This assignment is titled “‘Romeo & Juliet’: The Social Network.” We hear a lot these days about how our students enjoy communicating with one another on sites like Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. This assignment is essentially a 21st century character analysis assignment as a “mock social network.” Students must imagine that six characters from “Romeo & Juliet” have social networking pages where they post their thoughts, concerns, activities, and more. There have been many creative ways to teach “Romeo & Juliet” over the years including mock newspapers, mock trials, and the like. This particular project puts a 21st century spin on those assignments and allows students to express themselves in a familiar medium. Students may role-play as one of six characters in Shakespeare’s play – Romeo, Juliet, Friar Laurence, The Nurse, Mercutio, and/or Lady Capulet – and write “status updates” as if they were the character.

This is a research project about ancient Egyptian pharaohs that requires students to role-play as Egyptologists-in-training. Students may choose one of these eight pharaohs: Akhenaten, Cleopatra, Hatshepsut, Khufu, Ramesses II, Seti I, Tutankhamen, or Thutmose III. Their task is to evaluate their chosen pharaoh’s strengths and weaknesses as a leader and their contributions to Egyptian life and culture. Here are some of the specifics: For students: the role-playing letter introduction, step-by-step directions for implementation (written in plain English for students to easily understand), research logs, and a works cited page to document their sources. For teachers: a list of required materials, a pacing guide, two rubrics, and a list of reputable online resources for students to use when they conduct their research. This project is intended as a cumulative assignment to enrich a unit on Ancient Egypt.

This is a five-page packet that provides detailed instructions for the world cultures theme park project. In this project, students will apply information they know about world cultures and then create a theme park reflecting those cultures in a unique, fun way. I use it to reinforce students' knowledge about world cultures and to brush up on their mapmaking skills. This would also make an excellent project to leave with a substitute teacher, as I have provided very detailed instructions that are easy to follow. This project encourages creativity and critical thinking. You might consider using it as an alternative to a test or an essay. Students will create a theme park that demonstrates their acquired knowledge of a nation's culture, while also demonstrating an ability to accurately create and label a map. You can adapt this assignment to fit any culture (or cultures) that you have taught.

This assignment is titled “‘Julius Caesar’: The Social Network.” We hear a lot these days about how our students enjoy communicating with one another on sites like Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter. This assignment is essentially a 21st century character analysis assignment as a “mock social network.” Students must imagine that six characters from “Julius Caesar” have social networking pages where they post their thoughts, concerns, activities, and more. There have been many creative ways to teach “Julius Caesar” over the years including mock newspapers, mock trials, and the like. This particular project puts a 21st century spin on those assignments and allows students to express themselves in a familiar medium. Students may role-play as one of six characters in Shakespeare’s play – Caesar, Brutus, Antony, Portia, Calpurnia, and/or Cassius – and write “status updates” as if they were the character.

The Graveyard Book RAFT Writing Project is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Neil Gaiman’s popular novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.). I define this further in the packet.

The Frankenstein RAFT Writing Project is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Mary Shelley's famous novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.).

Consider purchasing this quick vocabulary assignment to introduce your students to some basic geography terminology about landforms and bodies of water. You might even use it as a vocabulary quiz. The choice is yours! There are twenty terms found in the complete assignment, with kid-friendly definitions, and an answer key for quick, simple grading. The vocabulary words included are: Basin, Bay, Butte, Canyon, Cataract, Delta, Fjord, Flood Plain, Glacier, Island, Isthmus, Mesa, Peninsula, Plain, Plateau, River Mouth, Strait, Tributary, Valley, and Volcano. Also included, please find 6 puzzles: 2 crossword puzzles, 2 word search puzzles, and 2 cryptogram puzzles. For the puzzles, I divided the 20 vocabulary words into two segments. Therefore, each puzzle contains ten vocabulary words. I found that dividing the terms in this manner made retention easier for my students.

"The Hunger Games RAFT Writing Project is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Suzanne Collins's popular dystopian novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.). I define this further in the packet.

This map project is a fun, quirky way to allow students to demonstrate cartography and map reading skills. Let “Pirate Pete” guide your students through a culminating project about fundamental map skills: absolute location, the compass rose, the map key (or legend), and map symbols. The twist, of course, is that students must create their own treasure map, as instructed by Pirate Pete. The assignment might also make a good stand-alone substitute lesson for a day when you cannot be at school. Included in the packet is Pirate Pete’s introductory letter and a set of treasure map-making instructions.

