For Educators

What K-8 students can do after a FIDS unit — and how you get there.

Three things every elementary and middle school teacher needs before running design thinking in their classroom: what students can actually do at the end of a unit (the "I can" outcomes), why those outcomes outlast a standards list, and a 20-minute empathy warm-up you can run tomorrow.

1. K-8 learner outcomes

What students can do after a FIDS unit — by grade band and stage. These are the "I can..." statements that anchor every project.

Feel

Imagine

Each row below pairs a grade band with the FIDS stage that produces that outcome.

K–2

Feel

I can notice something that bothers a person at school or in my neighborhood.

See the Feel stage →

3–5

Imagine

I can sketch eight ideas in eight minutes — and pick the one worth trying.

See the Imagine stage →

6–8

I can build a prototype, test it with three real people, and improve it from their feedback.

See the Do stage →

K–2

I can tell an adult what my project changed, in two sentences.

See the Share stage →

3–5

Feel

I can name who is affected by a problem — and ask them what the hardest part is.

See the Feel stage →

6–8

Imagine

I can frame a "How might we …?" question that is specific enough to act on.

See the Imagine stage →

2. The “I can” framework

What it is, why it works, and how it differs from a list of standards you have to teach to.

An “I can” statement is a single sentence written from the student's point of view that names something they can now do because of the work — not something they have been taught. “I can notice a problem in my community.” “I can build a prototype and test it.” “I can share what my project changed.” The verb is observable. The ownership belongs to the student.

That structure is why the framework travels across grade bands, classrooms, and state standards. The same “I can” works for a K-2 student sketching what bothers them in the cafeteria and for an 8th grader interviewing neighbors about a vacant lot. The verb is the same; the context grows.

Why it works for K-8 classrooms

Three reasons show up in every classroom that runs FIDS for more than a unit.

A standards list

Written at the teacher. Students are the receiver, not the author.
Often unobservable. “Understands” or “appreciates” cannot be photographed, recorded, or graded in passing.
Stays inside the curriculum document. Travels poorly across grades, schools, or districts.
Tied to a reporting cycle. Students experience it as compliance.

An “I can” statement

Written by the student. “I can” puts the verb in the first person.
Always observable. A teacher can verify it in under a minute.
Portable across standards. The same outcome satisfies multiple reporting lines.
Tied to the work. Students experience it as ownership.

How to write one with your class

After a FIDS stage ends, ask the class: “What can you do now that you could not do at the start of this stage?” Capture answers as sentences starting with “I can …”. Post them on the wall. They become the assessment artifact and the runway into the next stage.

For teachers

Why “I can” survives a state standards audit.

Every “I can” statement your students produce is the same unit of evidence an administrator wants in a portfolio review: a specific, observable student behavior tied to a unit of work. When you cite the student’s actual sentence during a PLC or accreditation visit, you are not translating between your curriculum and theirs — you are handing them the artifact. That is why “I can” works anywhere a K-8 teacher is being asked the same question.

For standards documentation →

See the “I can” statements mapped to CCSS ELA, NGSS, and C3.

When your PLC or accreditation portfolio needs a citation, the standards mapping shows the exact standard code behind each “I can” outcome on this page — three comparison tables, one per framework, ready to paste into a unit plan.

For your own classroom log →

Try it this week: log one “I can” from each student.

Use the /log-ican form to record what students say after the next stage ends. Your entries persist across lessons so you can build a class-wide evidence list without copying into a spreadsheet.

3. A 20-minute empathy warm-up you can run tomorrow

Step-by-step walkthrough with timing cues and a one-line debrief prompt. Works in any K-8 classroom. No slides, no prep beyond one photograph.

0–5 min

The photo at the door

Before students sit down, tape one photograph to the whiteboard. A local park with overflowing trash. A water fountain painted over at a closed school. A hand-painted sign for a community meal tipped over. The photo should be concrete — not an illustration, not a stock graphic. Once everyone is seated, ask “What do you see?” Hands go up immediately because the question is easy. That is the goal. You have not asked the hard question yet.

5–10 min

“What problem do you notice?”

Write student answers on the board without comment. Trash. Closed school. Hungry neighbors. Nobody fixing the fountain. The problems get louder than the photo. For 3-5 and up, ask one more sentence: “Who is affected by this?” That sentence moves students from observing a scene to imagining a person. It is the entire transition from “looking” to “feeling,” and it lands in five minutes.

10–20 min

Student speak-out

Say: “Now I want you to name a problem you have noticed — not in this photo, just in our school, our neighborhood, our day.” Give them a sentence frame: “I noticed …. It bothers me because ….” Pairs first, then a few brave cold-calls to the whole class. The problems students name are not the ones adults think they should care about — and that is exactly what you want. Every name on the list is real. Every name on the list is worth a project.

Read aloud to end the warm-up

You just spent twenty minutes noticing real problems in your real place. Pick one that matters to you — we’ll spend the rest of the unit trying to change it.

Ready to run a FIDS unit with your class? Register below.

Use DFCOS to submit K-8 student projects, track progress through every FIDS stage, and connect with Design for Change USA.

Register as an educator → Or browse the full FIDS framework → Or grab a ready-to-share classroom story → Or submit your own classroom story →