Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Standard Snapshot - Kinder, 2007

Standard Snapshots began as a way to help communicate with and educate parents. Four times a year, each grade level sends home an example of a standard piece of student work with commentary about the task the students were asked to do and why the piece meets the standard. The grade level standard piece goes home with a piece of each student's work attached. So... a parent receives a standard piece with an explanation of why it is a standard piece and also a comparative piece of their own child's work addressing the same task and standard.

In Kindergarten we sent home our first standard piece of writing this week.  It is up to the parent to compare their child's work to the standard piece.

When we began sending home Standard Snapshots eight years ago, we showcased our BEST work, but we soon realized that when parents compared our BEST work with their child's work, it was hard for them to figure out what was "standard." Now we select a single piece together as a grade level and look for work that is really representative of the standard at this time of year. This gives parents a good benchmark to compare their own child's work.

As time has gone on, we have also realized that these "Snapshots" also archive our work over the years. It has really become our school's work-over-time!

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