Curated OER
Down for the Count?
The New York Times article “Supreme Court, Split 5-4, Halts Florida Count in Blow to Gore” provides the opening to an assessment of the United States Supreme Court decision in the case of the 2000 presidential election. Assuming the...
Curated OER
Minorities in Mainstream American Society
So many people fought for Civil Rights in the United States. Read about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and discuss what the act guarantees. Then pass out a slew of magazines and encourage them to observe how often minorities appear in...
School Improvement in Maryland
Supreme Court Case Overview I
As part of a study of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, class members examine four Supreme Court decisions—Gitlow v. New York, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Griswold v. Connecticut—that incorporated the due...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Increasing and Decreasing Quantities by a Percent
As part of a study of percent and percent change, learners first complete an assessment task with several percent change problems. They then complete an activity using cards to create a diagram expressing percent increases and...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Modeling: Making Matchsticks
Math: The only subject where the solution to a problem is seven million matches. Young scholars first complete an assessment task estimating the number of matches they can make from a tree of given dimensions. They then evaluate provided...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Comparing Lines and Linear Equations
Scholars first complete an assessment task on writing linear equations to model and solve a problem on a running race. They then take part in a card matching activity where they match equations and graphs of lines to diagrams of fluid...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Evaluating Statements About Enlargements
Double, toil ,and double linear dimensions. Learners first complete an assessment investigating how doubling linear dimensions affects the area of pizzas and the volume of popcorn containers. They then complete an activity investigating...
Noyce Foundation
Lawn Mowing
This is how long we mow the lawn together. The assessment requires the class to work with combining ratios and proportional reasoning. Pupils determine the unit rate of mowers and calculate the time required to mow a lawn if they work...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Representing and Combining Transformations
Transform your learners into master geometers with an activity that asks them to first complete an assessment task drawing the result after transformation of a given shape in the coordinate plane. They then use cards to...
Inside Mathematics
Rugs
The class braids irrational numbers, Pythagoras, and perimeter together. The mini-assessment requires scholars to use irrational numbers and the Pythagorean Theorem to find perimeters of rugs. The rugs are rectangular, triangular,...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Dance Critic
What do writing and dance have in common? They both have a six-trait rubric for assessment. Just like a good story, a good dance must have a hook, beginning, middle, end, logical sequence, and a climax. Learners use a...
Inside Mathematics
Picking Apples
Getting the best pick of the apples depends on where to pick. The short assessment presents a situation in which class members must analyze a real-world situation to determine the cost of picking apples. The pricing structures resemble...
Inside Mathematics
Sorting Functions
Graph A goes with equation C, but table B. The short assessment task requires class members to match graphs with their corresponding tables, equations, and verbalized rules. Pupils then provide explanations on the process they used to...
Agriculture in the Classroom
Growing a Nation: Into a New Millennium 1970-Present
If you want to focus on critical thinking skills, this well-constructed series of activities will challenge your history or agriculture class to evaluate the effectiveness of administrative decisions related to agricultural and the...
Solution Tree
A Data Picture of Our School
Collecting the data required to adequately assess school programs can be an overwhelming task. Simplify the process with a three-page worksheet that identifies the indicators for student achievement results, engagement data, discipline...
California Education Partners
Tuck Everlasting
An assessment takes a close look at the story, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt, and tests writing abilities. Over the course of two days, scholars read an excerpt, answer questions on a instructional activity pertaining to...
California Education Partners
Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel
A three-part assessment tests scholars' reading and writing capabilities. Young readers listen to and read an excerpt from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel. After drawing pictures of what is memorable, learners discuss...
School Improvement in Maryland
Affirmative Action
Do the government's affirmative action policies promote equity in the United States? The Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution and affirmative action policies come under scrutiny in an activity that asks class members to...
Museum of Tolerance
And Justice for All? Slavery Not Just in the Past
Slavery in India, Sudan, and Mauritania? What about in the United States? Groups research modern slavery in these four countries, collecting factual evidence (What), determine their feelings about this evidence (So what),...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Inscribing and Circumscribing Right Triangles
High schoolers attempt an assessment task requiring them to find the radii of inscribed and circumscribed circles of a right triangle with given dimensions. They then evaluate provided sample responses to consider how to improve...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Discovering the Pythagorean Theorem
Young mathematicians join the ancient order of the Pythagoreans by completing an assessment task that asks them to find the area of tilted squares on dot paper. They then look at patterns in the squares to develop the...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Translating Between Repeating Decimals and Fractions
Model for your young mathematicians the process for converting repeating decimals to fractions. To demonstrate their understanding of the process, class members then complete and assessment task and participate in an activity matching...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Generalizing Patterns: Table Tiles
As part of a study of geometric patterns, scholars complete an assessment task determining the number of tiles needed to cover a tabletop. They then evaluate provided sample responses to see different ways to solve the same...
Mathematics Assessment Project
Classifying Equations of Parallel and Perpendicular Lines
Parallel parking might be difficult, but finding parallel lines is fairly simple. In this lesson, learners first complete an assessment task involving parallel and perpendicular lines in the coordinate plane. Individuals then take part...