History Need Essay at least 3 pages plus 5 works cited at least;Prompt: Analyze, identify and discuss elements and experiences that define the character of America using three of the following topics:political, economic, religious, social, intellectual, a

 

Need in 24 hours or you must refund 100%

 

The

American Character

1.

Prompt: Analyze, identify and discuss elements and experiences that define the

character of America using three of the following topics:

 •

political

,

economic, religious, social, intellectual, and artistic

 •

Using anything from our class (use elements from English III as well) and research,  you

will

synthesize elements to create an

essay

answering the

prompt

. •

Please think historically and find content (names, events, statistics, quotes) that support your thesis.

 •

You may pull items of content from any

theme (Democracy/Nationalism, Equality, Power) but focus primarily on the last theme of Character. 

 •The

essay will be worth 45

points (See rubric)

 •

Create a works cited page at least 5 sources

 

Sample Thesis:

 •Thesis: Although there are a plurality of traits and features that have shaped the modern American character such as religion and innovation,  our political backlash against hypocrisy through actions of rebellion transformed our democracy. Economically, there is a focus towards consumerism and wealth which has been paralleled with a social focus on individual freedom and accomplishment. Thus rebelliousness, consumerism and individual freedom have been the most integral in shaping our character. 

The American Character

Final Essay

Prompt
Analyze, identify and discuss elements and experiences that define the character of America using three of the following topics
political, economic, religious, social, intellectual, and artistic
Using anything from our class (use elements from English III as well) and research, you will synthesize elements to create an essay answering the prompt.
Please think historically and find content (names, events, statistics, quotes) that support your thesis.
You may pull items of content from any theme (Democracy/Nationalism, Equality, Power) but focus primarily on the last theme of Character.
The essay will be worth 45 points (See rubric)
Create a works cited page of 3-5 sources
Due on 5/16 and 5/17

Political: Backlash against hypocrisy

Economic: consumerism and wealth

Social: Acute focus on individual freedom/accomplishment

Sample Thesis
Thesis: Although there are a plurality of traits and features that have shaped the modern American character such as religion and innovation, our political backlash against hypocrisy through actions of rebellion transformed our democracy. Economically, there is a focus towards consumerism and wealth which has been paralleled with a social focus on individual freedom and accomplishment. Thus rebelliousness, consumerism and individual freedom have been the most integral in shaping our character.

Priestley Assessment Rubric

Knowledge of evidence from

the lesson/topic: includes

facts/supporting details;

themes/issues; and

concepts/ideas

Analysis: Evaluation, application and synthesis of evidence.

Includes a thesis and demonstration of higher level analysis

Effort/Organization/Creativity : Demonstrates clear use of class time working on assessment with maximum effort

5

• Significant

facts/supporting details are

included and accurately

described

• Has little or no factual

inaccuracies

• Identifies and logically

organizes almost all relevant

evidence

4-5 Items of Content Present

•Complex Thesis is present and uses appropriate and

comprehensive critical

thinking skills and habits of

mind to analyze, evaluate, and

synthesize evidence

• Reaches informed

conclusions based on the

evidence

• Almost all ideas in the presentation are expressed in a way that provides evidence of the student’s

knowledge and reasoning processes

• The assessment is well focused with a well defined

Thesis or position

• Assessment shows substantial evidence of

Organization/effort

• Assessment shows attention to the details and great effort

Assessment demonstrates that time was used well on task and more than just the minimum was done for project

3

• Facts/supporting details

are included

• May have a major factual

inaccuracy, but most

information is correct

• Identifies and organizes

most of the relevant evidence

2-3 Items of Content Present

• Simple Thesis is present and

uses partial critical

thinking skills and habits of
mind to analyze, evaluate, and
synthesize evidence
• Reaches informed
conclusions based on the
evidence

