Young scholars explore business practices by creating a portfolio in class. In this business writing instructional activity, students identify the causes for a businesses success and failure before deciding on a business they would like...

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...

What a great lesson, upper graders are sure to love. They explore costume design and the relationships between theatre, culture, and history. They research three time periods, write a response about two of them, then create a composit...

Learners write an original song using music composition software such as Music Time. By doing this, students identify another use for the computer besides word processing and games.

Trios write, design, and produce cookbooks. In a truly collaborative project, they choose what content to include, contribute recipes, and decide on formatting. Then, they reformat all recipes to ensure consistent style, publish the...

A carefully crafted three-day instructional activity integrates poetry and visual art. By analyzing and comparing Langston Hughes' poem "Mother and Son" and Romare Bearden's collage "The Dove," readers explore the theme of hope. The...

Students examine the use of technical and special effects in TV and film. In this technical effects lesson students review scenes containing special and technical effects then work in groups to apply the effects to different scenes.

Students assess the impact of music to portray emotions and tell stories. Examples are taken from the life of Rosa Parks and a piece of band music called "A Movement for Rosa". Evaluation is accomplished through in-class participation...

Introduce young actors to the meanings of basic drama literary, technical and performance elements with this colorful presentation.

Plot, setting, characters, and conflict are common to both drama and narrative stories. Kids create narrated tableaus that show their understanding of the plot, setting, and conflict of a story they've recently read. The lesson...

There are so many different ways to help learners make text-to-self connections. Here, fifth graders will create tableaus that show an event from a chapter in the class reader. They'll discuss why they chose that event to dramatize and...

Students identify the elements and principles that appear in an illustration of a room and explain each concept in writing. They watch this movie identifying each of the elements and principles of design portrayed in the interiors of...

Fourth graders work in groups; collect data in a survey; depict in tables, charts, or graphs the results of the survey; and make predictions. They use creative writing skills and computer skills to generate a greeting card of their own.

Pupils listen to a play, or perhaps, take turns reading portions of it aloud. Afterward, they thoughtfully analyze and discuss the components of a well-written play. Next, a theme is assigned, and each person writes a play in conjunction...

Students research English/Shakespearean and Italian/Petrarchan sonnet forms. They write an original sonnet on their preferred form (English or Italian), write the poem on the wordprocessor and publish and post it on the net at the Sonnet...

Third graders read poetry inspired by nature. They talk a walk in nature or in their neighborhood with paper and pen and write down feelings and perceptions. They write a poem about their walk and share it with the class.

students research varied aspects of car design, and create a new design for the exterior body of a car. Students conduct Internet research, respond to writing prompts, and analyze, evaluate and synthesize information from multiple...

Fourth graders recognize works of art from various cultures and identify the artist and culture. They view the artistic style and write a response to questions about the style. Students create a still life painting using the techniques...

Students identify and define fashion details that are used in garment design. They play Bingo with fashion detail terminology. They create a fashion sketch using fashion details and write an essay.

Students examine the Lane Tech murals on the Web or at the school. They conduct interviews with students and professionals as a method of researching the subjects of these murals. They write an article for a special "mural" edition of...

Students create a still life drawing creating volume using oil pastels. Given a specific set of directions and materials, a sphere is created using proper technique to convey volume. After the drawing is completed, students write a...

Students use materials from their own environment to design a kite. In this kite design instructional activity, students research the history of kites and obtain a formal mathematical definition of a kite. Students sketch kite designs...

Students explore the environment by learning about nature. In this art lesson, students go on a walk and find objects to help in creating a picture, or collage representing whatever season is being discussed. Students write similes...

Third graders create a Valentine's card stack for a special person of their choice. They write a clear and coherent sentences and paragraphs that create a central idea. Students use the computer to create a HyperStudio two card stack....