Learning Goals & Products

Learning Goals

1

Students will be able to analyze immigration patterns from 1900–1910 as evidence of how migration reshaped the United States and created new opportunities and tensions.

2

Students will be able to evaluate urbanization and city life in the United States between 1900 and 1910 as evidence of continuity and change in everyday life.

3

Students will be able to explain how industrial technology and new ideas between 1900 and 1910 shaped later developments in the United States.

4

Students will be able to assess labor conflict and reform efforts in the Progressive Era as responses to the conditions of industrial America.

5

Students will be able to design historical questions about individuals, groups, and movements in 1900–1910 that investigate significance over time.

6

Students will be able to defend a claim about which change from 1900–1910 most shaped the future of the United States using primary and secondary sources.

7

Students will be able to evaluate source credibility and corroborate evidence from photographs, headlines, artifacts, and quotes from 1900–1910.

Products

individual

Historical Argument Evidence Log and Claim Essay on 1900–1910 Change

Each student creates an evidence log with source credibility notes, then writes a claim essay answering the essential question about which 1900–1910 change most shaped the future of the United States. The essay must include sub-claims, explicit warrants, citations, and a fair counterargument with rebuttal.

team

Museum Timeline Exhibit and Public Defense Symposium

Teams build a digital or physical timeline exhibit with before-and-after panels comparing 1900 and 1910, then present and defend their conclusions in a public symposium at the MAC. The exhibit and defense must synthesize each member’s research, compare competing interpretations, and identify where the strongest evidence lies.

Rubric
Competency Progression Rubric Competency-first rubric
Category
Learning Goal
Stage 1
Stage 2
Stage 3
Stage 4
Deeper Learning Competencies
Critical Thinking & Problem Solving
  • I can generate a focused historical question about how a specific individual, group, or movement during 1900–1910 affected change and continuity in the United States by identifying at least one person/group and one potential “impact over time.”
  • I can refine my question by using evidence from the “Progress or Problem?” station sources to explain how the significance of actions (or ideas) changes from 1900 to 1910, and I can justify what I will investigate next.
  • I can design a deeper, context-rich question that connects technology, ideas, or reform to cause-and-effect outcomes later in U.S
  • history, evaluating how unique time/place circumstances shape what actions were possible and what impacts followed.
  • I can pose an original, argument-ready historical question that evaluates change/continuity and long-term causes by tracing multiple developments (e.g., immigration, labor, urbanization, technology) and clearly stating which turning point seems most significant and why over time.
Deeper Learning Competencies
Effective Communication
  • I can write and speak clear, grade-appropriate claims about which change (1900–1910) had the biggest long-term impact, using at least one piece of evidence from the launch sources or the MAC 1903 house visuals
  • I can label my timeline panels/captions so an audience can understand what I mean and what I used to support it.
  • I can communicate my historical thinking by connecting claims to multiple primary and/or secondary sources, explaining how evidence supports why a change mattered over time
  • I can revise my captions/notes and present an oral or exhibit explanation that addresses a question from the launch or gallery walk.
  • I can craft a coherent before-and-after message for my timeline exhibit that analyzes change and continuity and explains cause-and-effect across the decade (1900–1910) for a public audience
  • I can use precise historical language and compare perspectives (who benefited/was harmed) while responding to feedback with improvements to my communication.
  • I can independently communicate a sophisticated interpretation by designing an evidence-rich explanation that traces how actions and ideas shaped later developments, considering time/place context and shifting significance over time
  • I can clearly justify my strongest reasoning in my exhibit, defend it during the opening/full-class share, and use visitor feedback to strengthen my final message.
Deeper Learning Competencies
Collaboration
  • I can collaborate with my team by taking a specific role (e.g., timekeeper, source-finder, caption writer) and completing my part of the timeline exhibit or station notes on time
  • I can follow group norms (listen, ask questions, and use evidence from the 1900–1910 sources we gathered).
  • I can collaborate with my team by sharing ideas, building on others’ suggestions, and adjusting my work when new evidence or a better historical question emerges
  • I can resolve minor disagreements by referring to our team’s evidence and essential question about which changes had the biggest long-term impact.
  • I can collaborate strategically by co-planning how we will divide tasks, synthesize sources, and present claims in before-and-after panels for 1900 and 1910
  • I can strengthen group decision-making by proposing revisions that connect technology, labor, immigration, city life, and reform to cause-and-effect over time (including how earlier events shape later outcomes).
  • I can lead collaboration by facilitating shared decision-making, distributing leadership as needed, and helping the team reach consensus using clear criteria (accuracy, historical context, and evidence-based reasoning)
  • I can productively incorporate feedback during the gallery walk to refine our exhibit and help my team communicate how and why my thinking about change and continuity evolved from the launch to the final conclusion.
Deeper Learning Competencies
Content Expertise
  • I can use primary and secondary sources from 1900–1910 to make claims about how groups’ actions and developments changed over time, using at least one piece of evidence I cite in my notes or captions
  • I can describe a basic change/continuity and name a likely effect on everyday life.
  • I can analyze how technology, ideas, and reform connected to changes in the U.S
  • from 1900–1910 by designing focused historical questions and answering them with multiple sources
  • I can explain how time-and-place context shaped the significance of actions and how that leads to later consequences in a cause-and-effect chain.
  • I can evaluate how immigration, labor, urbanization, and city life illustrate change and continuity across 1900–1910 by selecting and interpreting the most relevant evidence for my argument
  • I can connect earlier events to later national developments by detailing specific causes, using context to explain why outcomes happened and for whom they helped or harmed.
  • I can synthesize evidence across topics (technology, labor, immigration, reform, and city life) to produce a sophisticated interpretation of which change most shaped the nation’s future, supported by strong primary/secondary sourcing
  • I can defend how individuals and movements’ actions gained or lost significance over time, evaluate alternative explanations, and clearly justify my conclusions in my timeline exhibit and reflections.
Deeper Learning Competencies
Academic Mindset
  • I can name my starting thoughts about which changes (1900–1910) mattered most and explain one reason using evidence from the “Progress or Problem?” stations and the 1903 house materials.
  • I can revise my historical questions and claims during the timeline project, explaining how my evidence and context changed my thinking from the launch to my current conclusion.
  • I can independently compare my early and final ideas using primary and secondary sources, identifying what I changed (and why) as I analyzed significance over time, continuity/change, and cause-and-effect.
  • I can critically reflect on my growth as a historian by articulating a well-supported before-and-after narrative of my thinking, connecting how context shaped actions and how earlier events influenced later outcomes while responding to feedback from the gallery walk.