Freshman World Studies Standards
There are five standards specific to the discipline of history, and each assessment is tied to one
or more of these standards. Moreover, each assessment entered into the online gradebook
Skyward will reflect the names of these standards, which means you may see some
assessments appear more than once because assessments may cover multiple standards.
The following five standards are based on a conglomeration of the National Common Core
Standards, National Social Studies Standards, National Board Standards, Illinois State Standards
for Social Studies, and the University High School Freshman Program Standards. It is essential
that you familiarize yourself with these standards since every assessment throughout the entire
year will be based on them or some part of them.
The standards are as follows:
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD ONE (SS1)
Foundations of History (i.e. Historical Content)
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Students can explain significant political, economic, and social ideologies throughout
western civilization (i.e. monotheism, democracy, empire, feudalism, secularism,
patriarchy, etc.), as well their impact at the local, state, national, and international level.
Students can explain significant social movements in western civilization, as well their
impact at the local, state, national, and international level.
Students will understand significant events in western civilization, including cause-andeffect relationships, the origins of those events, and their short- and long-term
implications at the national and international level.
Students will know significant personalities in western civilization and will recognize that
individual decisions have consequences that affect the way people, groups, and nations
associate with one another.
Students will be able to describe how migration, immigration, and other types of
cultural encounters among people of the world affect the respective communities, as
well as the environment.
Students will understand international geography and its relevance to history.
Students will be able to make interdisciplinary connections to further their understanding of
social studies.
Students will understand how the concepts of western civilization can help interpret
human actions and prepare them for careers and lifelong learning.
Students will be able to “analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine
whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them”
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD TWO (SS2)
Reading Informational Texts
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Students can summarize, analyze, and interpret the key ideas, details, and arguments of primary
and secondary sources by citing relevant evidence and attending to dates, origin of information,
and other important contextual details. More specifically,
o Students can determine the central ideas and thesis of a primary or secondary source,
as well as provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the
course of the text.
o Students can analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether
earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
o Students will be able to analyze how a writer uses structure to emphasize key points or
advance an explanation or analysis and the extent to which the reasoning and evidence
in a text support the author’s claims.
o Students can compare the point-of-view of two or more authors in both primary and
secondary sources for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details
they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
o Students can analyze and evaluate how an author’s ideas and specific claims are
developed by their use of language (word choice, tone, and structure, etc.) as well as
how the author uses rhetoric (SOAPS, logos, ethos, pathos) to advance
his/her point of view and can evaluate whether the reasoning is valid and the evidence
is relevant and sufficient.
Students can use a variety of strategies to read and comprehend a variety of informational texts
(news stories, blogs, opinion pieces/editorials, textbooks, non-fiction historical texts, academic
articles, etc.) by applying literacy strategies, formative work, content, and conferencing in order
to develop and communicate new understanding.
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD THREE (SS3)
Writing for a Variety of Purposes
A. Text Types and Purposes - Students can create history-specific types of writing, including
the following:
1. Informative/Explanatory: Students can write informative/explanatory texts,
including the narration of historical events or processes. More specifically . . .
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Students can introduce a topic and organize ideas, concepts, and information to
make important connections and distinctions, including proper formatting.
Students can develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant and sufficient facts,
extended definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and
examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
Students will be able to maintain a formal style and objective tone appropriate
to the discipline of history.
2. Argumentation/Claim: Students can write arguments to support a claim (i.e.
thesis) in an analysis of an important topic using valid reasoning and relevant
and sufficient evidence. More specifically . . .
 Students can recognize, identify, and create precise arguments, distinguish
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them from alternate or opposing arguments, and organize them in ways that
establish clear relationships. The student will be able to do all of this in a
history-appropriate format that accounts for the audience’s level of knowledge.
Students are able to develop argument/s and counterclaims fairly, supplying
reliable, academic data and evidence for each, while pointing out the strengths
and limitations of each argument/claim.
Students will be able to maintain a formal style and objective tone tone
appropriate to the discipline of history.
B. Research to Build and Present Knowledge
*Please note that this skill is specific to the process of writing. Research, however, is
integral to the study of history, so “Research to Build Knowledge” is a separate
standard (see standard five). If, for example, students were conducting research that
was not part of a larger writing assessment, I would use standard five and not this
writing standard.
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Students will be able to draw evidence from informational texts to answer teachergenerated inquiries (i.e. journals, webquests, etc.), as well as to support analysis, reflection,
and independent research.
Students will be able to conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer
a question (including a self-generated question) or to solve a problem; narrow or broaden
the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating
understanding of the subject under investigation.
Students will be able to gather relevant information from multiple, academic, reliable print
and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each
source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to
maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.
C. Production and Distribution of Writing
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Students will employ the tools of effective writing: varied transitions, sentence fluency, and
precise history-specific language.
Students use the writing process (planning, revising, editing, rewriting, and trying a different
approach) to change big ideas and focus writing on what is most important for the rhetorical
situation (SOAPS).
Students will use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update
individual or shared writing projects, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to
other information and to display information dynamically.
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD FOUR (SS4)
Speaking and Listening
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Students are able to initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions with various partners.
Students come to discussion prepared, having read and researched assigned materials
and is able to draw on that material in a thoughtful manner.
Students are able to move conversations forward by proposing and responding to
teacher- and student-generated questions; actively incorporating others into the
discussion; and clarifying, verifying, or challenging their peers in a respectful and
thoughtful manner.
Students are able to present information and evidence clearly, concisely, and logically
such that listeners can follow [his/her] line of reasoning.
Students are able to “make [effective] use of digital media (textual, graphic, audio,
visual, and interactive) in presentations”
SOCIAL STUDIES STANDARD FIVE (SS5)
Researching to Build Knowledge
*This is the standard I will use for assessments that are not part of a substantial writing
assessment.
 Students are able to draw evidence from informational texts to answer teachergenerated inquiries (i.e. webquests), as well as to support analysis, reflection, and
[independent] research.
 Students will be able to conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to
answer a question (including a self-generated question) or to solve a problem;
narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the
subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
 Students will be able to gather relevant information from multiple academic, reliable
print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness
of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the
text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a
standard format for citation.