High School ELA
Performance Based Assessments
GRADE 9
Unit 1 PBA #1
Presenting an Interview
Narrative:
GRADE 11
The American Experience:
Analyze Oedipus as a tragic hero
motif. Debate a modern figure’s
fulfillment of the Aristotelian traits
of a tragic hero then compose a
written argument defending or
refuting the choice.
(I/E/) (A)
Compose an SAT style argument
defending the nature of being an
American.
(A)
Academic
Interview a person and write an
interview narrative effectively
portraying the voice and experience
of the interviewee.
(N)
GRADE 10
A Modern Hero:
GRADE 12
The Grade 12 curriculum has
been revised to create an
opportunity for students to apply
and refine their writing skills
prior to entering college or
career.
The writing is tied to British
literature, with an emphasis on
composing in a minimum of five
of the ten modes of rhetoric
generally required in college
freshman composition courses.
The final project is a research
based documentary which
requires students to research a
societal issue of their choice.
Real Life:
Compose a response to an SATlike prompt. (A)
Create a Live Journal covering a
variety of topics involving students
in an ISearch to uncover the theme
that they will research during the
year (I/E) (N)
Unit 1 PBA #2
Creating an Ad Campaign for a
Novel:
Work with a group to develop an
ad campaign that uses the five
elements of argumentation to
persuade your classmates to read
the book. (A)
Mapping a Text:
Translating History:
Documentary Analysis:
Critique 3 literary texts and 3
pieces of digital media using one
critical approach. Create a visual
representation of the approach and
write an analysis examining how
one aspect of the approach applies
to each. (I/E)
Retell a scene from a piece of
historical fiction by accurately
placing the narrative in a different
historical time period. Justify your
choice of setting with a written
analysis.
(N) (A)
Compose a process analysis essay
explaining how a documentary is
developed and the purpose of
creating a documentary on a chosen
topic. (I/E) Write a reflection on
the chosen documentary’s impact
on society. (A)
High School ELA
Performance Based Assessments
GRADE 9
Unit 2 PBA #1
Creating a Story Board:
Work collaboratively to transform
a section of a printed text into a
story board with a written
explanation of the intended effects
of your cinematic choices. (N)
GRADE 10
The Irony of Life:
Analyze the irony in extended
proverbs and parables in order to
argue how the author of an
extended text uses story-telling to
convey a message about the irony
of the human experience.
(A)
GRADE 11
Declaring Independence:
Research one signer of the
Declaration of Independence.
Reflect his beliefs in a storyboard
dialoging the meeting to sign the
document. (N) Write an analysis
defending your choices. (A)
GRADE 12
Cause and Effect:
Research the self-identified societal
problem (theme) in unit 1, describe
the causes, propose a serious
solution to the problem, and
discuss the possible effects of this
solution. (I/E)
Analyze causes of and effects of
war in literature.
Academic
Unit 2 PBA #2
Unit 3 PBA #1
Writing an Analysis Essay:
Write an essay analyzing the
cinematic style of director Tim
Burton focusing on the ways the
director uses stylistic techniques.
(A)
Creating a Poetry Anthology:
Create a thematic poetry anthology
with an introduction to the
collection, seven original poems
with complimentary visuals, and a
reflection explaining the style and
content of the work. (I/E)
Tell a Story:
Write an extended proverb/parable
that tells a story conveying the
irony of the human experience and
modeled after an extended text.
(N)
Poetic Optimism:
Modeling two poetic forms,
students will use a symbol of hope
to write about an oppressive
situation. Compose a written
analysis of symbolism conveying
hope in peer created poems.
(N) (I/E)
So You Say You Want a
Revolution:
Analyze the divergent views of the
Revolutionary Time Period by
compiling an anthology of essays
which reflects multiple
perspectives. Compose a forward
analyzing the choices.
(I/E)
Compare/Contrast:
Apply two critical perspectives to
any one of the readings from the
unit and compose an essay
comparing and contrasting the
different perspectives. (I/E)
Op-Ed Commentary:
Compose an SAT style essay
related to the theme of injustice.
Compose an opinion piece from the
perspective of a character in a slave
narrative. Accurately portray
character voice through diction and
style.
