Just a quick short note about me then I will get to the point. This is my 7th year teaching at Sunnyvale and my 2nd year as a 5th grade teacher. My husband is Reagan and we have a rowdy 7 year old named Jake.
When the students realize they have an authentic audience and it is not just going to be their teachers or peers seeing their projects, it seems to instill a sense of pride into them, both as a group and as an individual. They want to impress whomever they are creating for and I think most students always want their products to be the best. When they finish with a project, it is not only authentic, but also they are genuinely proud of their work and want to show it off.
Recently my husband had the chance to be the audience for a 5th grade science ELU and he came to school to give the students feedback. They loved when he directly recognized items from their products and asked them specific questions as to how they came up with the ideas. So, not only is it important to launch and ELU with your audience, but also to invite that audience back to review and give feedback on the finished project product.
