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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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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Source Subject Grade Level |
It Costs How Much? In this task, students will create an exhibit and write a paper exploring the global factors affecting the prices of gas and oil. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
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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Source Subject Grade Level |
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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Source Subject Grade Level |
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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Source Subject Grade Level |
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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Source Subject Grade Level |
Kindred (Family History) Project In this task, students will conduct interviews of their family and community members about their lives during world events in order to understand how their family's lives were affected. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Kindred (Family History) Project In the Kindred (Family History) Project task, students will research events in the lives of members of their family or local community to find the impact of world or local history. They will be asked to interview member of their immediate family (mother, father, brothers, sisters), extended family (grandparents, uncles, aunts), neighbours or friends in the local community. They will ask them about experiences in their life that have been affected by the events of world or local history. Events may include war, natural disasters, migration, important discoveries, monuments, famous places and so on. Students will focus on the impact for the family. |
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King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs Assessment In the King Tut and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs Assessment from 2009-2010, students will respond the questions "Why was the discovery of his tomb so important?What do the objects in his tomb tell us about Ancient Egypt?" They will chose three objects and then write an essay that explains why their chosen objects best represent the claim made about Daily Life, Burial Practices and Beliefs, Power and Politics, or Geography and Trade.This task includes resources to help students take notes during powerpoint presentations, write their thesis, evaluate their evidence evidence, and outline their essay. This task also includes:
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Labor History In this task, students are assessed to their ability to contextualize two documents and place them in the correct chronological order. In this assessment, students who correctly contextualize the documents will see that Document A, which describes the President deploying troops to quell labor unrest, was likely written before Document B, which discusses gains made later in the labor movement, like collective bargaining and the notion of workers’ rights. More than just the recall of facts and dates, students must show that they have a broad understanding of how the labor movement changed over time and demonstrate the ability to use knowledge about the past to place the historical documents in present context. Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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