Challenges and Badges for Youth Voices

There are four sections of badges on this page representing four disciplines. Each badge is linked to a Challenge with associated Tasks.

English Language Arts
History / Social Studies
Arts and Media
Science

Each section has three different levels of badges.

6th Grade = Skill Badge - awarded by a peer after completion of a Challenge - Badge is attached to a discussion post in each Challenge.
7th Grade = Community Badge - Must be applied for upon completion of a Challenge. Requires a link to evidence, work submitted, includes a rubric, and 3 peer reviewers. The student must average at least 8 points from the three reviewers in the 4 habits listed below.
8th Grade = Community Badge - Must be applied for upon completion of a Challege. Requires a link to evidence, work submitted, includes a rubric and 1 peer reviewer. The student must earn at least 8 points in the 4 habits listed below.

Rubrics (measured on a scale of 1-4) use these 4 habits of mind and experience, adapted from the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing (pdf):

Openness and Flexibility - The player considers new ways of being and thinking in the world and adapts to situations, expectations, or demands.
Curiosity and Creativity -The player desires to know more about the world and uses novel approaches for generating, investigating, and representing ideas.
Metacognition and Persistence - The player reflects on his/her own thinking and sustains interest in and attention to short- and long-term projects.
Responsibility - The player takes ownership of his/her actions and understands the consequences of those actions for himself/herself and others.

Each discipline has the same 5 literacies, competencies, habits, or sets of skills that the students become more preficient in on each level. These are aligned with the Common Core Standards:

Citing Evidence in Conversations
Independent Reading
Text-Dependent Research
Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest
Self-Directed Learning

English Language Arts	1111111111111111 6th Grade	1111111111111111 7th Grade	1111111111111111 8th Grade
Citing Evidence in Conversations Engage in authentic conversations using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Independent Reading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Text-Dependent Research Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to formulate an argument.
Self-Directed Learning Publish multimedia products in response to feedback.
History / Social Studies	6th Grade	7th Grade	8th Grade
Citing Evidence in Conversations Engage in authentic conversations using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Independent Reading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Text-Dependent Research Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to formulate an argument.
Self-Directed Learning Publish multimedia products in response to feedback.
Arts and Media	6th Grade	7th Grade	8th Grade
Citing Evidence in Conversations Engage in authentic conversations using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Independent Reading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Text-Dependent Research Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to formulate an argument.
Self-Directed Learning Publish multimedia products in response to feedback.
Science	6th Grade	7th Grade	8th Grade
Citing Evidence in Conversations Engage in authentic conversations using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
Independent Reading Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.
Text-Dependent Research Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
Formulating Arguments in Areas of Interest Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. Explore and inquire into areas of interest to formulate an argument.
Self-Directed Learning Publish multimedia products in response to feedback.