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J.E. Burke Community Holiday Cards
A Detailed Look: The Teaching for Understanding Framework
GENERATIVE TOPIC (the theme or topic this unit addresses)
The overarching understanding goal for the class was to ensure that the students
developed, as a result of the learning activities, a critical eye for appreciating the design
and presentation of publications and the ability to design, construct, and publish meaningful,
self-reflective products. This is a noble, but lofty goal, and the one way to ensure that
the goal is met is to develop generative topics. We wanted the students to see the connections
between real-life products and the skills being taught in Desktop Publishing. We wanted
them to feel like what they were learning in class was beneficial and could be used in their
present lives. Desktop Publishing, by its very nature is a product-centered topic. The
generative topic of this unit then, involves producing a product that has value to
students in their present lives. Because the Community Holiday Cards were designed and
produced by students for their community members, the unit related to the concerns and
experiences that occupy Burke students in their daily lives. Further relating to the idea
of generative topics, the unit is central to the discipline of desktop publishing because
it provides a foundation for more sophisticated publication work. Each skill learned
throughout the unit is carried over to the next skill and the next application.
UNDERSTANDING GOALS (what students come to understand)
- Students will understand the differences among word processing, design, and
illustration software and understand how to use each of these tools to produce a course
project.
- Students will be able to combine their knowledge of basic design and layout
skills with their creativity and their motivation to create more advanced products
that they can use in their school and/or in their community. Through this, students
will understand how to design and produce materials that express their ideas vividly
and artistically, using desktop publishing technology.
UNDERSTANDING PERFORMANCES (what students do to develop and demonstrate their understanding)
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Introductory
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Word Processing: Students will use Microsoft Word to:
- Word process an individual letter to community businesses for a holiday card.
- Peer edit and combine individual student letters to form one collaborative community message for final products.
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Guided Inquiry
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Layout and Design: Students will use Adobe PageMaker to:
- Set up specific margin and layout patterns for Community Holiday Card template.
- Place text from Microsoft Word files into their card templates
- Enhance card layouts by creating shaded elements, placing clip art, and importing Illustrator files.
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Culminating
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Illustration: Students will use Adobe Illustrator to:
- Create unique pieces of art representative of a holiday theme and/or of the written message intended for the holiday card.
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ONGOING ASSESSMENT (how teachers and learners monitor progress and plan for further learning)
Because the goal of this unit was to help students understand how to produce a
well-designed and personally expressive product, assessment was based on student
performances leading to the completion of this product. Assessments mirrored and
supported students' learning how to produce a professional product that could be
sent out to the community.
The ultimate assessment was based on each student's final holiday card, i.e., did it
include the proper layout and design principles, did it have Illustrator art on
the cover, imported photographs and clip art on the inside flap, a word processed
letter to the community in the middle, and the colophon on the back? Each of these
elements was the result of individual learning tasks that students completed and
assessed. Thus the final product was a culminating synthesis of skills learned
during the unit and, more important, a representation of the overarching goal for
students to "design, construct, and publish meaningful, self-reflective products."
 Students understood that professional products simply can not have any errors-NONE.
In order to correct errors and improve the final products we held presentation and
improvement sessions at the end of each production task (Word Processing: Community
Letter; Layout: Card Template, Illustration, Cover Art). During these sessions,
students assessed their own work and the work of peers while teachers had the
opportunity to highlight and assess the work of all students. Criteria for
assessing cards during these editing sessions were:
- No grammatical errors.
- Complete all sections of the card according to layout specifications.
- Compose own letter to community that reflects personal thoughts and feelings.
- Create artwork for card cover that reflects own personality and feelings.
Eventually, the class wrote one letter together to use for all the cards.
We praised the work of each student as their work showed signs of meeting the
assessment criteria. The students tended to respond best to praise and examples of
quality work from their peers. This form of assessment is not final; rather, it
leads to the generation of new and better ideas for the next project. At the end
of this unit, students were planning how to improve the process and turn it into
an entrepreneurial venture!
Onto:
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