Enduring ideas/understandings: big concepts about a topic (subject) or theme (idea about the subject) that students should comprehend and retain after they’ve forgotten many of the details Essential questions: questions that guide teaching and engage students in uncovering the important ideas at the heart of a topic of study Performance tasks: activities that allow the learner to demonstrate his or her understanding through a scenario, employing a goal and a role to create a product or performance for a given audience Process-centered learning: the experience of students actively engaged in exploration and problem solving, learning through firsthand experience Standards of Learning (SOLs): criterion-referenced tests in Virginia that compare a student’s mastery of specific curriculum against a test standard Team teaching: an instructional approach in which two or more instructors are jointly responsible for course content, presentations, and grading; they may interact in front of the class, discussing specific topics from divergent perspectives, and take turns presenting material appropriate to their individual areas of specialization Unit objectives: knowledge and skills necessary for students to demonstrate their understandings of essential questions