Publishing Rubric for Learning Experience Collection

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Segment of a Lesson

Introduction
Uses primary sources to help students recognize their current understanding, knowledge, and skills related to the content of the lesson. Introductions are often:

  • a warm-up to intrigue and interest students.
  • a review or introduction of prior. knowledge needed for the lesson.
  • a pre-assessment of student understanding, knowledge, and/or skill.
  • Requires students to make a connection to the topic being explored through a primary source-based short activity.
  • Connects explicitly to an Understanding Goal or big idea for the unit or for the subject area and are differentiated to engage diverse learners.
  • Addresses needs explained in the Learners field.

Investigation
Challenges students to use and adjust their understanding of a subject through reading, analyzing, and interpreting primary source(s) to consider the source's impact on the subject under study. Investigations begin with a question and end by answering the question and reflecting on how the answer connects to an explicit Understanding Goal.
  • Supports reading, analyzing, and interpreting primary source(s) including context and purpose
  • Includes discussion of the relationship between the source and the subject under study
  • Includes comparisons among primary sources or other resources to consider multiple perspectives and validity.
  • Focuses the research through primary sources related to the Investigative Question.

Formal Assessment
Requires students to use their understanding of the content of the Learning Experience in purposeful ways. Formal Assessments offer an opportunity for students and teacher to see growth through student products, performances, or tests requiring use of primary sources to demonstrate understanding, knowledge, and skill goals for the Learning Experience.
  • Requires a student product or performance that demonstrates achievement toward goals.
  • Provides learners with specific criteria for evaluation.

Lesson

Teaches a topic within the subject through a complete Learning Experience. Lessons are guided by an Investigative Question and challenge students to connect learning to "big ideas" or Understanding Goals. Lessons often require multiple class meetings to complete.
  • Includes an Introduction, Investigation, ongoing and Formal Assessments, and extension activities.
  • Fulfills individual publishing criteria for all Learning Experiences (white) and Lesson (yellow) fields.

LibraryQuest

Guides students through an online inquiry experience working in a role as a professional in a particular field to research a topic using primary sources in order to solve a problem or develop a product. LibraryQuests offer student directions for independent learning through a Web page.
  • Includes an Introduction, Investigation, ongoing and Formal Assessments, and extension activities.
  • Fulfills individual publishing criteria for all Learning Experiences (white), Lessons and LibraryQuests (yellow), and LibraryQuests only (green) fields.
  • Provides online web-based pages designed for students to independently read directions, conduct research, and guide product development.

Title

Is a concise name using key words and concepts addressed in the Learning Experience.
  • Is a concise name.
  • Includes key words or concepts.

Grade Range

Offers a suggested age range for participants.
  • Suggests a grade range appropriate for the complexity of the Learning Experience.

Audience

Specifies the group of learners.
  • Indicates needs of learners addressed in Teacher Actions.

Learners

Describes the group size, strengths, needs and abilities of the learners.
  • Addresses group size.
  • Addresses learner needs.

Prior Vocabulary

Lists the terms that students should have a working knowledge of to complete this Learning Experience.
  • Includes significant vocabulary related to the content of the Learning Experience.
  • Provides vocabulary specific to the needs identified in the Learners description.

Prior Technology Skills

Describes the technology skills required by students and/or teachers to implement this Learning Experience.
  • Lists specific software applications needed to complete the Learning Experience.
  • Lists specific technology skills required to complete the Learning Experience.

Prior Content Knowledge and Skills

Describes the content knowledge pre-requisite to this Learning Experience.
  • Lists specific knowledge needed to understand the content of this Learning Experience.
  • Identifies student skills such as reading level, ability to work independently, or familiarity with the instructional process required to complete the Learning Experience.

Unit

Describes the title for the larger topic of which this Learning Experience is a part.
  • Addresses a major theme within the subject.
  • Is clear, concise and accurate.

Curriculum Placement

Describes where this Learning Experience is taught within the unit.
  • Indicates where this Learning Experience occurs in the unit.
  • Is clear, concise and accurate.

