Learning at PEAK Mastery

Why it Matters

The world does not organize itself into separate class periods.

Real questions often require us to draw from many kinds of knowledge, consider different perspectives, gather information, solve problems, communicate with others, and adjust when our first idea does not work.

Wonder Workshops give students opportunities to practice doing exactly that.

Through these experiences, students can deepen academic understanding while developing curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, perseverance, and the ability to apply what they know.

When learning has meaning, students have a reason to go deeper.

Intentional by Design

Wonder Workshops begin with curiosity, but they are not simply open-ended projects.

Educators identify important grade-level standards and competencies, then intentionally design questions, instruction, resources, experiences, and opportunities for application that help students build and demonstrate understanding.

CONNECTED TO STANDARDS

Grounded in important academic learning.

Wonder Workshops connect to Utah Core standards and grade-level expectations across appropriate content areas.

CLEAR LEARNING GOALS

Students know what they are working toward.

Learning goals and Mastery Maps help make the important competencies within an experience visible to students and educators.

INTERDISCIPLINARY BY DESIGN

Learning connects across subjects.

Disciplines are brought together when those connections strengthen understanding and make sense within the question being explored.

EVIDENCE OF LEARNING

Growth is observed throughout the experience.

Student work, conversations, observations, assessments, projects, presentations, and reflection provide evidence of developing understanding and mastery.

Big questions. Intentional learning. Meaningful application.

The Wonder Workshop Process

Learning Across Disciplines

A Wonder Workshop may intentionally connect competencies from several subject areas depending on the question students are exploring.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

Read, research, write, analyze information, use evidence, discuss ideas, and communicate with clarity and purpose.

MATHEMATICS

Measure, calculate, model, analyze data, recognize patterns, reason quantitatively, and use mathematics to solve authentic problems.

SCIENCE

Ask questions, investigate, experiment, collect evidence, analyze systems, explain phenomena, and design solutions.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Explore people, places, history, culture, economics, civics, geography, systems, and multiple perspectives.

ARTS & DESIGN

Use creativity, visual communication, design, storytelling, performance, and artistic expression to develop and communicate ideas.

COMMUNICATION

Listen, question, discuss, collaborate, explain reasoning, present ideas, and communicate effectively with different audiences.

Not every Wonder Workshop includes every discipline in equal measure. The subjects and competencies included are intentionally selected based on what naturally and meaningfully supports the learning.

The Question Matters

A strong Wonder Workshop is more than a topic.

Instead of simply studying water, students might investigate:

How did people traveling west find safe drinking water, and what can their challenges teach us about water today?

That question creates a reason to explore history, science, engineering, technology, literacy, and real-world problem-solving together.

Students are not just collecting facts about water.

They are trying to understand something.

A Wonder Workshop in Action

How did people traveling west find safe drinking water, and what can their challenges teach us about water today?

Students might begin by investigating how people traveling west located, transported, and evaluated water when modern treatment systems and portable filters did not exist.

That historical question can quickly lead to scientific ones.

Why can clear water still be unsafe?
What makes people sick from contaminated water?
How can water be filtered or treated?
What materials could travelers have used at the time?
How have modern technologies changed what is possible?

Students might:

• Research water challenges faced by people traveling west

• Read historical accounts and evaluate sources

• Investigate bacteria, contamination, and waterborne illness

• Explore watersheds and local water systems

• Experiment with natural filtration materials

• Measure and compare results

• Investigate historical purification methods

• Compare those approaches with modern filtration and purification technology

• Design and build a model water filter

• Test, evaluate, and improve a design

• Calculate quantities, rates, costs, or other relevant mathematical information

• Learn from a water expert or visit a relevant local site

• Communicate findings through writing, demonstrations, presentations, or another authentic product

• Reflect on what worked, what did not, and what they would change

One meaningful question has now become a vehicle for history, science, engineering, mathematics, literacy, technology, fieldwork, problem-solving, and communication.

And throughout the experience, educators are still looking for evidence of specific academic learning.

What Wonder Workshops Develop

Wonder Workshops are designed to build more than a finished project.

DEEP UNDERSTANDING

Students connect ideas, ask questions, and use knowledge in different contexts rather than simply recalling information.

CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM-SOLVING

Students analyze evidence, compare possibilities, make decisions, test ideas, and work through meaningful problems.

CREATIVITY & DESIGN

Students imagine, build, write, design, perform, prototype, revise, and communicate ideas in original ways.

COLLABORATION

Students learn to contribute, listen, share responsibility, solve problems with others, and recognize the value of different strengths and perspectives.

COMMUNICATION

Students ask thoughtful questions, explain reasoning, use evidence, listen to others, write, discuss, and present with purpose.

REAL-WORLD CAPABILITY

Students experience what it means to use academic knowledge and transferable skills to understand and respond to something beyond an assignment or test.

Learning Extends into the Real World

Some questions are best explored beyond the classroom.

When it meaningfully strengthens learning, Wonder Workshops may connect students with the places, people, environments, organizations, and experiences that allow them to investigate ideas firsthand.

FIELDWORK

Students observe, collect information, ask questions, gather evidence, and investigate in authentic settings.

COMMUNITY EXPERTS

Professionals, researchers, artists, tradespeople, leaders, and others may help students understand how knowledge and skills are used in the real world.

MUSEUMS & CULTURAL RESOURCES

Students may engage with history, science, art, culture, artifacts, exhibits, and primary sources beyond textbooks.

NATURAL ENVIRONMENTS

Local landscapes may become places to investigate ecosystems, geology, water, agriculture, conservation, sustainability, and other systems firsthand.

COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Businesses, universities, nonprofits, public agencies, and other organizations may provide expertise, resources, challenges, or opportunities for authentic learning.

AUTHENTIC AUDIENCES

Students may share what they discover or create with people who have a genuine reason to care about their work.

We go where the learning is.

Student Voice Within a Strong Framework

Wonder Workshops create room for student curiosity without leaving learning to chance.

Educators establish important academic goals and intentionally design the framework for the experience. Within that framework, students may have meaningful opportunities to make choices.

They might choose:

• a question they want to investigate more deeply

• a particular aspect of a larger topic

• resources or strategies that help them learn

• a solution they want to design

• a role within a collaborative project

• how they will demonstrate or communicate understanding

• an additional connection or interest they want to pursue

Students are not choosing between structure or freedom.

They are learning how to use increasing freedom within purposeful structure.

How do we Know Students Are Learning?

A beautiful project does not automatically mean a student has mastered the learning behind it.

At PEAK Mastery, educators look at evidence throughout the Wonder Workshop, not only at the final product.

Evidence may include:

Conversations & Observation
What does the student understand while discussing, explaining, questioning, collaborating, and working?

Student Work
What do research notes, writing, calculations, designs, models, data, revisions, and other work reveal?

Mastery Checks
Can the student independently demonstrate important knowledge or skills when appropriate?

Application
Can the student use what they have learned in a new, complex, or authentic situation?

Final Products & Presentations
Can the student accurately apply and communicate learning through the work they create?

Reflection
Can the student recognize growth, explain thinking, identify challenges, and determine meaningful next steps?

Wonder Workshops Might Explore...

The possibilities change by grade level, academic goals, community opportunities, and student needs. Examples might include:

BUILD A SUSTAINABLE GREENHOUSE

Explore plant biology, food systems, sustainability, mathematics, engineering, and responsibility through the design and care of a growing system.

DESIGN A MINIATURE CITY

Investigate geography, infrastructure, mathematics, engineering, economics, civics, sustainability, and community needs while designing a city of the future.

CREATE A DOCUMENTARY

Research an important question, evaluate sources, interview others, write, film, edit, and communicate a meaningful story.

DESIGN ASSISTIVE INVENTIONS

Identify a challenge people experience and use empathy, research, engineering, design, technology, testing, and revision to develop a possible solution.

CREATE A MUSEUM EXHIBIT

Investigate an important historical, scientific, or cultural topic and create an exhibit designed to educate an authentic audience.

STUDY A LOCAL ECOSYSTEM

Use fieldwork, observation, scientific investigation, data collection, research, and stewardship to better understand the natural world close to home.

These examples illustrate the kinds of interdisciplinary experiences PEAK Mastery may develop. Specific Wonder Workshops will evolve as curriculum, partnerships, resources, grade-level progressions, and opportunities are developed.