Essential Questions 

Content 

1. The Search for Security

2. Superpowers in the Missile Age and the Cold War

3. Politics of Righteousness: Nixon and Carter

4. The Great Society

5. LBJ and the World

6. Toward a New Century

Skills 

Bloom's Taxonomy

Webb's Depth of Knowledge

Students will compose, analyze, and/or demonstrate the essential questions for the Postwar Age, Cold War, and 20th Century America.

Assessments 

50's Project

Formative: Performance: Authentic Task

63 Standards Assessed

50's Project

Resources 

Computer Lab

Text Book

America the Story of Us

The Social Studies Rubric for essay is a link in Assessments. Teacher use of this rubric will ensure all students are graded using the same criteria. This rubric may not be altered.

Postwar Unit Test

WY: Social Studies (2014)

WY: Grades 9-12

Time, Continuity, and Change

Students will:

SS12.4.1 Describe patterns of change (cause and effect) and evaluate how past events impacted future events and the modern world.

SS12.4.2 Analyze the development and impact of tools and technology and how it shaped history and influenced the modern world.

SS12.4.3 Given a significant current event, critique the actions of the people or groups involved; hypothesize how this event would have played out in another country.

SS12.4.4 Describe the historical interactions between and among individuals, groups, and/or institutions (e.g., family, neighborhood, political, economic, religious, social, cultural, and workplace) and their impact on significant historical events.

SS12.4.5 Using primary and secondary sources, apply historical research methods to interpret and evaluate important historical events from multiple perspectives.

CCSS: Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, & Technical Subjects 6-12

CCSS: Grades 11-12

Capacities of the Literate Individual

Students Who are College and Career Ready in Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening, & Language

They demonstrate independence.

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They build strong content knowledge.

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They respond to the varying demands of audience, task, purpose, and discipline.

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They comprehend as well as critique.

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They value evidence.

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They use technology and digital media strategically and capably.

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They come to understand other perspectives and cultures.

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Reading: History/Social Studies

Key Ideas and Details 

1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

RH.11-12.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.

2. Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

RH.11-12.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.

3. Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

RH.11-12.3. Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.

Craft and Structure

4. Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.

RH.11-12.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).

5. Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

RH.11-12.5. Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.

6. Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

RH.11-12.6. Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors’ claims, reasoning, and evidence.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

RH.11-12.7. Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.

8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

RH.11-12.8. Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.

9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

RH.11-12.9. Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity 

10. Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

RH.11-12.10. By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 11–12 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

Writing

Text Types and Purposes

1. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

WHST.11-12.1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.

WHST.11-12.1a. Introduce precise, knowledgeable claim(s), establish the significance of the claim(s), distinguish the claim(s) from alternate or opposing claims, and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

WHST.11-12.1b. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audience’s knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.

WHST.11-12.1c. Use words, phrases, and clauses as well as varied syntax to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.

WHST.11-12.1d. Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.

WHST.11-12.1e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from or supports the argument presented.

2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

WHST.11-12.2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes.

WHST.11-12.2a. Introduce a topic and organize complex ideas, concepts, and information so that each new element builds on that which precedes it to create a unified whole; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., figures, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.

WHST.11-12.2b. Develop the topic thoroughly by selecting the most significant and relevant facts, extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.

WHST.11-12.2c. Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify the relationships among complex ideas and concepts.

WHST.11-12.2d. Use precise language, domain-specific vocabulary and techniques such as metaphor, simile, and analogy to manage the complexity of the topic; convey a knowledgeable stance in a style that responds to the discipline and context as well as to the expertise of likely readers.

WHST.11-12.2e. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation provided (e.g., articulating implications or the significance of the topic).

Production and Distribution of Writing

4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

WHST.11-12.4. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.

WHST.11-12.5. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.

6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.

WHST.11-12.6. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.

NCSS: Social Studies 2010

NCSS: High

TIME, CONTINUITY, AND CHANGE

Knowledge 

Learners will understand

Different interpretations of the history of societies, cultures, and humankind;

Concepts such as: era, chronology, causality, change, continuity, conflict, historiography, historical method, primary and secondary sources, cause and effect, and multiple perspectives;

That knowledge of the past is influenced by the questions investigated, the sources used, and the perspective of the historian;

Different interpretations of key historical periods and patterns of change within and across nations, cultures, and time periods (e.g., the history of democratic principles and institutions, the development of political and economic philosophies; the rise of modern nation-states, and the establishment and breakdown of colonial systems);

The impact across time and place of key historical forces, such as nationalism, imperialism, globalization, leadership, revolution, wars, concepts of rights and responsibilities, and religion;

Different interpretations of the influences of social, geographic, economic, and cultural factors on the history of local areas, states, nations, and the world;

The contributions of philosophies, ideologies, individuals, institutions, and key events and turning points in shaping history;

The importance of knowledge of the past to an understanding of the present and to informed decision-making about the future.

Processes

Learners will be able to

Formulate research questions to investigate topics in history, identify possible answers, and use historical methods of inquiry and literacy skills to select, organize, analyze, synthesize, and interpret sources, and present findings;

Research and analyze past periods, events, and recurring issues, using a variety of primary sources (e.g., documents, letters, artifacts, and testimony), as well as secondary sources; validate and weigh evidence for claims, check the usefulness and degree of reliability of sources, and evaluate different interpretations in order to develop their own interpretation supported by the evidence;

Evaluate the impact of the institutions, values, and beliefs of people in the past on important historical decisions and developments, and compare different interpretations of the causes and consequences of these decisions and developments;

Use historical facts, concepts, and methods to evaluate an issue of importance today, and make informed decisions as responsible citizens to propose policies, and take action on it;

Compare historiographical interpretations of a period or event by explaining differences among historians in their purpose, perspective, and use of evidence.

Products

Learners demonstrate understanding by

Presenting supported interpretations in oral, written, visual, or electronic formats;

Interviewing people who have participated in a recent historical event, and developing an exhibition based on those oral histories to contribute to a history museum;

Writing historical accounts of events and developments based on evidence from primary and secondary sources, and evaluating different interpretations of these events and developments;

Evaluating different interpretations of historic developments or transformations that occurred at the same time but in different regions of the world.