K-12 performance tasks in 

Using a comparison of the experiences of two characters in stories, students write a book recommendation for their peers that will be compiled into a book of reviews to be kept for future students to use or posted on an electronic bulletin board.

Students choose items two at a time at a school store and add them together, and show two different ways in arriving at the totals. They are then given a set amount of money that is a multiple of ten and select an item that is subtracted from the total they have, and then show two different ways in arriving at the total remaining money. Students then explain to an audience how they solved their addition and subtraction problems.

Students "build" a monster out of base ten blocks. They then find and prove the value of their monster. They will have to remove certain "parts" of the monster to show an understanding of subtraction from the original value.

The teacher demonstrates modeling composing a teen number (11-19) using a set of materials (e.g., pony beads, legos, colored bears, chain links, stickers, dobbers, bingo chips), making sure to use different colors (1 color for a group of 10 and 1 color for the further ones). Students then choose a number from 11-19, and a set of materials with each having different colors, and use the materials to demonstrate the number they selected. After posting student projects around the room, the teacher models decomposing numbers. Students then go around the room and decompose three of the posted student projects on separate paper.

After reading to students informational texts about community helpers, in group discussion, students identify the reasons an author gives to support the points an author gives. Students then choose one community helper to create a trifold pamphlet illustrating their helper and three facts about their helper. They can draw, write and/or label.

After listening to a story, students retell/sequence the story through creating their own illustrations. Then, after listening to a second story with a similar theme or characters, students complete a Venn diagram detailing one thing that is the same and two things that are different about the two stories.

Students adopt the role of a performance artist who has been commissioned by a science curriculum developer. Their job is to create a performance for students to learn about how thermal energy affects particles of matter as it changes state. Students cannot see the particles of matter, and therefore need an analogous model to help them understand this concept. The performance artists are asked to create a product that has both a visual and sound component to meet many learning styles.

The task assesses students' capacity to present a claim supported with qualitative and quantitative evidence to express how heavy metals affect the natural world or human population and what can be done about their presence. Students select a water topic to write or perform a persuasive public service announcement (PSA). They research heavy metal elements found in drinking water, perform water experiments, and select a specific heavy metal found in water to focus on. Students then watch and discuss sample PSAs before creating a storyboard for their own PSA, creating and editing the PSA, and finally publishing and presenting it to an audience.

After gaining an understanding of the standards, students take on the role of a graphic designer or music producer to create an image of five photos or mash-up of five songs, respectively, while meeting Fair Use protocol and not breaking copyright laws. Both options require the creation of any needed MLA citations for all work used and require a short write-up attached to your image or music that tells specifically how your work fits into the category of Fair Use.

Students select a job that they want to do in the future, then determine the type and amount of space they will need for their job. Students identify the area and perimeter of the initial space they are designing, then find the area and perimeter of at least 3 additional things within this space (e.g., for a playground, I find the area and perimeter of the swing set space, the field, a slide, a seesaw etc.). Students complete a graphic organizer to ensure that their smaller pieces can fit inside their larger space, then represent their tasks on a choice of medium (Scratch, 3D representation, clay, drawings, poster, Google Slides). Students then present their task and explain why area and perimeter is important to know how to use.