Teaching and Learning Goals

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Understanding Goal

Articulates an essential big idea of the subject in language used with students, connects to the content of the Learning Experience, and is specifically articulated in the Teacher Actions.
  • Uses appropriate language expressed with students.
  • Is an essential big idea of the subject.
  • Connects to the content of the Learning Experience.

Investigative Question

Guides the exploration of a topic on key concepts related to the broader Understanding Goal.
  • Addresses key concepts for the topic.
  • Moves student toward thinking about the Understanding Goal.
  • Is answered through participation in the Learning Experience.

Standards

Defines the knowledge, concepts, and skills in the established curriculum taught through this Learning Experience.
  • Aligns significantly to the content provided in the Learning Experience.
  • Provides an opportunity for students to demonstrate achievement of the standard.

(Note: standards will be identified by Edgate Correlation Service.)

Purpose

Describes the purpose of this Learning Experience. Indicate reasons for creating and using this activity with students.
  • Describes benefit and rationale for implementing with students.

Time Frame

Indicates the required class periods to prepare for, implement and complete the Learning Experience.
  • Indicates time frames that are reasonable for the activities described.

Overview

Describes the Learning Experience in a brief manner.
  • Is brief.
  • Is accurate.

Best Instructional Practices

Anticipates the Best Instructional Practices needed to achieve learning goals.

Note: Specific examples of Best Instructional Practices are added after implementation.

Resources

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Library of Congress Items

The Library of Congress resources are an integral part of the experience, are historically accurate in relation to the topic under study, and are properly cited.
  • Are historically accurate.
  • Are properly cited/referenced.
  • Are central to the Learning Experience.

Materials

Is a list of resources beyond the Library of Congress that are necessary to implement this Learning Experience, such as worksheets, handouts, rubrics, PowerPoint presentations, non-fiction books, supplies, and other Web site URLs that are referenced in the Sequence of Teacher Actions.
  • Shows all materials used in the Sequence of Teacher Actions.
  • Obeys copyright laws.
  • Are properly cited/referenced.
  • Supports students in using primary sources to further learning.

Sequence of Teacher Actions


Sequence of Teacher Actions

Is a numbered list of teacher actions, each of which should begin with a verb and describe in clear and concise language how to implement the Learning Experience. Describes how students used primary sources to answer the Investigative Question and reflect upon the Understanding Goal.
  • Describes repeatable actions.
  • Is a numbered list focusing on teacher actions and beginning with verbs.
  • Tells how Library of Congress primary sources were used to answer the Investigative Question and reflect on the Understanding Goal.
  • Indicates when the Investigative Question and Understanding Goal were explicitly shared with students.

Best Instructional Practices

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Best Instructional Practices

Identifies the Best Instructional Practices used in the Teacher Actions.
  • Offers a specific example of how the selected Best Practices were used in the Learning Experience.
  • Meets criteria for individual Best Practices.

Teaching for Understanding

Challenges students to connect learning to central ideas of the subject and to use understanding, knowledge, and skills flexibly in their work.
  • Requires students to use knowledge and skills to demonstrate understanding.
  • Connects learning activities to ideas central and at the heart of the subject.
  • Challenges learners to make sense of new ideas in relation to previous knowledge and experiences.

 

Differentiated Instruction

Recognizes and responds to specific needs of diverse learners through the Teacher Actions in the Learning Experience content, process and/or product.

  • Describes the Teacher Actions that address the student needs and strengths identified in the Learners field.
  • Responds to the assessment of Learner needs throughout the Teacher Actions.

 

Literacy Instruction

Uses specific strategies to enable students to locate, comprehend, evaluate, and apply knowledge.
  • Identifies, by name, the specific literacy strategy used.
  • Assesses the effectiveness of the literacy strategy.

 

Technology Integration

Uses technology to create unique Learning Experiences for students that could not be achieved without the technology.

  • Uses technology purposefully in the Learning Experience.
  • Requires students to learn subject content through the use of technology.

Analysis of the Learning Experience

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Student Products

Offers samples of student work to provide insight into student learning achieved through this Learning Experience.

