I'm pretty much with Clyde here. If this is supposed to be "about classroom fun, not serious math," then lose the competition, lose the specifics, lose the rubrics, and let it be open-ended.
You want them to not "define their worth through a win or loss" then get rid of the awards at least. The very best way to get kids to no longer buy into intrinsic motivation is to tie rewards and awards to their work. The kids can still learn to respect each other's work without the awards, and they can still learn to take pride in their work without having a certificate to validate it for them; if anything, most kids will have MORE respect for their own work AND want to do more if it's NOT tied to an award. Please consider reading up on Alfie Kohn and the mounds of research he's done and pored through about this topic.
As for the project itself, while on the face of it it looks like lots of fun and a way to validate an art project in "educational" terms, the moment you start to quantify creativity this way, the more you kill the urge to be creative for its own sake. And as a music teacher, I have to say the idea of this is pretty hard to swallow. If I had to resort to this to justify having a Valentine's party, I just wouldn't have the party - or I'd have a much more open-ended project for the kids to make their boxes.
I'm pretty much with Clyde here. If this is supposed to be "about classroom fun, not serious math," then lose the competition, lose the specifics, lose the rubrics, and let it be open-ended.
You want them to not "define their worth through a win or loss" then get rid of the awards at least. The very best way to get kids to no longer buy into intrinsic motivation is to tie rewards and awards to their work. The kids can still learn to respect each other's work without the awards, and they can still learn to take pride in their work without having a certificate to validate it for them; if anything, most kids will have MORE respect for their own work AND want to do more if it's NOT tied to an award. Please consider reading up on Alfie Kohn and the mounds of research he's done and pored through about this topic.
As for the project itself, while on the face of it it looks like lots of fun and a way to validate an art project in "educational" terms, the moment you start to quantify creativity this way, the more you kill the urge to be creative for its own sake. And as a music teacher, I have to say the idea of this is pretty hard to swallow. If I had to resort to this to justify having a Valentine's party, I just wouldn't have the party - or I'd have a much more open-ended project for the kids to make their boxes.