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Illinois School Board Journal
July/August 2003
State standards drive Arcadia Expo
by Denise Faris
Denise Faris is public information coordinator with Matteson Elementary School District 162 in Matteson, Illinois.
As Roxanne Fuller stood in a reproduction of a Parisian sidewalk café in the hallway of Matteson Elementary School District 162's Arcadia School, she noted how impressed she was with the museum-like transformation of the school for Expo 2003, a culmination of students' yearlong learning that focused on the seven continents.
"The children learn so much from a hands-on activity like this," said Fuller, whose son is a first grader at the school. "My son came home from school and told me all the facts that he had learned about the Great Wall of China. The children are so excited to show their parents what they have done, and this Expo is a great way to do it."
While the kindergarten through second grade students at Arcadia acquired knowledge about the seven continents as they prepared for the Expo, parents and community visitors also learned how the Illinois State Standards drive the students' learning and the district's curriculum.
"Our curriculum aligns with the state standards and mounting this Expo ensures that all teachers are following the standards in their instruction," said Pat Ransford, Arcadia principal. "This also is a way to showcase students' learning and the standards for all of our curricular areas so that anyone who enters the school knows the purpose behind each project."
Indeed, as visitors moved down the halls and from continent to continent, they saw standards for math, language arts, fine arts, social studies and geography embedded in displays. For example, while gazing at the Amazon River display, visitors saw standards "floating" in the simulated river, standards that showed students' "use of print and non-print resources to acquire and use information." Additionally, they learned that the display met the state standard that students exhibit the ability to work in a cooperative manner.
A replication of the Louvre displaying student artwork based on the work of famous artists referenced standards for fine arts. The Great Wall of China, built with student, staff and parent labor, included social studies' standards and also noted that the children's research and written reports explained how human activity affected the environment. Videotapes of children discussing their projects were telecast to indicate that students created media compositions or productions to exhibit their knowledge. Displays with math standards showed how students "organize, describe and make predictions from existing data."
Ransford pointed out that students would continue to learn from the Expo because they will share the information they obtained about their assigned continent with each other. Also, students from other buildings in the District visited the Expo so that they benefited from the Arcadia students' studies.
"It is extremely important that we are all of one accord in working together to raise the level of achievement in the district," said Superintendent Blondean Y. Davis, regarding the importance of making parents and community members aware of standards and the alignment of district curriculum. "The publication and sharing of information that includes the state standards is an essential step in the process of creating a strong partnership between the schools and their communities. Expo was an excellent example of how this can be done."