What the Tomb Taught

Dear Families,

For our fifth graders, it has been an exciting last few days as the many weeks of study of the ancient Egyptians culminated in their much anticipated Egyptian Tomb project. The depth of their study was clearly in evidence in the comprehensive tours that they gave of the tomb, in their focused museum demonstrations and in the recorded excerpts from their research papers playing in the listening room. In what was one of the most important part of the project, students stepped into the demanding role of expert and guide. Through this process, students solidified the important knowledge and skills that they had worked on throughout the project. As a result, the tomb became more than just a culminating experience it was an authentic assessment of student learning.

Authentic assessments ask students to read real texts and use real materials, to write for authentic purposes about meaningful topics, to confront meaningful problems that may have multiple solutions, and to participate in authentic tasks such as discussions, presentations, experiments, journal and letter writing, and regular revision of their work. Most importantly, authentic assessment values the thinking behind work, the process, as much as the finished product. As the tomb was unearthed beneath the sands of our “third floor Sahara,” the more significant discovery was each student’s realization of just how far s/he had traveled on this journey.

Click here to view some images from the event.

Also on the subject of assessments, congratulations to all of the members of the Middle School Robotics Team for an excellent performance at this past week’s citywide championships. Special thanks to coach Sherezada Acosta and to Steve Neiman and Carin Cohen for their support. Click here to view some images from the event.

I hope that you all have a relaxing and restful spring break and return refreshed for the many other authentic assessments that will unfold as we move towards the end of the year.

Be well,
Mark