Summative Performance Task & Taking Informed Action

In the three-step process for “Taking Informed Action,” students consider what lessons their study of the founding offers for building 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 students 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.

“How does the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station help us understand how borders are erected, enforced, and challenged?” In a format of your choice (e.g., digital presentation, poster, essay), use the example of the Angel Island Immigration Station and America’s earliest immigration laws and policies to craft an argument in response to the compelling question. Discuss the effects of Angel Island, on immigrants, their descendants, and all Americans, and the lessons we might apply from this history as we wrestle with the borders that exist in American society today.

View animated videos from the New York Times’s Hyphen-Nation project to explore contemporary issues related to belonging and American identity and what it means to be excluded in American society today

Identify one issue related to exclusion in the United States today that affects your school or local community.

Using a format of your choice, educate your school or local community about your chosen issue. This might include inviting experts and/or community members affected by the issue to a public forum, creating a website related to the issue, or interviewing community members affected by the issue and publishing your interviews in a podcast or on social media.