Source Oakland Unified School District History/Social Studies Department
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 9 |
9th Grade End-of-Year History Writing Task
In the 9th Grade End-of-Year History Writing Task students will respond to the question "To what extent does gentrification harm or benefit urban communities?". They will write an essay using a variety of articles, videos, images, and charts as evidence to support their argument. This task includes resources to help students brainstorm, evaluate sources and evidence, plan their essay, organize their argument, and an argumentative writing checklist.
This task also includes:
The Oakland Unified School Districted has designed this history assessment to support the literacy goals of the Common Core State Standards.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
Plague Doctor
This task asks that students source a painting of clothing worn by doctors in the 17th century in order to determine its usefulness in answering the question of what doctors wore when treating patients with the Plague.
Students with a sophisticated understanding of how to source a document will be able to explain that the painting is useful in that it is based on information from a person who witnessed the plague in the 17th century. They will also observe, however, that the image might be limited as evidence of what doctors wore, because it is an artist’s interpretation rendered over two centuries after the account was recorded.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
The Conservation Movement
This task assesses students' ability to contextualize two historical documents and place them in the correct chronological order.
This assessment draws on students' knowledge about American environmental movements. Document A is from an interview with Barry Commoner in Scientific American in 1997. Document B is part of an 1894 bill introduced to the House of Representatives. More than just the recall of facts and dates, students must show that they have a broad understanding of how the focus of the environmental movement changed over time and demonstrate the ability to use their knowledge about these changes to place the two documents in context.
In this assessment, students who correctly contextualize the documents will see that Document B, which is a bill that proposed the establishment of Yellowstone as the first National Park, was a product of the Progressive Era push to conserve land in the West, and therefore likely written before Document A, which reflects more contemporary concerns about the effects of modern technology on the environment and human health.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment (with primaary source materials), and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
1877 Railroad Strike
This task assesses students’ ability to to source and corroborate a document. Drawing on knowledge gained from sourcing an excerpt from an 1877 newspaper article about railroad strikes in Columbus, Ohio, students then evaluate it in several ways;
Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the excerpt provides enough evidence to draw conclusions about the broader railroad strike as a whole. To answer this question, students must source the document to determine whether the account can be regarded as conclusive evidence. Question 2 asks students to identify and evaluate whether additional documents or perspectives could be used to corroborate the account.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source West Virginia Teach21 Project Based Learning
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 9, 10, 11, 12 |
A Great Place to Visit!
In this task, students will participate in a community or historical "revitalization" effort by developing a Walking Tour throughout the local town/city in which their school resides (or, alternatively, a museum or monument for a particular historical time period/era). Working in teams of about four, students identify community landmarks that should be included on the walking tour, engage in research surrounding the history of those landmarks using primary and secondary resources, and communicate their findings by writing and recording a narrative that will guide the tour. Additionally, students will create a map on which landmarks will be identified and design an appropriate sign or marker to identify the stops along the tour.
Each team may present their plan for a walking tour to members of a guest "Community Revitalization Committee"; one team’s plan may be selected for implementation.
The task includes detailed rubrics for Group Participation/norms & expectations, resources for group division of duties, and overall project rubrics and assessment outcomes.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
A Perspective on Slavery
This task requires students to weigh the values and limitations of a document as historical evidence, as it relates to conditions slaves faced in the United States. Students well-versed in sourcing a document will be able to explain that the account of Henry Nelson, a son of former slaves, is useful in that it was informed by his parents whom, again, were slaves at the end of the Civil War. Students will also point out, however, that Nelson was offering second-hand information, making his interview less useful as specific evidence of the conditions facing slaves at the end of the war.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
African American Workers
This task asks students to source and corroborate an account by an English traveller describing African American workers in New York City. Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the excerpt provides enough evidence to draw conclusions about the working conditions facing African Americans in New York City at the time. To answer this question, students must source the document to determine whether the author’s account can be thought of as conclusive evidence. Question 2 asks students to evaluate whether additional documents could be used to corroborate the account.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
African American Workers
This task asks students to source and corroborate an account by an English traveller describing African American workers in New York City. Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the excerpt provides enough evidence to draw conclusions about the working conditions facing African Americans in New York City at the time. To answer this question, students must source the document to determine whether the author’s account can be thought of as conclusive evidence. Question 2 asks students to evaluate whether additional documents could be used to corroborate the account.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
American Imperialism
This task asks students to source and corroborate an editorial from a Nebraska newspaper about overseas expansion. Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the passage provides enough evidence to draw conclusions about American attitudes about overseas expansion at the time. To answer this question, students must source the document to determine whether the editorial can be thought of as conclusive evidence. Question 2 asks students to evaluate whether additional documents or missing perspectives could be used to corroborate the document.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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Source Stanford Beyond the Bubble
Subject History/Social Studies
Grade Level 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 |
Anarchism and the Haymarket Affair
This task assesses students’ ability to source and corroborate a document. Drawing on knowledge gained by sourcing an excerpt from a 1908 Utah newspaper--which makes claims about the influence that the Haymarket Affair had on the growth of anarchist groups in the United States--students then evaluate it in several ways;
Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the excerpt provides enough evidence to draw conclusions the growth of anarchism in the United States at the end of the nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century. To answer this question, students must source the document to determine whether the account can be regarded as conclusive evidence. Question 2 asks students to identify and evaluate whether additional documents or perspectives could be used to corroborate the account.
Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors.
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