6th grade
standard:

The student will use standard English conventions and proper spelling as appropriate to speaking and writing.

Skills: using verbal and written communication in a real world situation.

scenario:
divide the class into 2 groups. One group is the business owners, the other is prospective employees. The business group creates a job application and develops interview questions. The other group is the job hunters, they fill out the applications and respond to the interviewers questions.

This scenario enables the students to perform to the best of their abilities. The higher level students can work on the application and interview questions. The other group can work on answering the questions.

Other standards include
8. Continue to interpret and use a variety of non-verbal communication techniques to enhance meaning (e.g., posture, gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice, eye contact).
2. Know and use rules for conversations.
1.01 Continue to develop oral language and listening skills.
1.02 Develop an understanding of the concepts of print.
using correct grammar. Using correct speaking and listening, being able to effectively communicate with writing.

The following are the tasks to be accomplished:

Task: create a job application – addresses critical thinking and grammar and print format.

Task: Interview someone – addresses verbal and non-verbal communication skills.

Task: Fill out application – addresses using correct grammar, appropriately answering questions (reasoning).

Task: send thank you note after interview – addresses proper business etiquette, grammar, knowledge of use of mail system.

This scenario allows the students to practice English skills in a real world situation.

Your posts look pretty good… would you mind if I aggregate some of them? This post is typical of what I am interested in.

Thanks,
Martin.

Thanks for the Chowhound link. That does have a great UI and might form a “best practice” for the discussion board solution we are looking to implement.