Students, utilizing video clips and Web sites, compare specific passages from original texts to moments in Broadway musicals on which they were based, analyzing similarities and differences between them. They adapt literature into a...

Students participate in lab activities in which they examine immersion, stain resistance, and stress cracking of synthetic polymers. Students use their collected data to discuss service applications and possible performance of materials.

Young scholars analyze and begin to design a pyramid. Working in engineering teams, they perform calculations to determine the area of the pyramid base, stone block volumes, and the number of blocks required for their pyramid base. They...

Here are three lessons that work together to engage learners in a cultural and musical exploration. In lesson one the listen to the Mexican folk song, "La Raspa" and discuss cultural context. In lesson two they dance along to both "La...

Drama is ever-present in our daily lives and eloquently depicted on stage. Middle schoolers practice writing scenes based on different prompts and frameworks, and then perform those creative scenes for their classmates. The...

In this science worksheet, students create a race track and mark each distance as stated. Then they perform each task and record the time it takes them for each. Students also record their data from the experiment into the chart...

In this significant figures worksheet, students solve nine problems. They indicate significant figures in given numbers, they perform calculations and express their answers with the proper number of significant figures and they solve...

In this significant figures worksheet, students indicate the number of significant figures in given measurements. They also perform calculations of multiplication, division, addition and subtraction and identify the number of significant...

Should Charlie undergo an operation to increase his intelligence? A mini-lesson for a unit on Daniel Keyes novel Flowers for Algernon uses a RAFT activity, which prompts students to write a letter to Charlie's doctors explaining why they...

What is poetry? Does hip-hop qualify as poetry? Do Shakespeare's monologues qualify as poetry? Class members grapple with these questions as they examine the poetic elements and themes presented in different texts. Groups of four study...

Do your young readers have difficulty visualizing what they read? Although the activity described here is for The Call of the Wild, the strategy could be used with any narrative. At the conclusion of each chapter of Jack London’s novel,...

Looking for a line dance? Look no further. This dance is performed to Michael Jackson's "Beat It". It is comprised of four eight-counts. The moves consist of walking forward, swinging the hips, doing the grapevine, walking backwards, and...

Your young learners will discover how muscular strength and endurance can increase with this truly hands-on activity! Beginning by writing an acrostic for the word strength, class members then engage in tracking their ability to squeeze...

Distinguishing between and understanding the purpose of landmarks and monuments is the focus a short activity designed to provide all learners with the context of a performance task. Images of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, the...

Pathogens, what they are, how they spread, and how to prevent them from spreading are the focus of this resource that can be used to prepare learners for a performance task assessment or to begin the study of communicable diseases.

Prepare your class members for the performance task assessment on nutrition with an activity that asks class members to rank images of foods from least nutritious to most. Participants also offer reasons for why they ranked the...

Looking for a performance assessment that asks individuals to demonstrate their competency in writing about informational text? Use Frederick Douglass' essay "On the Dred Scott Decision," and an excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1857 speech...

How do you assess whether pupils have mastered certain concepts and skills? Designing a performance task that asks learners to demonstrate their skills and providing writers with a rubric that identifies these skills and provides...

Math is a lot like building blocks—it requires a solid foundation. A short performance task has pupils consider the volume of a cubic block. It then asks mathematicians to find the surface area and volume of a prism made from stacking...

Land on the green with a fun resource. A short performance task asks pupils to consider the volume of containers that hold golf balls. They determine the percentage of empty space of the container for different numbers of golf balls.

Pick the resource while it's ripe. A performance task challenges young mathematicians to consider the costs of apple picking. They compare the costs for two different orchards for different situations.

The two lessons in the fifth unit in this series are designed to help students with disabilities improve their communication skills. The first lesson has class members practice strategies and skills for appropriate communication. They...

This four to five day mini dance unit has many components. Discussion on what makes a good dance partner, research on famous dancing pairs, as well as learning a choreographed piece in class. The class learns a short dance sequence and...

Young scholars define the parts of a database, search strategies to locate information electronically, create/modify databases, etc. and enter data into a prepared spreadsheet to perform calculations.