Essential Learnings
  1.  Why do nations go to war?
  2.  How has the government's role in the economy changed over time?

Goals for the year
  1.  Administer the common assessment for the essential learning, "Why do nations go to war?"
  2.  Create a common assessment for the economic essential learning, "How has the government's role in the economy changed over time?"
  3.  A long-range goal is to develop additional essential learnings.
  4.  Continue to expand the list of historic figures, historical vocabulary, and general vocabulary that are key to understanding U.S. History.
  5.  Explore new teaching strategies.
  6.  Determine what skills are essential to understanding U.S. History.

Successes
1.  The U.S. History PLC includes members of the Social Studies department and a Special Services educator.  The collegiality of the group has allowed us to make strong progress in developing essential learnings and several common assessments. It has also promoted the sharing of teaching philosophies, strategies, and resources.

2.  We have developed two essential learnings and four common formative assessments that have been administered to the classes of members of the team.

3.  Our use of common formative assessments (c.f.a.) has revealed the following: a)  C.F.A. validate the 9th grade U.S. History curriculum;  b)  C.F.A. reveal that students have some glaring misconceptions prior to studying the unit; c) C.F.A. help students see the purpose of each unit and act as a guide to learning; and d)  C.F.A. lead to the development and use of a summative assessment.

4.  We have identified a list of historic figures, historical vocabulary, and general vocabulary for two units of study.

5.  Members have shared teaching strategies, activities and resources, and have put these on a server folder that is accessible to all U.S. History teachers.

6.  A list of skills essential to the study of U.S. History is being developed.

Common Assessments

Three common formative assessments (c.f.a.) were administered during fall semester.  Two c.f.a. addressed the essential learning, "Why do nations go to war?', and one c.f.a. on the essential learning, "How has the government's role in the economy changed over time?"

1.  The c.f.a., "Why  did the U.S. go to war with Spain in 1898?", was administered prior to starting the Imperialism unit of study.

2.  The c.f.a., "List five reasons why the U.S. chose to go to war with Germany in April, 1917", was given prior to starting the World War I unit of study.

3.  The c.f.a., "What were the problems people faced during the Great Depression, and how did the government respond to these problems?", was given prior to starting the Great Depression unit of study. 

4.  Last year's c.f.a. on the essential learning "Why do nations go to war?" included identification questions on the terminology of World War II and the question, "In 1942, which country was the greater threat to the security of the United States--Germany or Japan?", will be given prior to the starting of the World War II unit of study in January.

Essential Learnings
  1.  What are the distinct legacies of each culture?
  2.  What does each civilization have in common with others?
  3.  How did each region develop the charactersitics that make it distinct today?
  4.  How do geography and civilization impact one another?
  5.  Explore the origins and evolution of geographic study in human civilization.
  6.  Study the various aspects of population and its impact on world issues today.
  7.  Analyze how and why conflict and cooperation are involved in shaping the political use of space on earth.
  8.  General understanding of environmental issues plaguing the world today.

Goals for the year
  1.  Our primary goal is to create meaningful and authentic assessments for our students.
  2.  We will administer the assessments created for EL #1 for both areas of India and China.
  3.  We will create an assessment for EL #4 (How do geography and civilization impact one another?) this semester.
  4.  We continue our exploration of strategies and techniques that make our students more successful and will help them enter the content from multiple perspectives.
  5.  Introducing students to the pratical and logical connections between geography and history.

Successes
  1.  Our group has successfully drafted two different assessments and is in the process of refining them.
  2.  In addition to creating two drafts, our group also consistently shares best practices.

Common Assessment
  One of our assessment questions for EL # 1 is:  How is Gandhi part of the leqacy of Hinduism and India?  Our other assessment question over the essential learning of legacy is a series of questions where the students are asked to match the accomplishments of the Chinese with the correct dynasty.

Essential Learnings
  1.  What are the legacies and continuing relevance of the people and time periods studied in each unit?
  2.  In what ways were the lives of the people studied in each unit similar to and different from the lives of modern Americans?

Goals for the year
  1.  We will give common assessments during each unit this year.
  2.  We will evaluate the data we collect and discuss ways to improve our instruction.

Successes
  1.  We have revisited and revised the essential learnings and essential elements for each unit.  Essential elements include the political, economic, military, educational, cultural and religious aspects of the civilizations in each unit.
  2.  We have developed and administered common assessments for all units.  We are in the process of evaluating the data.

Common Assessment
  Example: common assessment essay questions for Greece unit -
    Level 1:  Describe and analyze the cultural legacies of the ancient Greeks.  Possible areas of discussion might include athletics, theater, architecture and philosophy.
    Level 2:  Describe and analyze a few of the legacies of the ancient Greeks.
    Level 3:  Describe and analyze a few of the similarities and differences between the lives of the ancient Greeks and the lives of modern Americans.
    Level 4:  Trace the development of Athenian democracy and compare it to the development of American representative government.  OR  Compare and contrast the Athenian democratic system under Pericles with the current American system.
  (These questions increase in level of difficulty so that they can be used with students of varied ability levels.  The goal by the end of the year is to help students move toward success on higher level questions.)

Unit-by-unit description of essential learnings, essential elements, and common assessment questions