

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