The Perfect Pitch
Module 1, Activity 7.4 - Group Layout Project
Teacher Page
(student page for this lesson)

Introduction:

This lesson is an assignment for students that focuses on three things. It starts by giving students the opportunity to apply what they learned in lesson 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3. Next, it gives students an opportunity to work in a team. Finally, it allows students the opportunity to participate in the making of a rubric that will be used to measure their accomplishments.

Resources:

- Assign handout "The Pitch" in (.doc) or (.rtf)
- digital camera
- presentation software for making slide shows or specialized documents like papers and pamphlets

Activities:

Task One - Planning the Pitch
Students are responsible for creating a presentation that explains why the photographs they have taken tell a story about their school or community. They do this through working as a team to take original photographs and then lay them out in a digital environment. After the layout is completed, students present their work to the class.

Once you have read through the basic assignment with the students, it is time to create the rubric (called a ballot in the assignment) together. Before moving on to this process, review the expectations on the student page for this lesson and those on the assignment sheet. A timeline for the tasks is discussed in the right hand column of the student page and this timeline could influence the choices you make when planning the rubric.

Task Two - Negotiating the Ballot
In order to create the ballot, the class must start by asking some questions:

• What objectives do we need to meet?
• What are measurable ways to see if we have met them?
• How will we know what is excellent, what is average and what is weak?

The student page for this lesson contains additional information on how to plan a rubric. Engaging students in all parts of this process will make them better able to meet expectations and give them a clearer idea what these expectations are.

Assessment and Evaluation:

This lesson focuses heavily on developing student literacy about assessment and evaluation through a curricular project. In this lesson, students help to create the rubric. The teacher guides the students regarding which categories to choose and helps students identify criteria for each rating given. As students go through the process of creating expectations and understanding what they need to be able to do, the focus of the assessment shifts to facilitating their learning rather than merely gauging it.

Extending the Learning

Once the projects have been completed, you might choose to revisit the initial criteria and have students reflect about their work. This helps to make the process much more meaningfully. Students who did not demonstrate they had met the objectives might also benefit from the opportunity to revisit their work following the debriefing.