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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Impacts on Soldiers and Civilians In this task, students will explore the War of 1812 from various viewpoints to better understand how soldier's lives were effected. This task includes: |
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In Bartering for Bananas In Bartering for Bananas, students are asked to find how many bananas Byron can get with his five fish. This task includes:
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Inca Fortification This task requires students to weigh the values and limitations of a document as historical evidence, as it relates to resistance against Spanish rule by the Inca. Students well-versed in sourcing a document will be able to explain that a photograph of a native Inca fort is useful in that it provides some evidence of Inca fortification against Spanish attacks. However, for Question 2, Students will also observe that the photograph was taken centuries after the Spanish conquest of Tawantinsuyu-and explain how that fact limits the its usefulness as evidence of how the Inca resisted Spanish forces. Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Incline Planes In this task, students will explore the relationship between angles and the force necessary to move an object up an incline. This task includes: |
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International Intercultural Mural Exchange In this task, students will interact with an international partner school through online forums in order to create a mural. This task includes: |
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International Intercultural Mural Exchange (IIME) In the International Intercultural Mural Exchange (IIME) task, students of two schools of distant countries learn interactively by using ICT and create one big mural by drawing halves of a canvas to express their collaborative learning in a visual way. This task includes several possible classroom activities. |
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Italian Atrocities 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 how a news article from the time period provides a useful contemporary account of Italian actions against the Ottomon Empire. They will also observe, however, that an international news report by a local American newspaper may contain biases and second-hand information which make it less useful as evidence of what really happened--and exemplifying American Imperialism. Resources provided include a rubric and scoring guide, a downloadable PDF of the assessment with excerpted primary sources, as well as links to the original sources via the Library of Congress. |
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Japanese Internment This task assesses students’ ability to source and corroborate a document. Drawing on knowledge gained by sourcing an excerpt from a 2003 interview of a Japanese-American WWII Veteran, in which he recalls visiting an Internment camp, students then evaluate in several ways; Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the excerpt provides enough evidence to draw conclusions about the conditions facing Japanese Americans interned during WWII. 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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John Brown This task measures students’ ability to source a document. 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. The question asks students to agree or disagree with a claim regarding the usefulness of a painting for understanding the circumstances of John Brown's execution in 1859, then support their answer with reasons and evidence. Students who understand the importance of when a document was produced will see that the painting is of little use to historians who wish to understand the immediate circumstances of John Brown's execution in 1859 because it was produced over 10 years later. 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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John Brown's Legacy This task gauges students' ability to source and contextualize a document. Students must first source a playbill, determining when it was created and by whom. Students then select facts that might provide the most relevant historical context in order to determine the authors' motivation, and explain how the facts might shed light on why the authors wrote the play. 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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