• Most ideas in the presentation are expressed

in a way that provides evidence of the student’s

knowledge and reasoning processes

• The assessment demonstrates a focus and

thesis with several narrative gaps and minimal effort

• assessment demonstrates adequate evidence

of organization

Assessment demonstrates the adequate time was spent on task

1

• Some facts/supporting

details are included

• Has some correct and

some incorrect information

• Identifies some relevant

evidence and omits most of

the other evidence

1-0 Items Present

• No Thesis present and

uses unclear,

inappropriate, or incomplete

critical thinking skills and

habits of mind to analyze,

evaluate, and synthesize

evidence

• Reaches incomplete or

inaccurate conclusions based

on the evidence

• Some ideas in the presentation are expressed

in a way that provides evidence of the student’s
knowledge and reasoning processes

• Few or no facts/supporting

details are included and lack of effort

• Information is largely

inaccurate, absent or irrelevant

• Important evidence

relevant to the problem is not

identified

Assessment demonstrates the below average time was spent on task

􀀀 Exceeds standard (total points 11 – 15)

􀀀 Meets standard (total points 8 – 10)

􀀀 Approaches standard (total points 5 -7)

􀀀 Begins standard or absent (total points 1 -4)

Score

A Social Science Rubric

This model is an analytic rubric. It separates the skills a student possesses into three dimensions:

knowledge, reasoning, and communication. The three dimensions are interrelated. They overlap

to show what students know and what they can do. Each dimension of the rubric is divided into

four levels. Each level is defined by several criteria, which reflect a student’s abilities and skills.

Collectively, Levels 4 and 3 are designed to differentiate among students whose knowledge,

reasoning, and communication skills are developed. Collectively, Levels 2 and 1 represent a

student’s knowledge, reasoning, and communication skills that are still developing. Level 4

represents work of a student who exhibits the most developed skills; Level 1 represents the work

of a student with the lowest level of developing skills.

The gap between Level 3 and Level 2 is wider than the gap between any of the other levels because it

differentiates between a student whose skills are still developing and a student whose skills are

developed.

An analytic rubric is especially appropriate and useful for assessment in the social sciences. Teachers know that

their students may perform at a more or less developed level in one dimension than in another. For example, a

student may perform at Level 4 in knowledge, at Level 3 in reasoning, and at Level 2 in communication. An analytic

rubric allows teachers to take these differences into account when assessing their students.

RATIONALE FOR

A SOCIAL SCIENCE RUBRIC

KNOWLEDGE – REASONING – COMMUNICATION

Dimension 1: Knowledge

Knowledge of evidence from the social sciences: facts/supporting details; themes/issues; and

concepts/ideas

Knowledge of evidence is basic to the social sciences. Students who have developed knowledge — Levels

4 and 3– are able to demonstrate their ability to identify, define, and describe key concepts, themes,

issues, and ideas; they show their awareness of the connection between key facts and supporting details;

and they are accurate in their use of facts and details. The levels are differentiated by the degree to which

students can demonstrate their knowledge, that is, by being thorough, inclusive, and accurate.

Similarly, students who are developing knowledge — Levels 2 and 1 — are unable to demonstrate their

ability to identify, define, and describe key concepts, themes, issues, and ideas; they show an inadequate

awareness of the connection between key facts and supporting details; and they are largely inaccurate in

their use of facts and details.

Dimension 2: Reasoning

Analysis, evaluation, and synthesis of evidence.

While facts are the essential starting point for demonstrating ability in the social sciences, a student must

also be able to demonstrate the ability to reason. Reasoning makes facts, issues, and concepts meaningful.

When reasoning occurs, a student is engaged in the content and develops a deeper understanding of the

subject. Reasoning involves translation, interpretation, application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of

information. These reasoning processes require students to discover relationships among facts and

generalizations, values and opinions. Reasoning abilities and skills also include accessing, classifying,

and applying information to provide a solution to a problem, to make a judgment, or reach a logical

conclusion.

A student with developed reasoning ability must be able to organize evidence and select and apply an

appropriate method for analysis, evaluation, and synthesis. To analyze and evaluate evidence effectively,

whether that evidence is presented in a printed document, a song, poem, picture, or statistical table, a

student must ask relevant questions.

These questions encompass the traditional five questions: who, what, where, when, and why.

