Some of the oiliest creatures on earth may be the answer to our energy crisis! Using a four-question assessment, resource scholars consider the use of microalgae as fuel among other environmental science topics. Each question has several...

Beetle population, climate change, and acidification are all real environmental threats. Scholars display their knowledge of these threats and offer solution strategies in a four-question assessment resource. Questions from the AP® exam...

Finally, an assessment that shouldn't be too hard to swallow! Scholars study the digestive system in the previous lessons in the series and show what they know in an open-ended assessment. They pretend they are their favorite food and...

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...

Which animal is best for you—a dog or cat? Why? Engage third graders in an opinion writing assessment that prompts them to read facts about both pets, and then write and decide which pet is best for them.

Let's partition rectangles into equal parts. Assess learners on their ability to divide shapes into equal parts, and their ability to explain their thinking.

Challenge writers to compose an essay detailing their stance on, and the history of, voting. Three assignments, each broken down into three parts, requires fifth graders to take notes, read and complete charts, write paragraphs, compare...

A three-part writing assessment challenges scholars to think critically about schools of the past and present. Learners read informative texts, answer questions to prepare for a discussion, research in small groups, complete a Venn...

Should the work of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences be funded by the government? Middle schoolers weigh in on the status of federal funding for programs that protect the environment with three text passages...

Use a performance task to assess third graders' ability to read informational text. After they plan a lemonade stand business, young entrepreneurs implement that plan through informational writing. The task assumes learners can...

The Oscar for the Best Adapted Screenplay acknowledges a writer's excellence in adapting material found in another source. What do your class members know about adapted resources? Find out with an assessment that asks readers to...

Feeling the pressure to confirm is something any adolescent can relate to. Explore an essential theme with a response to literature assessment that prompts learners to identify main ideas with evidence and supporting details.

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...

As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's...

Young mathematicians demonstrate what they know about measurement with a four-task assessment that focuses on estimation, length, and inches.

As a middle school assessment task, learners first examine line graphs of monthly temperatures for two locations, and then match box plots to each line plot.

Knowing how to scale a recipe is an important skill. Young mathematicians determine the amount of ingredients they need to make a certain number of truffles when given a recipe. They determine a relationship between ingredients given a...

The class gets their mean and median all in a row with an assessment task that uses a population of ducklings to work with data displays and measures of central tendency. Pupils create a frequency chart and calculate the mean and median....

On June 26, 1963 President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech close to the Berlin Wall at the Rudolph Wilde Platz. On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan Delivered his famous "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down...

Powerful orators make their messages compelling with a combination of factors. Learn how to be an inspirational speaker with a reading assessment activity that presents a list of persuasive speaking techniques, as well as two...

A three-part assessment promotes reading comprehension skills. Class members read literary texts and take notes to discuss their findings, answer comprehension questions, write summaries, and complete charts. 

Even if you've never picked up a musical instrument, chances are that music has directly impacted your mental and emotional development. Sixth graders engage in a reading activity in which they read two articles on the impact of music on...

After reading the first, second, and third parts of "How Bear Lost His Tail", third grade writers answer questions about the story by completing a series of options, including discussion points. Then, they begin to plan a new narrative...

Everyone has a different point of view, even when it comes to the enormity of the universe. Two separate text passages explain the scope of a galaxy, prompting young readers to write an essay about each author's argument and how the...