Performance Assessments

Students may be required to complete one or more of the following assessments:

Essay test, Westward Expansion skits, PowerPoint presentation, multiple-choice test, historical fiction literature review

Grading Procedure

All students must pass with a “C” or better (70%) in their performance grade, or they will be placed in a second history class (CLM) to master the standards for the grading period.

A- Advanced Grade: Student demonstrates a clear understanding of how even though democracy and voting expanded as the nation grew many groups were still denied their rights. Movements for social change developed as a result. Also, as the country expanded through war and pioneer settlement, both the benefits of American democracy spread and the destruction of other ways of life ensued. The student makes few mistakes, and applies social studies skills (mapping, timeline, research, interpretation, etc.) with confidence. The student should be able to discuss the topics listed below.

B- Proficient Grade: Much understanding, some mistakes

C- Basic Grade: Enough understanding to pass, despite mistakes

D- Below Basic Grade: Only sometimes shows understanding, many mistakes

F- Far Below Basic Grade: Rarely shows understanding, many mistakes

Topics to be covered in above assessments:

(1) Industrial Revolution and National Development and the transformation of American life, including specialized labor, the market system, and the transportation revolution.

(2)The expansion of democracy to common white males in the Jackson Era.

(3)The denial of rights to the Cherokees and other nations in the Indian Removal policy of the Jackson Era.

(4)The expansion of slavery during the Cotton Boom, and the development of the Abolition Movement to end slavery.

(5) The denial of rights to women and the development of the Women’s Rights Movement.

(6)The development of reform movements on behalf of the poor, the mentally ill and for the education of children.

(7) The first wave of immigration of Irish and Germans to the growing cities and the discrimination they experienced.

(8)Western settlement and conflicts and exchanges with Indian and Hispanic cultures.

(9) Texas: its settlement by immigrant Americans, its war for independence from Mexico, and statehood.

(10)War with Mexico, and the student’s interpretation of the war as one of imperial expansion or manifest destiny.

Important terms/concepts to review with your child:

Erie Canal	Jacksonian Democracy	Democratic Party
Spoil System	Nullification	Panic of 1837
Indian Removal Act	Trail of Tears	Lowell Girls
Industrial Revolution	Eli Whitney/Cotton Gin	Slater System
Mass Production	Clipper Ships	Telegraph/Morse Code
The Alamo	Tension between Mexico and Texas	Stephen Austin
Sam Houston	Oregon Trail	Donner Party
Sutter’s Fort	Manifest Destiny	Bear Flag Revolt
Mormon Migration West	California Gold Rush	Chinese Immigration
Cowboys/Vaqueros	African Americans in the West	Pioneer Women
Mexican American War

Having trouble remembering what these topics are? Visit these websites:

Legacies of the Gold Rush: Of Dreams and Dirt
http://www.museumca.org/goldrush/fever20.html

About the Jacksonian Era
http://www.gliah.uh.edu/modules/jacksonian/index.cfm

New Perspectives on the West
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/

Oregon Trail - The Trail West
http://www.ukans.edu/kansas/seneca/oregon/

Sam Houston Memorial Museum
http://www.shsu.edu/~smm_www/

The US-Mexican War
http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/mexwar1.htm

Trails to Utah and the Pacific
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/upbhtml/overhome.html

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=26

U.S. - Mexican War
http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/mexwar1.htm

California's Untold Stories: Gold Rush!
http://www.museumca.org/goldrush.html

African Americans in the West
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/introduction.html