A student with developed reasoning abilities also uses critical thinking skills and habits of mind to

evaluate evidence. These thinking skills and habits of mind include comparing and contrasting,

identifying causes and effects, developing and recognizing alternative solutions, showing relationships

among concepts, recognizing bias, separating fact from opinion, identifying inconsistencies in logic,

avoiding present-mindedness, and maintaining an empathetic attitude toward the people under study.

These habits of mind and thinking skills demonstrate not only what students know; they also reveal

aspects of the student’s intellectual character. Students who possess habits of mind display self-discipline

as a thinker. They help students acquire the habit of inquiring into social science content and engaging in

discourse about their inquiry. Students with well developed thinking skills and habits of mind create

projects with care and thoroughness.

While all developed students must be able to reach an informed conclusion, there are several ways to

differentiate between students’ reasoning skills at Levels 4 and 3. Differentiation among these higher

levels is a matter of the degree to which a student can identify and logically organize evidence and then

select and apply an appropriate method for analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing evidence. Students can

also be differentiated by their ability to incorporate critical thinking skills and habits of mind in their

process of reasoning. For example, a student at Level 4 will analyze and evaluate the evidence from a

variety of perspectives; a student at Level 3 will use only one perspective, but one that is still sufficient to

evaluate the evidence.

Students who are developing their ability in reasoning show important deficiencies. They fail to organize

information for proper analysis and may omit evidence. A developing student may also select an

inappropriate method for analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing evidence. Students who are in the

process of developing reasoning skills have difficulty thinking critically. For example, they may accept

evidence at face value without subjecting it to any critical analysis or evaluation. Finally, the inability to

reach a reasonable, informed conclusion is indicative of a student who is still in the developing stage.

Dimension 3: Communication

Demonstrate knowledge and reasoning through oral, written, visual, dramatic, or mixed media

presentations

To be useful, a student’s knowledge and reasoning must be communicated to a wider audience. Effective

communication requires focus and organization. For example, in history, a student must have a clearly

defined thesis and an organized narrative that tells what happened in an interesting and informed way. In

the other social sciences, a student must be able to identify issues and concepts clearly, explain the

various parts of a problem, and present possible resolutions.

The most important aspect of communication is the student’s ability to express clearly his or her ideas.

Clarity depends upon organization. A well-organized presentation includes a focus statement, supplies

relevant examples to support main ideas, and offers conclusions based on evidence. Furthermore, an

effective presentation, regardless of its type, provides evidence of a student’s knowledge and reasoning

processes.

The teacher, sometimes in conjunction with the student, establishes the context, or audience, for a

student’s presentation: an oral report presented to his or her classmates, a letter written to the newspaper,

or an exhibit or model placed on display at a local business or historical society.

A student can select a variety of techniques to communicate his or her knowledge and reasoning skills.

Each communication technique has its own conventions which teachers should take into account. For

example, assessing an oral report may include such conventions as effective use of voice, gestures, eye

contact, and use of visual aids. Assessing a student-made exhibit might include such conventions as the

use of color, neatness, captions, and the selection of appropriate pictures, photographs, maps, and other

materials.

A student who has developed ability in communication demonstrates knowledge and reasoning skills in a

clear and organized fashion. The presentation will also take into account the appropriate conventions for

the selected activity. A higher assessment, Levels 4 and 3 is determined by the degree of clarity and

organization, the quality of illustrations and supporting examples, and the power of the conclusion. That

is, the main ideas and reasoning processes are focused, well developed, and clearly articulated in the

student’s presentation. Finally, a presentation at the highest level of development meets all the convention

standards for the type of activity the teacher assigns or the student selects.

A student who is developing his or her communication skills lacks the ability to present knowledge and

reasoning clearly and effectively in an organized presentation. That is, a student who is still developing

cannot successfully provide a thesis or a focus statement, or convey information through examples that

support and elaborate a main idea, or present an informed conclusion. Lastly, a developing student

neglects the details of the performance convention that he or she has selected as a means to communicate

knowledge and reasoning. The difference between students performing at Levels 2, or 1 is a matter of

degree in each of the criteria.

