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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8th Grade U.S. History Mid-Year History Writing Task In the 8th Grade U.S. History Mid-Year History Writing Task students will respond to the question "which would have been better for the Cherokee in 1836: To accept new tribal lands and more west, or to resist moving to new tribal lands?". They will write an essay using primary and secondary sources as evidence to support their argument. This task includes resources to help students write their introduction, understand the timeline of events, evaluate sources and evidence, plan their essay, develop their claim, 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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Caption Me In this task, students will write captions for fur textiles from the 18th century. This task includes: |
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Checks and Balances In this task students will develop a reasoned position on the effectiveness of this system related to one current or historical event. They will then write a paper or make a presentation. This task includes: |
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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:
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Constitutional Issues In this task students will make an informed decision on a public issue after researching and discussing different perspectives on this issue. They will then write a paper or make a presentation. This task includes: |
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Enduring Cultures In this task students will compare and contrast two cultural groups and the history of their development in Washington State, the United States, or the world, and develop a position based on this comparison. They will then write a paper or make a presentation. This task includes: |
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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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Lange's Iconic Photograph This task gauges students’ ability to source, contextualize, and corroborate a document. Students must consider how the context surrounding the creation of Lange’s iconic photograph affects its reliability as historical evidence of Dust Bowl life. Students must also analyze the photograph to determine how the content of the image might also affect its reliability. Finally, students are asked to determine missing information/perspective that would better help them evaluate the reliability of the document. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, many available for download with the creation of a free account:
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Morale after Fredericksburg This is a two-part task asking students to source and corroborate a primary source letter from a Union soldier describing low morale among Union soldiers after the Battle of Fredericksburg during the Civil War. Question 1 asks students to evaluate whether the source provides sufficient evidence to demonstrate the morale of the entire Union Army. To answer this question, students must source the document to determine whether the author represents all Union troops. Question 2 asks students to evaluate whether additional documents would corroborate the letter. 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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Opposition to the Philippine-American War This task assesses students’ ability to use evidence to support a historical argument. Students are presented with two documents that provide different perspectives on the war in the Philippines. Students are then asked to explain how each of these disparate accounts supports the same historical conclusion: many Americans opposed the war in the Philippines. The task includes a range of supplementary materials, available for download with the creation of a free account:
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