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.
| Source | Task |
|---|---|
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Connections to the Philippine-American War This task assesses students' historical knowledge in a way that transcends the rote recall of facts by asking students to draw on their knowledge of the past to construct an argument about how two events are connected. Question 1 asks students to connect the explosion of the USS Maine to the imprisonment of Filipinos by the American military in 1901. Question 2 asks students how the popularity of Social Darwinism in the US is likewise connected to the imprisonment of Filipinos in 1901. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, all accessible and available for download with the creation of a free account through the site:
|
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Consequences of Tecumseh In this task, students will read through primary and secondary documents to determine the consequences of the War of 1812. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Continuity and Change in Memorials In this task, students will compare the commemorations of the War of 1812 that took place in 1912 and 2012 and explore the continuities and changes that happened over time. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Creating Columbus Day This task assesses students' ability to evaluate the relevance of contextual information for determining the motivations of an author. Students must select one fact, and explain how it sheds light on why President Harrison declared Columbus Day a national holiday in 1892. Students with a strong understanding of contextualization will be able to explain how the fact that Catholic voters comprised an important voting block in the pending election might have affected Harrison's decision to honor an Italian Catholic explorer. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Daffodils and Tulips In this task, students around the world will plant either tulips of daffodils, record data, and compare when they bloom. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Debate Over the League of Nations This task measures students’ ability to source and contextualize a document. Students read a 1919 opinion column from The Evening Missourian. Students must then select the two facts that help them determine whether the opinions expressed in the column were typical or atypical of American attitudes about joining the League of Nations at the time. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Declaration of Independence This task measures students’ ability to source a document. When historians interpret a document, they first look to find out who wrote it and when. This assessment gauges whether students understand an important aspect of sourcing: the time elapsed between when a document was produced and the event that it depicts- and how this might affect its reliability. Students are asked to agree or disagree with a claim regarding the usefulness of a painting for historians who wish to understand the drafting of the Declaration of Independence. Students who understand the importance of when a document was produced will see that this painting is of minimal use for that purpose because it was produced over 50 years after the event. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, all accessible and available for download with the creation of a free account through the site:
|
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Early People Symbols In this task, students will explore the significance and meaning of early cultural symbols. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Ethical Dilemmas In this task, students will explore how to evaluate the negative impacts of the War of 1812 without applying modern values and perspectives. This task includes: |
|
Source Subject Grade Level |
Evacuating Japanese Americans This task assesses students' knowledge of the past—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 past will be able to explain that the bombing at Pearl Harbor made Americans suspicious of Japanese and Japanese-Americans living in the United States, leading them to be imprisoned in camps. Students will also be able to place internment in the historical context of American xenophobia directed at individuals of Asian descent at the time, and explain how both the Gentlemen's Agreement and the internment of Japanese Americans were products of this. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with source materials, as well as the Rubric containing benchmark descriptors. |
If you would like to recommend additional open-sourced performance task banks to be included in the database, or if you would like to report a broken link, please email Pai-rou Chen.
© Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305