This assignment introduces students to the six American standard time zones: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific, Alaska, and Hawaii-Aleutian. Students read a short, original non-fiction story about time zones. Next, they answer 15 questions (including two critical thinking questions) about American time zones.

The Women Who Shaped America Research Project allows upper elementary and middle grade students (grades 5-8 with some modifications) an opportunity to research one of 40 important, ground-breaking, and/or pioneering women and present their findings in a biographical essay. These individuals include activists, scientists, athletes, trailblazers, politicians, authors, suffragists, and many more! That's right: there are 40 individuals to choose from! This research project is ideal for Women's History Month -- or any time of the year. There is also an optional digital storytelling component utilizing the free iPad app, Shadow Puppet EDU. This part of the project again is optional. Students can still complete the biographical essay.

The Maze Runner RAFT Writing Project contains a Common Core-ready writing project for the English/Language Arts classroom.This is a culminating project to end a unit of study on James Dashner's novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.). I define this further in the packet.

The Lightning Thief RAFT Writing Project contains a Common Core-ready writing project for the English/Language Arts classroom.This is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Rick Riordan's fun novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.). I define this further in the packet.

This is a collection of wall art you might consider printing, laminating, and hanging on the walls of your classroom. There are six pieces. You might even open them on a SmartBoard screen and ask students in your Life Skills/Social Development class to write what they think these proverbs mean to them.

The "To Kill a Mockingbird RAFT Writing Project" contains a Common Core-ready writing project for the English/Language Arts or Social Studies classroom.This is a culminating project to end a unit of study on Harper Lee's famous novel. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym for a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. RAFT stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.).

This is a collaborative research project about United States geography that requires students to role-play as product designers for a fictitious travel association, Discover the USA. An excellent example of differentiated instruction, students may research any of the 50 U.S. states to find information that makes the state unique: major landmarks, landforms, major and minor cities, symbols, fun facts, etc. Working with partners, the team members will then choose one of five products in this assignment to show what they have learned: a PowerPoint presentation, a three-fold travel brochure, a mobile, a game or game board, or a map on poster board. To meet Writing Across the Curriculum goals, a two-page report on what they learned in the project is also required.

Would you like to enliven early American history with a fun, challenging writing project? The Salem Witch Trials RAFT Writing Project contains a RAFT writing project for the social studies or Civics classroom. What is a RAFT, you might ask? RAFT is an acronym that stands for Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. It is a powerful writing strategy that provides rigor, flexibility, and variety. A RAFT can be implemented in all content areas, thus making it an excellent Writing Across the Curriculum resource. Young writers might pursue one of several genres of writing (expository, narrative, descriptive, argumentative or persuasive) to create one of several products (letter, television commercial, diary entry, etc.). I define this further in the packet.

This packet contains 15 worksheets spanning several disciplines and subjects including social studies, science, physical education, and reading. All assignments will align easily with the Common Core research standards, if this is a necessity. Students are asked to utilize reputable websites or a good online encyclopedia to find information to complete each task with fun and engaging topics! Assignments are available in different formats: multiple choice, matching, short answer, and short essay. In some cases, extension assignments are also available, which might provide excellent springboards into large-scale research projects and presentations. I hope these are helpful! Additionally, there are two assignments in this packet – Keyword Keepers and Subject Searches – that introduce students to the challenging world of Internet research. If your students are inexperienced online searchers, consider starting them on these two assignments.

My students asked me to explain Kwanzaa recently. I decided to write this assignment to guide the process. "Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Life and Heritage" is a Common Core-ready reading assignment and critical thinking activity. It is intended for upper elementary and middle school students. Consider using it in reading, language arts, or geography class. It is quite flexible! Students will read a two-page passage that explains aspects about the holiday. They will then complete ten questions related to the reading. First, they must use the reading (or a dictionary) to define seven vocabulary words. Some of which are "Tier Two" and "Tier Three" vocabulary words. (If you are not familiar, the "tiers" refer to language objectives in the Common Core standards.) They will also answer three critical thinking questions in sentence form.

Consider purchasing this quick vocabulary assignment to introduce your middle school or high school students to some basic terminology about Judaism. You might even use it as a vocabulary quiz. The choice is yours! I believe this assignment would be best for kids between the ages of 13-18. There are twenty-five terms found in the complete assignment with definitions and an answer key for quick, simple grading. Additionally, I have created and included four puzzles you might consider using: two word searches and two double puzzles. All answer keys are also provided. Last, please find a handful of websites you might consult to build a lesson or unit plan about Judaism.