Ready, set, write! Every great film begins with a script, and every presentation starts with a plan. Directors use their research and experience to compose an essay explaining the rationale behind their film's musical and visual choices...

The end is in sight. Pupils complete an end of unit assessment, analyzing an interview with a rainforest scientist and then comparing and contrasting two informational texts. Next, they complete a self-assessment to reflect on their...

Monitor your third graders' progress with the Common Core ELA standards with this practice assessment. Provided with collection of three narrative reading passages, children must answer a series of evidence-based multiple...

Keep an eye on the growth of your sixth graders' reading and writing skills with the help of this practice Common Core assessment. Working their way through the six included fiction and nonfiction reading passages, learners answer a...

A powerful introduction and conclusion can really pack a punch. Using the resource, scholars first read and discuss a model essay. Then, as part of the end of unit assessment, they draft the introductory and concluding paragraphs of...

Dictionaries, thesauruses, word walls, oh my! Pupils use several resources to revise their position papers to include appropriate vocabulary. Then, after peer editing, scholars write the final drafts of their essays and self-assess using...

As a summative assessment of the Health Smart unit, middle schoolers create a five-chapter autobiography demonstrating what they have learned about self and social-awareness, decision-making, and communication skills.

Are American young people prepared to become tomorrow's leaders in technological innovation, or does an obsession with being cool sidetrack essential skills? That is the question freshmen and sophomores must address in a performance...

What are the qualities of a strong written response to a prompt? Class members use the provided text analysis rubric to self-assess their responses to their homework assignments to prepare for the mid-unit assessment.

Rid yourself of unsupported analytic writing forever with a mid-unit assessment focused on Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart." As ninth graders formulate an essay based on evidence from the first seven lessons in the unit, they...

Prepare for the end-of-unit assessment in a unit focused on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves." As your class continues gathering evidence to support or argue against the success of Claudette's adaptation into...

As you work through a literary analysis unit based on Karen Russell's "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves," use a writing assessment to measure your class's skills. They choose one epigraph from the story to analyze and track...

All good things must come to an end! Scholars put all their learning into practice by completing an end-of-unit assessment. They use textual evidence from Julia Alvarez's "A Genetics of Justice" to write essays analyzing how Alvarez...

First and last impressions are important. Using the helpful resource, scholars draft the introductory and concluding paragraphs of their literary analysis essays. Next, they use a writing evaluation rubric to self-assess their work. 

The intricate craft of narrative writing can make a happy story feel exuberant or a sad story feel devastating. With 42 extensive lessons that include poignant discussion questions, standards-aligned self-reflections, engaging writing...

It's time for the grand finale! Scholars complete the final draft of their newspaper articles for the End of Unit 3 Assessment. They share their article with a classmate for peer critique. After considering all feedback and including a...

Transitions are the glue that link paragraphs together. Pupils listen to a mini lesson plan on sentence structure and transitions and use what they learned to revise their informative consumer guides. Next, they self-assess their writing...

Popcorn is a tasty part of a culminating activity designed to motivate readers to share important literary elements. The popcorn fills the inside of a white paper bag that is transformed on the outside into a presentation tool with the...

Need an extra challenge for your best readers? Check out a unit that uses Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary novel, The Coquette, published in 1797, as the anchor text. The resource is packed with project ideas; each with its...

Anybody can write a body paragraph! Pupils analyze the development of ideas in a body paragraph from a model essay. Next, using what they've learned, they draft the body paragraphs of their My Rule to Live By informative essay. 

With its focus on nature, individualism, imagination, and rejection of traditional authority, Romanticism has great appeal to young high schoolers. After examining classic paintings and poems as well as current works, class members...

What important facts about Dr. Seuss influenced the Read Across America movement...? This is the driving question of a research project that requires scholars to find information about Dr. Seuss' life and work. Class...

The courage of Las Mariposas, the Mirabal sisters, is the focus of a series of activities designed to accompany a reading of In the Time of the Butterflies that ask readers to consider what it means to be courageous. Beautifully crafted...

It's easy to criticize those in power until you're sitting at their desk, faced with the same decisions. A history lesson prompts secondary learners to research the Roosevelt presidencies through the lens of leadership and...