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Inquiry In Pursuit of Democracy and Freedom: A US History Inquiry
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Assessment

Summative Assessment & Taking Informed Action

Students culminate their arc of inquiry into the meaning of democracy and freedom by completing a C3-aligned Summative Performance Task and Taking Informed Action activities.

Duration

Two 50-min class periods

Subject

  • Civics & Citizenship
  • History

Grade

6–12

Language

English — US

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About This Assessment

This inquiry includes two types of culminating activities: a Summative Performance Task and Taking Informed Action. The Summative Performance Task asks students to answer the compelling question in a format of their choice. Taking Informed Action invites students to civically engage with the content through three exercises: 1) UNDERSTAND, 2) ASSESS, and 3) ACT.

Teaching Note

Before teaching this assessment, please review the following information to help guide your preparation process.

In the three-step process for “Taking Informed Action,” students consider what lessons their study of democracy and freedom offers for making real a more democratic society today. The three activities associated with the Informed Action ask students to a) UNDERSTAND the issues evident from the inquiry in a larger and/or current context, b) ASSESS the relevance and impact of the issues, and c) ACT in ways that allow them to demonstrate agency in a real-world context. We encourage educators to modify the informed action to their unique classroom context and the needs and interests of their students.

Summative Performance Task

Argument

“How can we make real the ideals of democracy and freedom?” In a format of your choice (e.g., digital presentation, poster, paragraph, short essay), discuss freedom and democracy in the United States. Think about one or all of the following: 

  • How freedom and democracy have been defined in the United States
  • How freedom and democracy relate to one another in the United States
  • How people have used the tools of democracy to fight for freedom

Taking Informed Action

Understand

As noted in the video about the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer, voting rights have been contested since the founding of the United States. In the pursuit of expanding democracy, many people throughout US history have taken individual and collective action to gain access to the ballot box. Students will research contemporary organizations that use democratic tools to continue the pursuit of equitable voting access.  

Some examples of nonpartisan organizations currently dedicated to voting access are: 

Assess

Identify one organization that works to ensure voting access in the United States today.

Act

Using a format of your choice, educate your school or local community about how your chosen organization uses democratic tools to secure equitable voting access in the United States.

This might include:

  • Inviting experts and/or community members to speak to the school about voting access efforts in the local community
  • Creating a digital or paper pamphlet or poster about an organization that works to expand voting access in the languages most used in the local community
  • Interviewing community members who work with voting rights groups—or who are members of a voting rights group—and publishing your interviews in a podcast or on social media in the languages most used in the community

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Inquiry

In Pursuit of Democracy and Freedom: A US History Inquiry
Lesson

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Supporting Question 3: Using Democratic Tools to Pursue Freedom

Students explore the supporting question, “How have people used the tools of democracy to fight for their freedoms in the United States?”
Lesson

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