Please note that many tasks were constructed prior to Common Core and the task alignments to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were not identified in the task materials. To search for the performance tasks explicitly aligned to the CCSS, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), or College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards, please go to CCSS, NGSS, and C3 tabs.
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Source Subject Grade Level |
The Virginia Company This task assesses whether students can source and contextualize a document. Students must first examine a report on the progress of the Virginia Company, then determine which fact can help them evaluate the report's reliability. Strong students will be able to explain how the Company's desire to attract new investors (Fact 2) may have led the authors to put a positive spin on life in Virginia. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
The War of 1812 This task assesses students' knowledge of the past—but rather than measure rote recall of decontextualized facts, the task requires students to make connections across time and construct an argument about how events are connected. Students with a strong sense of the past will be able to explain that President Madison's proclamation of war on Britain was in part due to trade restrictions enforced by the British during the Napoleonic Wars between France and Britain. Students will also explain that Britain's support for Native American tribes resisting US expansion into the Northwest Territory contributed to the declaration of war on Britain. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with source materials, as well as the Rubric containing benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Third Grade Common Core Assessment The Third Grade Common Core Assessment includes two tasks and will be completed twice, once as a pre-assessment and once as a post-assessment. In Task 1, students will will watch a video followed by a turn-and-talk or class discussion. Then they will independently read a related article and answer key questions using bullet point text details. In Task2, students will write an editorial article arguing their opinion on a related topic. This assessment includes the Heads Up article, the Sugar Overload article, and a rubric. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Traders in the West This task assesses whether students can source and contextualize a document. Students must first examine an account of the interactions between American traders and Native Americans, then determine which facts can help them evaluate the account's reliability. Strong students will be able to explain how Farnham's vested interest in the event (Fact 2) and in gaining territory for the American flag (Fact 3) may have shaped his telling of the incident. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Tupac Amaru II This task assesses students' knowledge of the time period of native resistance to Spanish exploration (1700’s)—but rather than measure rote recall of decontextualized facts, this assessment requires students to make connections across time and construct an argument about how events are connected. Students with a strong sense of the time period will explain that Túpac Amaru II led a rebellion against the Spanish, who conquered the Inca Empire under the direction of Francisco Pizarro. A strong response to the second question may explain that Amaru’s rebellion destabilized Spanish control over Peru, partially leading to Spain's defeat in the Peruvian War of Independence. Alternatively, students may identify the call for independence enunciated by Amaru during the rebellion as the inspiration and precursor to the Peruvian War of Independence. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with source materials, as well as the Rubric containing benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Unions in Paterson, New Jersey This task gauges students' ability to source and contextualize a document. Students first listen to an excerpt from an interview with Marianna Costa, a union leader from Paterson, New Jersey. Students then analyze four historical facts and determine which ones can help discern whether Costa’s account of union accomplishments is historically reliable. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, all accessible and available for download with the creation of a free account through the site:
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Waiting to Inhale This unit includes an unit overview and 3 subunit overviews with built-in lessons. Unit description from the source: Although smoking is perceived with increasing disfavor in the United States, it is a habit that continues to flourish around the world and is taken up by thousands of young people every day. In this unit, students will explore the past and present influence of tobacco on social, political, and economic life in the United States and around the world and its impact on individual and public health. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Women's Rights 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 changes in women’s rights over time . Document A is excerpted from Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, published in 1963. Document B is from the trial of Susan B. Anthony, who voted illegally in the election of 1872. More than just the recall of facts and dates, students must show that they have a broad understanding of Students must show that they have a broad understanding of how women’s rights changed over time and demonstrate the ability to use knowledge about the past to place the two documents in context. In this question, students who correctly contextualize the documents will see that Document B (an excerpt from the trial of Susan B. Anthony), which discusses the ban on women’s suffrage, was likely written before Document A (an excerpt from Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique), which describes discontent with post-World War II gender roles. Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment, a link to primary source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
World War I Advertising This task requires students to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of a document as historical evidence. Students with a sophisticated understanding of how to source a document will be able to explain that the Kodak advertisement is useful in that it provides indirect information about the lives of soldiers and how they were able to communicate with family at the time. They will also point out that this image was created for the purposes of an advertisement, making it less useful as specific evidence of what life was like for U.S. soldiers. Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Zulu Chief This task assesses students’ ability to source, contextualize, and corroborate a photograph of a Zulu Chief by American photographer Frank Carpenter. Students must reason about the content and the circumstances of its creation to evaluate its reliability as evidence. Students also must determine what additional information might help corroborate the evidence in the photograph. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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