Looking for ways to plan project based learning activities? Suzie Boss suggests borrowing ideas from your colleagues and adapt or remix to fit your context.

Suzie borrowed ideas from professional development and learning conferences for teachers who may need a boost to get their project-based learning off the ground.

This resource accompanies our Rethink 8th Grade ELA course. It includes ideas for use, ways to support exceptional children, ways to extend learning, digital resources and tools, tips for supporting English Language Learners and students with visual and hearing impairments. There are also ideas for offline learning. 

This parent guide supports parents in helping their child at home with the 8th grade ELA content.

This lesson continues to prepare students to write End of Unit 2 assessment. Today, students use their Atticus note-catchers and their understanding of Atticus as a character to weigh the evidence and craft the claim for their argument essay.

In this lesson, the idea of a “quote sandwich” is introduced. This is a way to help students understand that when they use evidence in an argument essay, they should always analyze the quote.

In this lesson, students start a Writing Improvement Tracker that they will return to after writing the essay in each module for the rest of the year. The purpose of this is to develop students’ awareness of their strengths and challenges, as well as ask students to strategize to address their challenges.

In this lesson, students begin the writing process for the End of Unit 2 Assessment, an argument essay on To Kill a Mockingbird.

In this lesson, students begin the writing process for the End of Unit 2 Assessment, an argument essay on A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

This lesson continues to prepare students to write their argument essay for their End of Unit 2 Assessment. Today, students use their Evidence of Control note-catchers and their understanding of the concept of control as expressed through two of Shakespeare’s characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream by weighing the evidence and crafting the claim for their argument essay.

In this lesson, the Quote Sandwich is introduced; this is a way to help students understand that when they use evidence in an argument essay, they should always: introduce the quote with context so the reader is not confused about what is happening in the novel, include the quote, and analyze the quote.

In this lesson, students start a Writing Improvement Tracker that they will return to after writing the essay in each module for the rest of the year. In Work Time A, students craft a response to a counterclaim. During Work Time B, consider working with students who still need help understanding what an argument essay is or how to write a claim with reasons and evidence for an argument essay.

In this lesson, students will be determining the central idea of a text about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. They will also examine how quotes help to develop a central idea. Next, they will be writing an objective summary. Students will then research information from NASA about becoming an astronaut, as well as quotes that support why someone should become an astronaut. Finally, students will plan and write an argumentative essay about why someone should apply to become an astronaut using claims, evidence, and commentary. To enhance this lesson with a digital focus, instead of the traditional essay format in the origial plan, students can be given the choice of several digital mediums to present their findings. This digital foucs allows for student choice, selection and/or creation of visuals to support student thinking and arguments, and customization of content for the stuent's specific audience. 

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 6th Grade Math.

This course was created by the Rethink Education Content Development Team. This course is aligned to the NC Standards for 8th Grade ELA. 

Students can use the ADDIE Model Template to plan their project-based learning assignment.

Students will choose a topic to research that relates to their career path and write paper on that career in Microsoft Word using MLA formatting for the report.