Here is an authentic assessment task for Shakespeare's Macbeth. Young literature scholars prepare, perform, and record a news broadcast about the major events in the play. For example, groups may choose to report on the death of Lady...

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...

An engineering design lesson plan contains connected activities as a capstone engineering project. The activities revolve around the principle of improving an existing object and designing the manufacturing process in order to do so. The...

The world is full of possibilities for your ELLs. Help them explore their career options with a lesson that incorporates Internet research and expository writing. Not only will they learn more about their careers of choice, but both...

Share pupil responses to an interactive slide show about a design initiative intended to help the world's poor. The class works in groups to brainstorm ideas, and then prepares sketches of their own design solutions. Each rendering...

If you could travel anywhere in the United States, where would you go? Use this question to interest your fourth, fifth, and sixth graders as they experiment with Mapquest or other direction-based resources. They choose where they'd like...

Pupils discover how to write letters using Appleworks. Following a demonstration by the teacher, they compose rough drafts of their letters. Working independently, students correct their drafts and type the final versions.

Just about every public building that your students are familiar with has an access ramp which complies with ADA requirements. As it turns out, designing such a ramp is an excellent activity to incorporate slope, the Pythagorean Theorem,...

Ninth graders create an instructional manual about using a mechanical device. In this technical writing lesson, 9th graders create a PowerPoint presentation that includes the step by step process of how to use the mechanical device.

Develop fluency with a variety of works. Help kindergartners use multiple strategies to understand text and decoding. They will create an alphabet poem book on Kid Works 2 to illustrate and write their own poem. In the end, they will...

Should school and professional teams test athletes for sickle cell trait? Will it protect them by providing knowledge or lead to discrimination by not allowing them to participate in sports? After learning about this genetic disorder,...

Speaking of the Internet. The culminating lesson for the unit on the Internet challenges pupils to prepare short, two-minute speeches on an issue facing society. The pupils chose from three topics that connect the Internet and...

Students write a book, newspaper, or other chose published writing that explains the connection between engineering and the environment. They determine why engineers need to be good communicators.

Students explore the components of the transference of technological information through this ten instructional activity unit. The applications to specific careers, the determination of responsible use of technology, and the affects of...

Students use strategies to comprehend technical writing. They write reports with great detail, supporting material, and clear vocabulary. They incorporate source materials into their speaking and writing and use voice, tone, and style.

Students create commercials using a digital camera. After brainstorming their ideas, they spend three days writing their commercials. Students practice and edit their commercials and then present them for review.

Students use audio devices to record a text and have a peer edit it.  In this peer review and collaboration instructional activity, students write a short text on a topic provided by the teacher.  After recording their text the...

Young scholars utilize strategies to comprehend literature. They write stories with diverse vocablulary that incorporate the difference between internal and external conflict. They make sure that the stories use methods of managing and...

Ninth graders, while looking and examining a photograph provided to them, write a composition that exemplifies the photograph with at least three of the five composition rules illustrated with 100% accuracy. The composition is the start...

How smart is that piece of paper? The activity introduces the idea of computer programming as a list of instructions written by computer programmers. Two individuals play a game of Tic-Tac-Toe in which one follows the commands...

Fourth graders identify the character traits of Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. They find quotations in the story that illlustrate the traits. Students use Kidspiration to write their reports on a template.

Young scholars construct a website with several links to pages they create. The site weaves logo titles, photos, animation, and textured backgrounds created and edited in PhotoShop into pages created using Dreamweaver software. The...

Students write and illustrate a sentence which names a letter of the alphabet. The sentence should have subject, verb, describing words, and incorporate alliterative techniques.

Young scholars dissamble and analyze the spring system of a click pen. They analyze a cross-section worksheet, dissamble the pens, fill in the missing parts of the cross-section diagram, and write a description of how the pen works.