Critical Thinking Skills

• Identifying central issues

• Making comparisons

• Determining relevant information

• Formulating appropriate questions

• Expressing problems

• Distinguishing fact from opinion

• Recognizing bias

• Distinguishing false from accurate images.

• Analyzing cause and effect

• Drawing conclusions

• Identifying alternatives

• Testing conclusions

• Predicting consequences

• Demonstrating reasoned judgment

Habits Of Mind For Knowledge, Reasoning, And Communication

• Understand the significance of the past and the present to their own lives and to the lives of others

• Distinguish between the important and the inconsequential

• Perceive events and issues as they were experienced by people at the time

• Understand how human intentions matter

• Comprehend the interplay of change and continuity

• Realize that all problems may not have solutions

• Appreciate the often tentative nature of judgments

• Recognize the importance of individuals who have made a difference

• Appreciate the force of the non-rational, the irrational, and the accidental in human efforts

• Understand the relationship between people, time, and place as the context for events

• Recognize the difference between fact and conjecture

• Use evidence to frame useful questions

Adapted from Alternative Assessment in the Social Sciences:

AUTHORS

Lawrence W. McBride

Frederick D. Drake

Marcel Lewinski

Illinois State University

John C. Craig

Illinois State Board of Education

Priestley reading/note taking organizer

Title/Purpose Points (3 Points)

Topics

Content/Vocabulary (6 Points)

Connection (3 Points)

Summary/Thesis(3 Points)

(
Thesis Statement __/15
-Directly answers prompt
-Includes complexity
-Includes split topical analysis
) (
Thesis
)1) Prompt 2) Prompt Rewrite

3)Brainstorm

(
Topics __/15
-Linked to Thesis
-Equally Weighted
-Distinctly different
) ThesitheTheis

(
Topic Sentence
Supports thesis
___/15
__
) (
-Specific content (nothing general or vague)
-3 distinct citations/content
-Analysis is used to connect to content
-Examples must support your thesis/supporting topic
__/15
) (
-Specific content (nothing general or vague)
-3 distinct citations/content
-Analysis is used to connect to content
-Examples must support your thesis/supporting topic
__/15
) (
-Specific content (nothing general or vague)
-3 distinct citations/content
-Analysis is used to connect to content
-Examples must support your thesis/supporting topic
__/15
) (
Content with Analysis
) (
Content with A
nalysis
) (
Content with Analysis
) (
Topic Sentence
) (
Topic Sentence
) (
Topic Sentence
) (
Topic # 3
) (
Topic #2
) (
Topic #1
)4)Rough Thesis (Simple Split)

Priestley Purpose Reading Rubric Student Name:     ________________________________________

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

CATEGORY	3	2	1	0
Purpose	Provides insightful purpose questions or points (2 total)	Provides basic purpose points or questions (1 total).	Does not provide useful purpose points or questions(1 or fewer)					N/A
Connections	Connections consistently stays focused on highlighted points and provides a specific link to other topics.	Connections stays focused on highlighted points and provides a link to other topics most of the time.	Connections do not stay focused on highlighted points and do not provide a link to other topics most of the time.
Comprehension	Comprehension is very evident throughout reading as evidence by a valid highlighted items, connections, and summarization.	Comprehension is evident throughout reading as evidence by highlighted items, connections, and summarization.	Comprehension is not evident throughout reading. Lack of highlighted items, connections, and summarization.
Highlighting/ Content	Students accurately highlighted items pertaining to their purpose points and readings main ideas.	Students demonstrate basic highlighted items pertaining to their purpose points and readings main ideas.	Students demonstrate a lack of highlighted items pertaining to their purpose points and readings main ideas.
Summarization/ Position/ Thesis	Student develops a well reasoned and analytical summary statement that includes a variety of focused adj.,examples from reading, and inferences.	Student develops a basic summary statement that includes some focused adj.,examples from reading, and inferences.	Student develops a summary statement that does not include some focused adj.,examples from reading, and inferences.