EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment: Justification for Character and Scene Selection
When it comes to love and midsummer nights, confessions are tricky. Learners place themselves in the shoes of a character from William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and explain how a character manipulated another character in...
Curated OER
But I'm Not a Writing Teacher!
How teaching writing skills in the science classroom will benefit your students as they transition to Common Core.
EngageNY
Unknown Angle Proofs—Writing Proofs
What do Sherlock Holmes and geometry have in common? Why, it is a matter of deductive reasoning as the class learns how to justify each step of a problem. Pupils then present a known fact to ensure that their decision is correct.
Curated OER
Writing a Letter to the Editor
Students identify the main elements/structure of a letter to the editor. They brainstorm for thoughts and opinions on a specific topic and write a first draft of a letter to an editor of a newspaper. They give each other preliminary...
Curated OER
Writing a Letter to the Editor
Young scholars examine the structure and elements of a letter to the editor. They identify letter elements, read and discuss newspaper letters, and write and submit a letter to a local newspaper.
EngageNY
Solve for Unknown Angles—Angles and Lines at a Point
How do you solve for an unknown angle? In this sixth installment of a 36-part series, young mathematicians use concepts learned in middle school geometry to set up and solve linear equations to find angle measures.
Geometry Accelerated
Accelerated Geometry Review Sheet
Your geometry learners use their knowledge of various geometric concepts to write proofs. Starting with givens containing parallel line segments with transversals and triangles and quadrilaterals, and the mid-point and distance formulas;...
Curated OER
What's My Story? A Book About Me
Have your class create keepsake books about themselves. This activity is a presented as a basic idea with minimal justifications or classroom applications. However, with a little effort, this could become a full lesson. Add a rubric,...
Curated OER
New Deck: Percents
Fifth graders observe and demonstrate the meaning of percents by creating a new deck of fifty-two cards. They meet a specified criteria, with a specific percent of the cards being prime numbers, eight's, multiples of five, face cards,...
Curated OER
Making School a Better Place.
Students study the problems in their school and work on solutions for those problems. In this writing process lesson, students analyze a problem and work as a team to find a solution. Students present written and oral work to...
Curated OER
Peanut Butter and Jelly: The Importance of Detailed Procedures
Students write a list of steps to be taken in making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They observe as the instructor literally follows each step. After realizing the importance of clear communication, students write a scientific...
College Board
2009 AP® Calculus AB Free-Response Questions
What was one of the big takeaways from 2009? By reviewing the released AP® Calculus free-response questions, pupils and teachers realize that performing mathematics is not all there is to doing well on the exam. Several items require...
Curated OER
Concise Writing Exercises
Are your pupils' essays full of long, wordy sentences? Help them to write more concise sentences with this practice worksheet, which provides twenty long sentences for your young editors to proofread. Use the activity as a homework...
Shakespeare in American Life
"Strike a Pose:" Music and Vogueing in The Winter's Tale
After class members have read and discussed Act III of The Winter’s Tale, groups select one line from Act III, scene i that they feel captures the essence of the entire scene. They then create a tableaux that best depicts the scene’s...
Curated OER
Logic and Proof Writing
Students define inductive and deductive reasoning and write two column proofs. In this geometry lesson, students analyze arguments and draw conclusion. They define steps necessary to arrive at the correct answer when completing proofs.
Curated OER
Measuring Angles
Solve and complete 18 problems about angles. First, demonstrate that each conjecture is false by giving a counterexample. Then write the inverse, contrapositive, and converse for the each statement. In addition, write a...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Cubing Strategy
What is love? Why is it important? Explore this concept with an interactive activity that brings together Bloom's taxonomy and Willa Cather's My Antonia. After completing the novel, pupils toss a Bloom's cube and then answer the...
Howard County Schools
Maria’s Quinceañera
How long will it take to save up for a car? Classmates use linear and exponential models to see how money received during a Quinceanera will grow over time.
California Education Partners
Soccer Snacks
Make the cookies healthy. The assessment task asks pupils to determine the number of cookies they could make based on a given amount of ingredients. Given two sugar substitutes, learners determine which substitute would be better and...
Curated OER
Oil Spills: The Scientific Method in Action
Learners write a clear and detailed procedure and explore the complications in trying to clean the environment. They develop various ways to solve a complex problem. Students are cognizant of the effects of pollution on the environment....
College Board
2008 AP® Calculus BC Free-Response Questions
The AP® exam is not just about the calculations. By reviewing the free-response questions from 2008, teachers and pupils see that several items require justifications and explanations to gain full credit. The chief reader even points out...
Inside Mathematics
Quadratic (2006)
Most problems can be solved using more than one method. A worksheet includes just nine questions but many more ways to solve each. Scholars must graph, solve, and justify quadratic problems.
Cornell University
Constructing and Visualizing Topographic Profiles
Militaries throughout history have used topography information to plan strategies, yet many pupils today don't understand it. Scholars use Legos and a contour gauge to understand how to construct and visualize topographic profiles. This...
Inside Mathematics
Graphs (2004)
Show your pupils that perimeter is linear and area is quadratic in nature with a short assessment task that requests learners to connect the graph and equation to a description about perimeter or area. Scholars then provide a...