Be sure that you are using your grade level standards to inform instruction (Common Core Literacy Standards). In addition, focus on literary and textual elements that align to each Common Core reading standard or use the Common Core Writing Standards to inform artifact planning. If you are less familiar with Common Core, it might be helpful to review the progression of literacy standards to ensure you are meeting grade level standards.
Begin by choosing a text at the appropriate Lexile level. Then assess the text complexity by using the text complexity rubric for informational texts or literary texts. Both of these tools can help you select texts at the appropriate level of complexity for your students.
In order to assess the quality of your task you can use the Checklist for Creating an Artifact Prompt to improve the quality of the task you give students.
Review sample performance assessments organized by standard, and use the language as a guide for crafting your own tasks.
According to the Buck Institute, there are four main ways a project can be authentic. Ideally, projects combine multiple elements of authenticity into a project.
To learn see examples from each of these four categories, click here.
The Buck Institute for Education has a curated database of projects in a variety of subjects and grade levels. For additional Buck Institute resources to help you plan a rigorous, authentic project, click here.
Use this FREE database to find examples of stand alone or embedded performance assessments (artifacts). Many of the tasks are already aligned to OUR RUBRICS! The performance assessments include teacher and student versions of activities, student samples of final products, and alignment to standards. Create a FREE account and click on “Performance Tasks” to view examples.