"Great Depression No. 1", Regents US History Short Essays,

Regents US History Short Essays, "Great Depression No. 1"

Secondary United States History

Why assign this? -- To develop historical document analysis skills like placing the document in its historical context and analyzing factors affecting its reliability.

The updated New York State Regents examination in United States History and Government, part II, is a short essay task designed to measure students’ ability to work with historic documents. It is a mature version of the “CRQ” found on the tenth grade Global Regents. Students are called upon to understand text, engage it with historical context, and assess a text’s reliability.

Read more about this task at the Innovation blog.

This product consists of Stimulus-Based Short-Essay Questions in the format of the new New York State Regents examination in Regents Examination in United States History and Government (Framework). A "set" consists of two pairs of documents..

Short essay tasks from Innovation are always primary sources. This means students get a more enriched and authentic experience examining the past as historians do.

This product is a complete part II as would be on a NYS Regents Examination in United States History and Government (Framework). That is, there are two pairs of documents with the accompanying prompts. The format is based on a prototype examination provided by the NYSED in June 2019.

SET 1: Students describe the historical context surrounding two documents and identify and explain the relationship between the events and/or ideas found in those documents (Cause/Effect or Similarity/Difference or Turning Point)

SET 2: Students describe the historical context surrounding two documents and (for one identified document) analyze and explain how audience, or purpose, or bias, or point of view affects the document’s use as a reliable source of evidence. Set 1 has one Short-Essay question based on a 5-point rubric Set 2 has one Short-Essay question based on a 5-point rubric.

A good strategy for ensuring students possess the skills to address this task is to be certain to assign one every month or so throughout the year, followed by a debriefing where the class can study their classmates’ work (anonymously) and develop strategies for improvement.

PDF document: Cover sheet, document set 1, document set 2, grading rubric