After Testing Activity: Create Your Own Island Project for Middle & High School

Are you looking for a fun project for after testing? This creative and enriching project will help your middle and high school intermediate and advanced ESL students solidify their understanding of the country they call home. This Create Your Own Island End of Year Project is designed with your students' diverse backgrounds in mind, providing a comprehensive and interactive exploration of their thoughts and ideas about their country. Great for social studies!

In this month-long project, your students will go on a deep exploration of their beliefs about how a country should be run. They’ll dig deep to find what they love and don't love about their present country as well as others they've visited. Then they'll come up with a brand new country, present, and write an essay about the place they have created.

This product covers the following standards: 

The student engages in both short-term and sustained recursive inquiry processes

• Give a presentation using language effectively
• Compose informational texts
• Revise drafts
• Publish written work for appropriate audiences

The project involves:

• Understanding of geographical features such as landforms, bodies of water, climate, and location relative to other places.
• Knowledge of different types of government systems and structures, as students design their island's government.
• Exploration of cultural aspects, including traditions, customs, language, and social norms.
• Study of ecosystems and biodiversity as students design the island's flora and fauna.
• Understanding of weather patterns and climate as students determine the island's climate and weather conditions.
• Evaluating the feasibility and sustainability of their choices.
• Writing skills as students develop descriptions of their island, its features, government, culture, etc.
• Reading comprehension as students research and gather information about different aspects of their island.
• Oral communication skills as students present their projects to the class, explaining their choices and reasoning.

✨Create Your Own Island Includes✨

• Teacher Guide
• Sample Essay
• Student Handouts:
  • Create Your Own Island
  • Reflections
  • Student Notes Pages
  • Print Poster Pages
  • Writing Assignment Guidelines
  • Sentence Starters
  • Peer Evaluation Checklist

• Presentation Rubric (Editable)
• Writing Rubric (Editable)