(N) (A)
Extended Definition:
Compose an extended definition
for the essential question, “What
makes a leader?” (A)
Analyze two leaders represented
in selected literature. Compare
and contrast their leadership
styles and their effectiveness as
leaders. Compare to leaders in
contemporary society.
High School ELA
Performance Based Assessments
GRADE 9
Unit 3 PBA #2
Analyzing then Presenting a
Poet:
Analyze a collection of work from
a poet and write a style-analysis
essay. Select a poem that you
have analyzed and present an oral
interpretation of the poem to the
class. (A)
Unit 4 PBA #1
Shakespeare on the Stage:
Academic
Create an acting company to
interpret, rehearse, and perform a
scene from the The Tragedy of
Romeo and Juliet with a director’s
notebook outlining your process in
making the words come to life on
the stage. (I/E)
Unit 4 PBA #2
All the World’s a Stage:
Analyze how Shakespeare uses
mythological allusion to express
the human condition: foolish, lovesick, blind, etc. (A)
GRADE 10
GRADE 11
Theme in Multimedia:
Create a photo essay that captures
images of hope even in despair.
Write an explanation of how the
photo essay reflects a shared theme
with a selected literary text.
(I/E)
Turn of the Century Interview:
Analyze a sociological issue.
Examine the issue through
character interpretation by creating
a scripted interview. Model this
interview after a mentor text.
Ensure the interview reflects plot
elements, character dynamics and
diction.
(N) (I/E)
Narration:
GRADE 12
Kaleidoscope of Critical
Analysis:
Create a visual analysis applying 3
critical approaches to an extended
literary work. Choose one
approach and develop a literary
argument applying the chosen
approach to text.
(A)
Read All About It:
Analyze the historical and
sociological issues in the 1920s by
creating a newspaper. Compose a
written analysis connecting the
components of the paper to the
literary text.
(I/E)
The Critical Lens:
Global Summit/P.S.A.:
Develop a thesis arguing the
current status of sociological issue
reflected in a literary text. Collect
evidence to present an information
graphic in a class global summit.
Create a P.S.A. arguing a possible
solution.
(A)
Living Tableau:
Choose a key scene in a literary
work and create a tableau reflecting
significant dialogue and movement.
Compose a written analysis
justifying choices as thematically
appropriate. Students will film the
tableau and sequence them to
determine textual alignment.
(A)
Student Documentary:
Create a documentary text in a
media channel of choice (TV news
magazine, short documentary film,
network news broadcast, pod cast,
witness panel to the United Nations
Security Panel, etc.) in which
information from the research is
transformed into an argument
regarding the chosen topic.(A)
Write a reflective essay that
illustrates an event that pertains to
the theme you have chosen to
research as your final project. Base
your essay on an event discovered
during your research. (N)
Apply a critical lens to the
significance of a real world “event”
by writing an argumentative essay
asserting a particular critical
interpretation of a the chosen
“event” using evidence from at
least five of the texts gathered that
support the argument.(A)
High School ELA
Performance Based Assessments
Possible SLOs
GRADE 9
Argument:
U1PBA2 (diagnostic)
U2PBA2 (midpoint)
U4PBA2 (summative)
GRADE 10
Argument:
U1PBA1 (diagnostic)
U2PBA1 (midpoint)
U4PBA1 (summative)
Info/Explanatory:
U1PBA1 (diagnostic)
U1PBA2 (mid)
U3PBA2 (summative)
GRADE 11
Narrative:
U1PBA2 (diagnostic)
U2PBA1 (mid)
U3PBA1 (summative)
Argument:
U1PBA1 (diagnostic)
U2PBA1 (mid)
U4PBA2 (summative)
Info/Explanatory:
U2PBA2 (diagnostic)
U3PBA2 (mid)
U4PBA1 (summative)
GRADE 12
Narrative:
U1PBA1 (diagnostic)
U1PBA2 (mid)
U3PBA2 (summative)
Argument:
U1PBA1 (diagnostic)
U4PBA1 (mid)
U4PBA2 (summative)
Info/Explanatory:
U1PBA2 (diagnostic)
U2PBA1 (mid)
U2PBA2 (summative)