How do you know when you've made an effective assignment that has strong links to Common Core State Standards? Drawing from over 10 years of her experience as a teacher coach, Eleanor Dougherty answers that question and guides you in crafting assignments that matter. This book will help you to understand the powerful effect that assignments have…

Linking assessment to everyday classroom instruction requires a shift in both thinking and practice. For many, the term "assessment" simply means "grade". "Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Student Learning" shows how teachers can move away from using tests, letter or numerical grades, or passing or failing as…

"The Power of Probability" is a new math program aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and Common Core State Standards, which gives students opportunities to practice their skills and knowledge of the mathematics of probability. Developed by The Actuarial Foundation, the program's lessons and worksheets motivate…

Beginning in third grade, Pennsylvania students are required to take the Pennsylvania State Standardized Assessment (PSSA), which presents multiple-choice mathematics questions and open-ended mathematics problems. Consistent with the Communication Standard of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, while solving the open-ended problems,…

People are writing as never before--in blogs and text messages and on MySpace and Facebook and Twitter. Teenagers do a good deal of this writing, and in some composing environments--for example, the text-messaging space of a cell phone--they are ahead of adults in their invention of new writing practices and new genres. At the same time, teenagers…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to creating and performing original artistic presentations. It begins with…

Students focus on people who make a difference. The unit features men and women whose achievements have had a direct or indirect influence in the students' lives. These individuals include heroes from long ago and the recent past along with people who are currently active in the local community. The unit is crafted around biographies. It aims to…

On November 17, 1995 the following news item appeared in "Time Magazine": "Long-lost cave reveals burial tombs of Maccabees." You (the student) are a journalist who has been asked by your editor to follow up that news item with an in-depth feature a two page spread with text and graphics entitled "The Life and Times of…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to writing in the English language for a variety of technical purposes,…

This lesson asks 12th grade students to imagine that they are special assistants to the Undersecretary of Commerce for a foreign country who must answer a letter from a U.S. company planning to move its manufacturing operations overseas. The lesson also asks them to design a business brochure that will convince the company to come to their…

In this lesson plan, students (grades 11-12) examine photographs of the Nubian environment and the Nubian people. Students critically examine artifacts of ancient Nubia and write a two page essay outlining the Nubian environment, describing the Nubia people, and explaining how they adapted physically, materially, politically, and intellectually to…

A U.S. frontier theme park is opening in your (the student's) home town. The featured adventure rides will be forms of transportation used in the late 1700s to early 1800s to journey west across the Appalachian mountains. Each ride represents an historically accurate time and place. The students need maps identifying where the mode of…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to creating, interpreting, and evaluating a variety of artistic expressions. It…

Developed by classroom teachers during the development phase of Minnesota's Graduation Standards, this performance package is made up of locally designed assignments that, taken together, show whether a student has learned and can apply the knowledge and skills related to writing for a variety of academic and technical purposes, situations, and…

For social studies teachers, good social studies requires good reading, writing, and mathematics skills. In addition, the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) administers reading, writing, and mathematics assessments to students at specific grade levels. Through many years of working together with their classes and with the "We the…