  • Provides samples of student work.
  • Refers to the students work in the analysis and/or reflection and recommendations section.

Analysis of Student Learning

Communicates the rationale for Teacher Actions and give one or more examples to show how well students progressed toward the Understanding Goal through use of primary sources.
  • Is specific.
  • Indicates something students learned that is related to the understanding goal and primary source use.
  • Explains significant teacher actions in the learning experience.

Step 5: Reflection and Recommendations

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Reflection

Offers an opportunity for the teacher to think critically about this Learning Experience, evaluating the success, and suggesting changes for improvement. Explains the results of using primary sources, Best Instructional Practices, and needed classroom management.
  • Demonstrates critical thinking and teaching.
  • Offers suggestions for future implementations.
  • Explains the results of primary source us, best instructional practices and needed classroom management.

Extensions

Offers possible extensions of the Learning Experience content or student activities.
  • Provides extensions of the content or student activities that further student achievement of the learning goals.
  • Suggests extensions reasonable for the learner description.

LibraryQuest Student Pages

Field

Description

Publishing Criteria

Title Page

Motivates the reader using key words, concepts and Library of Congress images related to the Learning Experience.
  • Uses a Library of Congress image that is central to the content of the LibraryQuest.

Introduction Page

Engages student readers through a short paragraph describing the LibraryQuest scenario. The Introduction Page includes a short primary source activity to help students recognize their current understanding, knowledge, and skills related to the learning goals of the LibraryQuest. The Introduction Page is like the hook or warm-up in the classroom.
  • Uses appropriate language expressed with students.
  • Connects the LibraryQuest scenario to the Understanding Goal and Investigative Question.
  • Is concise, descriptive, and engaging to the reader.
  • Requires students to make a connection to the topic being explored through a primary source-based short activity.
  • Addresses needs explained in the Learners field.
  • Uses a Library of Congress primary source.

Task Page
(Formal Assessment)

Describes clearly, in language written for the students, the assignment that students will complete as an end result of this Learning Experience. This Formal Assessment will enable the teacher and students to recognize student growth toward the understanding, knowledge, and skill goals through a product or performance required in a real-world scenario. Specifies required software or materials.
  • Uses appropriate language expressed with students.
  • Describes the scenario with clarity.
  • Identifies the roles students will play.
  • Establishes a clear expectation of the final student product or performance.
  • Identifies a product of performance that is appropriate for the scenario.

Assessment Page

Shares criteria with students. Final assessment includes a rubric with specific performance criteria written in language expressed with students.

  • Uses appropriate language expressed with students.
  • Requires a student product or performance that demonstrates achievement toward goals.
  • Provides learners with specific criteria for evaluation.
  • Motivates students to apply knowledge and use skills to create a meaningful product.
  • Provides clear expectations and requirements of quality, content and synthesis of concepts related to the content.

 

Investigation Page

Uses a numbered list beginning with verbs, to provide students with step by step instructions, in language expressed with students, for each activity required to accomplish the Task. Include links to needed documents (graphic organizers, analysis tools, reading guides) and web resources as well as Library of Congress primary sources used for research. Identify steps where students report progress and receive feedback.
  • Uses appropriate language expressed with students.
  • Is a numbered list of student actions beginning with verbs.
  • Lists clear, concise, and logically sequenced steps.
  • Provides accurate required links and documents.
  • Supports reading, analyzing, and interpreting primary source(s) including context and purpose
  • Includes discussion of relationship between the source and the subject under study
  • Includes comparisons among primary sources or other resources to consider multiple perspectives and validity.
  • Focuses the research through primary sources related to the Investigative Question.
  • Displays directions and links in a visually organized, user-friendly manner.

Connection Page

Provides a prompt for students to answer the Investigative Question and connect their learning to the Understanding Goal. Offers a concluding statement. Encourages further reflection and research.
  • Provides a prompt leading students to answer the Investigative Question and address the Understanding Goal.
  • Uses appropriate language expressed with students.
  • Displays information in a visually organized, user-friendly manner.