Washington State
Curriculum Based Assessment [CBA] Links to the National Archives and Records Administration's Primary Documents located at [web]www.ourdocuments.gov
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5th Grade

Whose Rules? (Civics)

Student assignment:

In an essay or presentation, you will:

  1. identify a problem and a rule/law that attempts to solve it,
  2. explain specific ways the rule/law attempts to solve the problem,
  3. identify and explain how at least two individuals and/or groups* participated in the rule/law-making process, and
  4. evaluate the rule/law's effectiveness by explaining how the rule/law promotes democratic ideals.
* Groups should be governing or rule-making bodies.

Primary source documents from "Our Documents, 100 Milestone Source Documents from the National Archives and Records Administration," relating to this Curriculum Based Assessment [CBA]:

Important notes for using this section:

  • Following each sub-topic is a list representing specific documents that are believed to best illustrate a topic. Each document is linked to an interactive digital copy of the record itself, complete with description, background information, a transcribed copy [for convenience and for students having difficulty reading handwriting] and teaching suggestions, from the "Our Documents" web site [see [web]www.ourdocuments.gov]. Just click on the document title and it will take you to the specific "Our Documents" page.
  • In addition, there is a "Document Only" link which can be used in classrooms with fewer web connections. This is an "Adobe Acrobat" [.pdf] file and can be opened in advance and copied by the instructor or student directly, without a web connection, on any type of computer, as long as Adobe Acrobat is loaded on the computer. For a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat program [web]click here.

Sample Topics and Associated Primary Sources:

Rule of Law

Land for Everyone

Transportation Issues

Education

Civil Rights

Voting Rights

Conservation

Worker's Rights

Problems in Business

Paying for Government

Child Labor

Providing Water to the Population

Helping the Military Return to Civilian Life

Care for the Elderly

Associated Washington State Standards {EALR}

  • Civics 2.2.1 - Explain the purpose of rules and laws
  • Civics 2.1.1a - Identify the people who make, apply, and enforce rules and laws.
  • Civics 1.2.1a - Identify key democratic ideals of US government.
  • Social Studies Skills 1.1d - Evaluate information
  • Social Studies Skills 1.1.1d - Locate particular facts in Social Studies documents, identify the main idea.

Scoring
EALR Scoring
(*for additional levels, see OSPI Scoring Rubric)
Civics 2.2.1 *at highest level... Accurately identifies a problem and a rule/law that attempts to solve it. Explains three specific ways the rule/law attempts to solve the problem.
Civics 2.1.1a *at highest level... Explicitly identifies and accurately explains how at least two individuals and/or groups* participated in the rulemaking process with at least three total clear examples
Civics 1.2.1a
Social Studies Skills 1.1d		 *at highest level... Evaluates the rule/law’s effectiveness by clearly explaining how the rule/law promotes at least two democratic ideals.
Social Studies Skills 1.1.1d *at highest level... List of resources thoroughly examines six or more sources.
National Archives and Records Administration
6125 Sand Point Way NE
Seattle, WA 98115
http://www.archives.gov/pacific-alaska