Esther Forbes' award-winning Revolutionary War novel, Johnny Tremain and excerpts from Julie Otsuka's When the Emperor Was Divine are used to model how imagery brings alive the setting of a story. The young writers then craft their...

No one is perfect. George Orwell argues imperfection is preferred over sainthood. Scholars write essays describing how he expresses his argument in writing. Writers also respond to Eudora Welty's recollection of life experiences with...

Young scientists demonstrate their creativity while completing several activities, to assess genetic variations and mutations. Instructors provide a list of options and scientists choose to write a comic strip, create a book,...

Plants prefer classical music to rock and roll. That's one of the claims in an informational passage that makes up part of a set of standardized assessment questions. The set is part of a larger collection of English language arts tests...

You have the power! Scholars learn that they have power of the pen in their writing. After reading and viewing various sources about standardized testing, they express their own opinions about the testing by writing letters to the...

Discussions of eminent domain sometimes trigger strong emotions. A set of free-response questions from the 2019 AP® English Language and Composition exam tackles the concept with a series of persuasive pieces. Learners analyze all six...

Does more power make you more important? Test takers ponder the question as the 2005 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B asks scholars to take a close look at power by writing thoughtful essays. Writers...

Is there an art to dying? Scholars write essays describing how a death scene contributes to a novel or play. They also write essays analyzing poetic techniques an author uses and literary elements they see in a passage. Writers create...

Have you ever felt left in the dark? Scholars write essays after analyzing two poems pertaining to night and darkness. Pupils also read a passage and write an essay discussing the author's depiction of characters. A third essay allows...

Quickly get to the decimal point. The last assessment in a nine-part series requires scholars to work with decimals. Pupils compare the race times of several athletes and calculate how much they have improved over time. During the second...

Learn how to correctly analyze and score a written performance task. Example work shows annotated think alouds for grading. Teachers also have access to graphic organizers for helping writers succeed,

Scholars review the previous nine lessons of analysis of King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and use their work to create a formal essay responding to a writing prompt about the purpose of the work. This mid-unit assessment is a quick...

All is fair in claims and counterclaims. Scholars continue to work on their argumentative writing pieces by ensuring their papers fairly address claims and counterclaims. Writers review the importance of argumentative writing conventions...

Sidewalk patterns ... it's definitely not foursquare! Learners investigate patterns in sidewalk blocks, write an expression to represent the pattern, and then solve problems using the expressions.

To get the word out that the Great Pacific garbage patch (GPGP) contains millions of pounds of non-biodegrading plastics, individuals research the GPGP and write an article for a newsletter. Researchers present their facts in a...

Good or evil? Some characters never identify themselves as either. Scholars create essays in which they examine morally ambiguous characters. Writers also analyze and write essays about the use of poem titles and take a close look at the...

Communication is the key. Prompts from the 2005 AP® English Language and Composition Free-Response Questions Form B allows scholars two opportunities to analyze the use of communication to express thoughts. First, pupils look at...

Music brings back a memory. One prompt from the 2017 AP® English Literature and Composition Free-Response Questions asks scholars to read a poem and write essays analyzing the relationship between music and the author's memories. Two...

Does the world shape a person's character? Scholars choose a novel or play, take a close look, and write essays about how surroundings affect a character. Writers also analyze literary elements in an excerpt from a novel and poetic...

Students assess samples of writing for each trait and discuss the rationale for scoring. They understand that the traits of writing offer a common language for revision. This lesson includes a scoring rubric for the students to use.

Scholars enter the midpoint of the unit and connect all the previous 16 lessons about the text "Of Our Spiritual Strivings." They complete a Mid-Unit Assessment that requires a multi-paragraph response to a writing prompt.

Looking for a new writing prompt or primary source practice for your global history or geography class? Take a look at a helpful state standardized test for additional practice for your learners. Writing prompts include asking scholars...

Put expressions, equations, and inequalities to work! Young scholars solve problems using various strategies. Meant as a snapshot of the Smarter Balanced Assessment, a set of seven questions includes topics from writing expressions to...

Help a company maximize their profits! A detailed project-based learning activity examines two production scenarios. Your young scholars write a linear demand function. They then apply the function to develop a revenue, cost, and profit...