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Stage 2 Determine Acceptable Evidence

Performance Tasks

Interpretation:
o Why is it sometimes more useful to use fractions than whole numbers?
Application:
o How and when could we use fractions in everyday life?

1. Greenhouse Fractions
Goal: Building a new greenhouse as an add-on to the school. The greenhouse has
to be fractioned into separate areas for different plants. Also, the materials will
also need to be divided up.
Role: architect
Audience: School board (actual member / administrator)
Situation: As a member of a world-renowned architectural team, you have been
commissioned by the Fruit Loops County school board to build a new greenhouse
in our courtyard at Apple Orchard Elementary School. Many of the school board
members have different ideas of what they envision to be the final decision. Some
of the school board members wish to have whole greenhouses dedicated to one
thing, such as flowers or vegetables. Others have agreed on a decision to only
have one greenhouse, in which that they want 1/12 of the greenhouse to be
dedicated to regular flowers, 1/3 dedicated to vegetables, dedicated to fruit, 1/6
dedicated to a butterfly garden, and another 1/6 to be a pond area with aquatic
life. Your architectural team supports the decision to have one greenhouse with
fractioned sections. Your first task is to create an argument against having
separate greenhouses for each plant. Next, your second job as an architect is to
design a floor plan for this greenhouse that stays true to these specific
requirements, but also shows your creative flair and ability to manipulate the
fractional dimensions! Your boss is asking for each architect to make an
individual design. Each architect will submit an individual floor plan design to the
school board for review, and they will be approving only one grand design! Do
your best so your plan is chosen!
Product: An actual floor plan that shows how the finished greenhouse should
look. The product should be very organized, accurate, and precise.
Adapted from Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd.ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

10/27/14
Standards: Interpretation - The students will understand that fractions give more
accurate & precise numerical values than whole numbers.
2. No Hysteria in the Cafeteria
Goal: To get all of the food portions and material into equal, healthy portions.
Make sure all students are provided with the appropriate servings of food.
Role: Cafeteria chef.
Audience: Federal Department of Agriculture agent (actual representative)
Situation: Uh oh! The FDA is going to be visiting our very own Pumpkin Spice
Elementary School next week. Because you are one of the few elite chefs at our
school, the principal has requested that you prepare a general report of how we
serve meals to our students. The report is to include: a one-month example lunch
menu calendar, the exact servings of each kind of food (ex. 2/4 of an orange,
pint of milk, etc.), and how many students bought lunch vs. packed lunch each
particular day against the provided meal (ex. 8/10 of the student population
bought on Tuesday). Each elite chef will be preparing an individual calendar so
that we have multiple examples to share with the FDA, and also to show that all
of our chefs exhibit similar thinking and performance as a team.
Product: A one-month example of the lunch menu with the appropriate statistics.
Standards: Application - The students will understand that fractions (parts of
wholes) are frequently integrated into everyday tasks.
Other Evidence
Quizzes will be administered at the end of each week that covers the fractions Standards
of Learning content that has been covered in class. They will be short & quick checks of
knowledge and understanding to assess what content has been mastered by the students,
and what content still needs more time to achieve understanding.
A fractions topic test will be administered close to the end of the fraction unit that covers
the Standards of Learning content. This will not be administered at the very end so that
there is still a continuum of learning after the test for this unit.
I have / who has activity: Students will complete this activity close to the end of the
fraction unit but before the unit test as a formative assessment. This will serve as a study
tool and review for the test.
Fraction sort: Students will have to match an explicitly written fraction (ex. ) with a
corresponding pie visual. The pies will sometimes reflect simplest form, but will not
always be in simplest form.
Fraction Fun (book): A read along book that also has basal introductory fraction activities
Adapted from Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd.ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

10/27/14

that we will do as a whole class. Used for the beginnings of understanding how fractions
look through different mediums (pizza pies, money, etc.)
Work samples will be continuously collected and analyzed to monitor student progress
throughout the unit.
Observations (both informal and formal) of student behavior, understanding, and
performance will be an integral part of the learning process and activities.
Graphic Organizer: Students will construct a layered flap book of fractions.
Other informal checks of understanding.
Metacognition

Exit slips and oral questioning will be used throughout the unit for students to self-reflect
on the content. Examples of questions/prompts include:
o Describe a new term or concept you feel you mastered [today].
o What is a new term or concept you would like more practice with?
o Can you give an example of [equivalent fractions, a mixed number, etc.]?
Exit slips and oral questioning will also be used throughout the unit for students to selfassess themselves as the learner. Examples of questions/prompts include:
o What is something you can do differently next class to improve?
o Name something you did today to maximize your learning experience.
o What is one strategy you use to help yourself as a learner?
Students will engage in self-assessment and reflection throughout the unit; specifically, implicitly
and explicitly after each PBE.
Students will self-assess and reflect through their performance-based evidence.

Adapted from Wiggins, G. & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design (2nd.ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association
for Supervision and Curriculum Development.