Marcelo Gonzalez

Student Work Analysis

Subject Area: Social Studies
Grade Level: 8th
Formative or Performance Task: Exit Ticket
A. Reaching Consensus About Proficiency
What the Students are Expected to Do:
Students should be able to read and understand the historical purposes of sources.
Students will understand that the Civil War was made up of more issues outside of slavery.
Content Standards:
1. Use the historical method of inquiry to ask questions, evaluate primary and secondary sources,
critically analyze and interpret data, and develop interpretations defended by evidence2. The key
concepts of continuity and change, cause and effect, complexity, unity and diversity over time
Evaluate the impact of different factors on topics to include but not limited to gender, age,
ethnicity and class on groups and individuals in this time period and the impact of these groups
and individuals on the events of the time period.
What is Considered a Proficient Response:
I consider a response that expresses at least two causes of the Civil War outside of slavery.
Acceptable responses include Federal vs State rights, economic reasons, preserving the Union,
and meeting the needs of the constituents (voters).
This assignment will let me understand whether or not the students have an understanding that
the Civil War was not necessarily fought just to free slaves.
B.
High (Objectives met)

Expected (Objectives partially Low (Objectives not met)

met)

11

% of class 64.7

% of class 29.4

% of class

5.8

C.
High (Objectives met)
" Two issues of the Civil War

Expected (Objectives partially

met)
"1) To keep the Union safe.

Low (Objectives not met)

"Factories and Stuff"

Marcelo Gonzalez
other than slavery is
sectionalism and economy"
Along with the background
knowledge that students in the
expected and low categories
had this student also seems to
understand the importance of
complete sentences.

2) there rights and liberties"

"Centralized form of
government and business
necesity."
"Centralized form of
government, business activity"
"Economy and culture"
Along with the background
knowledge known by those in
the low category these
students may also have a
stronger background in
government. They recognize
the differences exist between
state politics and politics that
impact the whole nation.

"South was against things the

North said. North wants to be
one united nation."
"Industry economy, business
nessisity"
These students understood that
the economy of the South was
based in agriculture while the
North was industrializing.
These students also come with
the knowledge that there was
division in the United States
between the states considered
to be a part of the North and
South. They also had the
previous knowledge that
slavery was an issue that
helped cause the war.

D.
High (Objectives met)
+recognized two legitimate
causes of the Civil War.
+Wrote in full sentence
+Met set criteria for
assessment

E.

Expected (Objectives partially

met)
-Students did not write in
complete sentences, this more
likely was due to a lack of
instruction.
-Many used culture as an
example, not expecting that as
an answer, what does culture
mean to the students using it.
+Recognized two distinct
causes.

Low (Objectives not met)

-Students are not specific or
only display one other reason
besides slavery in being a
cause for the Civil War.
-There are no complete
sentences, likely due to the
lack of instruction.
+Slavery was not mentioned
as a cause

Marcelo Gonzalez
Patterns and Trends Noticed for the Class:
All of the students identified the different economies of the North and South as causes for the
Civil War to one extent or another. The Identification of the Civil War being the result of political
freedom seemed to be the next step in understanding after recognizing that the economy had a
role in the war. Many students did not answer the question in complete sentences this not being
their fault as I wasn't explicit in the instructions but it would be great to make it a habit. Many
students also cited culture as being one of the causes for the Civil War. An exploration of why or
how culture influenced the war would be worth taking a look at seeing as the students identified
that as a cause.
Instructional Strategies for the Class:
Answering the question with a complete sentence would be a topic to go over with the class as a
whole and an explanation as to why that would be important. I would also spend some time
discussing what the students may have meant by culture in terms of their answers, I would want
to see how the students deduced that as a cause for the Civil War and discuss that possibility.
High (Objectives met)

Expected (Objectives partially

met)
The next step for this student
A small workshop on why
would be asking them to
writing in complete sentences
explain how they came to their is a good habit to form.
conclusion. Teaching them
Reminding them of some
how to use evidence within
strategies such as restating the
their answers.
question in their answer so its
clear what is being answered.

Low (Objectives not met)

A think pair share the
following class would help
these individuals. I feel that if
they had conversations with
each other especially when
asking for two causes they
would produce another cause.
This also reaffirms the fact
that they were correct about
economic causes while
opening them up for different
interpretations.