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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Post-Civil War South This task assesses whether students can source and contextualize a document. Students must first examine an interview about the slaves freed from a plantation, then determine which facts can help them evaluate the interview's reliability. Strong students should be able to explain how the time elapsed between the interview and the events described (Fact 1) might affect the accuracy of his account. They should also be able to explain how Carter's family's allegiance to the Confederacy during the Civil War (Fact 2) could have influenced his perspective and affected the information he chose to include. 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 |
President Grant and Horace Greeley This assessment gauges students’ ability to source, contextualize, and corroborate a document. Students must consider how the contextual information about John Defrees's pamphlet on Grant's presidency affects its reliability as historical evidence. Then, students must identify other information that would help them further evaluate the reliability of the pamphlet. 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 |
Privateers In this task, students will explore the differences of pirating and privateering as well as the morals surrounding it. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Questioning the Causes of the War of 1812 In this task, students will come up with questions about the cause of the War of 1812 by comparing voting patterns with President Madison's War Message to Congress. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Reconstruction Riots This task requires students to weigh the values and limitations of a document as historical evidence on the topic of Reconstruction. Students with a sophisticated understanding of how to source a document will be able to explain that the primary source illustrations (Harper's Weekly, 1866) might be useful because they were contemporary depictions of the riots. They will also observe, however, that the artist may not have been present at the riots- and that this is a rendition drawn either from memory or from others' accounts, making it less useful as evidence of what happened. Resources include PDF downloads of the assessment with source materials, and a rubric with benchmark descriptors. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Riis' Urban Photography This task assesses students’ ability to source, contextualize, and corroborate a document from the Industrial era. Students are asked to consider how contextual information could affect the reliability of Jacob Riis' photography. Then, students must think of other information they would like to know about Riis or the circumstances surrounding the photograph in order to further evaluate their reliability. 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 |
Rockefeller This task assesses students’ ability to reason how evidence supports a historical argument. Students must explain how both an excerpt from the influential book of investigative journalist Ida Tarbell critiquing the company practices of Standard Oil Company, as well as a newspaper’s take on the Rockefeller Foundation’s incorporation, both support the conclusion that many Americans were concerned about the growing power of a small number of wealthy businessmen at the dawn of the 20th century. Resources available for this task include downloadable PDF versions of both the assessment with excerpts, as well as the Rubric with benchmark descriptors, and links to the original source materials through the Library of Congress' website. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
School Uniform Exchange In the School Uniform Exchange, students will talk about their school uniform tokens, histories, inner cultures, and exchange school activities. This task allows for cultural exchange and communication among students from all over the world. It will help students realize the importance of their value and the spirit of their school, country, and share with others their inner exploration. This task includes several possible classroom activities. |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Schooling Then and Now In this task, students will study primary documents in order to help them compare and contrast 19th century schooling to modern day. This task includes: |
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Source Subject Grade Level |
Self Exploration Through Yoga, Art, and Writing-Intersession In this task, students will participate in daily yoga and read the book Esparanza Rising. They will then create a blog to aid as a reflection journal about all the activities they are taking place in. This task includes: |
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