Performance-Based Tasks

Please feel free to use any of the following performance tasks. I developed them by myself or with teachers with whom I've worked using guidance from the Understanding by Design instructional design model developed by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe along with some ideas from CLA in the Classroom. All are designed to address specific state standards, and so are "standards based" assessments. If you do use them, please give me credit and let me know how they worked out. I'm especially interested in any modifications you might have made and would love to post updates here.

Begun with my work in Henrico County, Virginia, this work has become so extensive thanks to my collaboration with Advanced Learning Partnerships, a consulting group that provides professional development services to Dell Learning Services. Dell clients who receive professional learning credits can ask to work with me through Advanced Learning Partnerships so their own teachers can learn how to develop and implement performance tasks. If you or your school district would like to learn more about developing performance tasks and aligning curricula to these learning outcomes, please contact me.

Grade	Title & Description	Content Focus	Standards Alignment
			CCSS	SOL	TEKS
2	Safe Trick-or-Treating Students review two short artilces on trick-or-treating and write an article for the class newsletter on having a safe Halloween.	ELA	X
3	Where should animals live? Build-your-own habitat. Using a PowerPoint template, students build an appropriate habitat for one of three animals and justify their choices. Students need to be able to copy and paste images.	Science		X
3	Conservation at My School Students track the use of paper, plastic, and polystyrene and create a conservation proposal for their school prinicpal(s).	Science		X
3	Ancient Civliztions: Greece, Rome, and Mali In Virginia, third-grade students learn about the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, and Mali. In this task they demonstrate map skills and design a museum exhibit based on these three civilizations.	Social science		X
3	Who should be the next Great American? Students pick a candidate for the Hall of Fame for Great Americans based on their analysis of the seven famous Americans they've studied in the third grade.	Social science		X
3	Energy Conservation (editable handout only) Students review the pros and cons of three renewable energy sources and write a letter to the town/city council to share their findings.	Social science		X
4	Save the Brook Trout (Blendspace version) Students determine ways they and their families can help keep the home of the brook trout healthy.	ELA, math, science		X
4	Early Jamestown: Pocahontas vs. Captain John Smith (under revision) Students determine who should be honored with a statue in Jamestown: Pocahontas or Captain John Smith.	ELA, social studies		X
5	Build a Better Sandwich (Word and PDF) Teacher | Student | Ingredients | Rubric Students design a new sandwich for lunch that meets the new federal guidelines.	ELA, math, science		X
5	Once, Twice, Thrice Upon a Time: The Persistent Popularity of Fairy Tales (in Word) Students select the next big box office movie based on a fairy tale and write an ending to an unfinished tale. (Student Response Sheet)	ELA, math		X
5	What's in a name? What should the name of our school be? Students consider renaming their school after a famous Virginian.	ELA, social science		X
5	What's the value of a field trip? Students take a stance on whether they should be allowed to participate in field trips and what type.	Writing		X
5	Virginia's Deer Population: Valuable Resource or Dangerous Pest? Students write a letter to the city council describing a solution to curb the local deer population and any long-term impacts their solution may have.	Writing		X
5	Jay's Treaty: How Past Decisions Impact Current Lives Task created with faculty from Ojibwe Charter School using Michigan standards and oriented to the importance of tribal identity. Rubric not complete, but standards identified.	Social studies	X
6	Which famous American Best represents the spirit/motivation of the American Revolution? Task created by sixth-grade social studies teacher Kelly Wilson that explores famous personalities form the American Revolution.	Social science		X
6	A Civil War Memoir Kelly Wilson and Makesha Yellock contributed to this task that has students consider the impact of the Civil War on different groups of people.	Social science		X
7	270 TO Win (in Word) Students determine where to spend advertising dollars to win the next presidential election.	math (probability & percentage)	X
7	Rock my Kitchen! (in Word) Students help their parents pick flooring for their kitchen and estimate costs. Originally designed for Oklahoma PASS seventh-grade math standards.	math (geometry & ratios and proportional relationships)	X
7	Should our school recycle? (in Word) Students weigh the pros and cons and convince their peers whether their school should or shouldn't recycle.	ELA	X
7	What does it mean to be an American? Task created by seventh-grade social science teacher Tiana Hunnicutt explores the 14th Amendment and the current debate on its meaning and application.	Social science		X
7	Dear Mrs. Obama Students write letters to Michelle Obama similar to those in Dear Mrs. Roosevelt to argue for or against social welfare programs.	Social science		X
8	Should my school regulate my lunch? Students provide advice to school leaders about whether the amount of foods containing GMOs should be limited in school lunches.	ELA, math, science, civics		X
8	What is creativity? Students must select the next inductee for the "Creativity Hall of Fame."	ELA		X
8	The Cell Phone Challenge Students decide whether they should be able to use cell phones in school.	ELA, math, science, social studies; research & information fluency, communication & collaboration, critical thinking & problem solving, creativity & innovation		X
9	It's Your Prom! Students develop a plan for the school's prom, including determining a venue, catering options, and entertainment. They have to determine a ticket price and how many tickets must be sold to break even.	Algebra (sequences and ratio)		X
9	It's all Greek to Me (Scoring Checklist) Students demonstrate their understanding of connotation and denotation to design an ad campaign for a new product idea whose name is based on a Greek root or god/goddess name.	ELA (connotation & denotation; Greek roots)		X
8-9	T-shirt Task (in Word) Students use algebra to determine a t-shirt fund-raising campaign.	Algebra		X
9	The Impact of Immigration Students make a recommendation suitable for review by the Governor's office regarding their position on immigration.	Writing		X
8-10	Is college really worth it? Students have to convince their parents that they should or should not attend college to meet their career goals.	multi-disciplinary; research & information fluency, communication & collaboration, critical thinking & problem solving, creativity & innovation
8-10	Winning the Germ Wars: Dryers versus Paper Towels Students use their knowledge about viruses to inform their principal whether hand dryers or paper towels should be used in the bathrooms in their new school building.	Biology		X
8-10	Should we clone dinosaurs? Task developed by teacher and instructional coach, Teresa Davis, from Martinsville City Public Schools. Students present an argument for or against cloning extinct species.	Biology		X
8-10	Stand Your Ground (in Word) Task developed on an idea from teachers in Clear Creek ISD, Texas. Students must take a position on whether the state should or shouldn't rescind it's "Stand Your Ground" law.	English language arts			X
10-12	Saving Lake Texoma (uses LiveBinder) Students in an AP Chemistry class in Durant, OK, were encouraged to build a model (physical or virtual) to address the problem of blue-green algae in a local lake to demonstrate mastery of (Oklahoma) standards related to engineering.	Chemistry	X

 

 

 

You can use, remix, and build upon any of my work for non-commercial purposes as long as you give me credit and license your new creations under these same terms.