Encourage tinkering with ideas, relationships, connections. Set up situations where students have to find information not readily available in school texts. Provide opportunity for students to design open-ended explorations of the concept. Provide multiple options so students can plan a unique "proof" of learning.

Children write their own stories without punctuation

Objective: To personalize the learning so that students add something of themselves, do something with it.

Activity: Children write their own stories without punctuation. (Tell them to suspend the use of capitals because that would give too strong a hint.) Children hand in their stories to the teacher. On the back they state what punctuation marks are and where they are needed.

Assessment: Quality of stories and understanding of correct punctuation marks.