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Unit 6 Blog: Using GRASPS for Authentic Performance

As a teacher of early childhood education, it is essential to create authentic performance duties to

promote student learning and development. GRASPS is one of the tools that can be used to

design these assignments. This tool enables teachers to construct performance tasks relevant to

real-world scenarios and meet specific standards, ensuring students develop critical thinking and

problem-solving skills. Using the GRASPS tool, I have designed an authentic performance task.

have created the following authentic performance task for my early education classroom:

Part 1: GRASPS

Goal:

The objective is to design an outdoor gardening activity to engage and educate young children

about plant growth.

Role:

You are a plant expert responsible for identifying and selecting local climate- and environment-

appropriate plants.

Audience:

The target audience comprises local community members and peers keen to learn about plants

and gardening through outdoor activities.

Situation:

You should organize a learning activity for the local community and your peers eager to learn

about growing plants and acquire knowledge in this area.

Product/Performance and Purpose:

 An instruction manual for planting and cultivating a tiny garden.

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 A list of plants suited to the climate and environment of the region.

 A collection of instruments and materials required for gardening.

Standards:

Students will be evaluated based on their ability to implement previously acquired knowledge

about plants and farming, identify and plant suitable plants, adhere to the instructions and rules

of the gardening activity, and demonstrate curiosity and engagement with the learning process.

Part 2: Standards and Criteria for Success

Rubric for assessing the outdoor gardening activity:

Criteria Exemplary Proficient Developing Beginning

Identifies The student The student The student The student has

and plants selects and selects and plants chooses and plants challenges

appropriate plants local the most suitable local environment choosing and

plants environment- vegetation for the and climate- planting suitable

and climate- local appropriate flora

appropriate environment and vegetation.

vegetation. climate.

Complies Student follows The student The student has The student has

with all activity observes the difficulty difficulty

instructions instructions and majority of following some following the

and regulations activity activity majority of

regulations instructions and instructions and activity

rules guidelines. instructions and

regulations.
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Exhibits The student Participates in The student is The student is

curiosity and engages in the the gardening reluctant to disinterested and

interest. horticulture activity but participate in the displays no desire

activity and is demonstrates horticulture to participate in

enthusiastic little interest in activity and the horticulture

about plant learning about displays little activity or learn

growth. plant growth. enthusiasm for about plant

learning about growth.

plant growth.

Reflection:

This authentic performance task relates to the work completed in Stage 1 by encouraging

students to investigate and learn about plant growth through a hands-on learning experience. This

activity is meaningful for students in early childhood education because it fosters active

engagement and curiosity in learning, as well as cognitive, physical, and social-emotional

development. Students can develop their observation, planning, and problem-solving skills and

ability to collaborate and follow principles by designing an outdoor gardening activity. This task

is also consistent with national and state early childhood education standards, emphasizing the

importance of outdoor play and exploration in fostering children's learning and development.

Engaging question: How can we expand opportunities for students in early education to learn

about plant growth and the environment through outdoor activities?

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References

Frey, B., Schmitt, V.L., Allen, J.P. (2012). Defining authentic classroom assessment. Practical

Assessment, Research, and Evaluation, 17(2), 1-18. 

Milwaukee Public Schools. (n.d.) GRASPS: A Focus on Writing. Retrieved from

https://grantwiggins.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/grasps-k12-writingmilwaukee.pdf

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: Assoc. for

Supervision and Curriculum Development.