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The Illinois Learning Standards are state content standards that describe what students should know and be able to achieve in grades K-12. The challenge for the 2000-2001 school year was to produce performance standards that would indicate how well students should perform to meet the state standards. The performance standards describe how well students perform at various points on an educational development continuum. The continuum shows how students can demonstrate mastery of progressively more difficult content and cognitive skills over 10 incremental stages of development. Performance within each stage can be assessed by the extent to which students are meeting the standards (starting, approaching, meeting, exceeding). Performance standards include four essential elements: (1) performance descriptors, (2) performance levels, (3) assessment tasks, and (4) performance examples. The performance standards supplement the Illinois Learning Standards by providing sufficient detail and examples to enable teachers to establish appropriate grade level performance expectations for students. The Illinois social science performance descriptors described in this booklet are for grades 6-12. The booklet contains five sections: (1) "Introduction" (Design for Performance Standards; Vision for Social Science Performance; Intended Use and Interpretation); (2) "Social Science Performance Descriptors"; (3) "Glossary"; (4) "Relationship of Performance Descriptors to National and State Standards"; and (5) "References" (n=12). (BT)

The Illinois Learning Standards are state content standards that describe what students should know and be able to achieve in grades K-12. The challenge for the 2000-2001 school year was to produce performance standards that would indicate how well students should perform to meet the state standards. The performance standards describe how well students perform at various points on an educational development continuum. The continuum shows how students can demonstrate mastery of progressively more difficult content and cognitive skills over 10 incremental stages of development. Performance within each stage can be assessed by the extent to which students are meeting the standards (starting, approaching, meeting, exceeding). Performance standards include four essential elements: (1) performance descriptors, (2) performance levels, (3) assessment tasks, and (4) performance examples. The performance standards supplement the Illinois Learning Standards by providing sufficient detail and examples to enable teachers to establish appropriate grade-level performance expectations for students. The Illinois social science performance descriptors described in this booklet are for grades 1-5. The booklet consists of five sections: (1) "Introduction" (Design for Performance Standards; Vision for Social Science Performance; Intended Use and Interpretation); (2) "Social Science Performance Descriptors"; (3) "Glossary"; (4) "Relationship of Performance Descriptors to National and State Standards"; and (5) "References" (n=13). (BT)

This curriculum considers the social history of Illinois during the years of 1836-1861 by studying Abraham Lincoln's legal papers from his time as a lawyer. Nearly 100,000 documents have been discovered in the archives of local, county, state, federal courts, libraries, and other repositories. The documents include detailed information about the daily life of ordinary people in Illinois during the years of Lincoln's legal practice. The curriculum states that using these primary source documents in the study of Illinois history can help teachers and students accomplish three goals: (1) foster the development of history's "habits of mind," which helps students think more critically about the past; (2) learn about the stories of ordinary people operating within the larger contexts of state and national history to illuminate "vital themes and narratives"; and (3) help teachers and students meet the State of Illinois Learning Standards for the Social Sciences. The curriculum is divided into the following sections: "Abraham Lincoln, Attorney at Law"; "The Lincoln Legal Papers Curriculum"; "Key to Transcription Symbols"; "A History Rubric for Performance Assessment"; "Comprehensive Glossary of Terms"; and "Lesson Plans" ("Abraham Lincoln and the Rule of Law"; "Moving People through the Prairie State, 1820-1860"; "Illinois Agriculture and the Marketplace, 1830-1860"; "Material Culture on the Prairie"; "Social Role and Status: Marriage on the Illinois Frontier"; "Canals and Railroads Open Illinois"). (BT)

This paper presents an expanded lesson plan for "The Bloomington-Normal Black History Project." This is a revised and expanded version of one of the six items that constituted the earlier work. The objectives are to analyze a primary source document, recognize the importance of individuals who made a difference in community history, and understand the significance of the past in shaping present attitudes. The paper presents a synopsis of the James A. Chase et al. v. David Stephenson et al. (1874) case addressing desegregation in the schools. Also addressed are community values and social institutions, as well as conflict resolution of human rights issues. Copies of newspaper articles related to the case and documents pertaining to the court ruling are a part of the lesson plan. (EH)

This publication is designed to help Illinois social science teachers assess their students' learning using a variety of methods. The guide includes a rubric for scoring site-based alternative assessment activities, a rationale for the rubric, and sample activities to differentiate students' knowledge, reasoning, and communication skills. The guide provides a basis for teachers to develop their own assessment programs and adapt the rubric and activities to fit individual needs. The volume provides 37 lessons in the social sciences to demonstrate how the rubric can be applied and concludes with samples of student work to demonstrate the various levels of achievement. (EH)

This document consists of six lesson plans and primary source materials on the history of black people in the Illinois cities of Bloomington and Normal. The plans were developed for the Bloomington-Normal Black History Project which concentrates on recovering and recording the history of blacks in those two cities. These pilot editions are intended to be useful to teachers at grade levels 6 through 12 who are looking for materials to help students gain insight into the African American experience in U.S. history, particularly in small towns and cities. Topics for the lessons include: (1) the abolition of slavery; (2) school desegregation, which took place in 1984 in Bloomington, Illinois; (3) business history of Bloomington's black businesses from 1855 to 1915; (4) local government and elections; (5) housing patterns that identify human migration patterns, and the family as a focal point of the community; and (6) a memoir that covers the period from 1920 to the present. The lesson plans include themes from U.S. history, skill objectives, a description of the focus of the lesson, suggested procedures, possible ways to extend the lesson in other directions, and suggested readings. Each lesson draws heavily on primary sources such as newspaper articles, business directories, legal documents, charts and graphs, U.S. census documents, and the memoir. Procedures include identifying and analyzing the primary source document for that lesson. A handout copy of the primary source document being studied is included in each lesson plan. (DK)

This teacher's guide is designed to provide elementary and secondary students with an orientation to material culture studies and an exposure to such artifacts as sad irons, washboards, butter churns, butter molds, and waffle irons. Information is also provided about wages, employment, industrial development, and advertising in the United States prior to World War I. This material allows for the guide to be used effectively in conjunction with lessons on particular themes in U.S. history, economics, or sociology. A number of primary documents such as catalog pages, a magazine article, and illustrations are located in the appendix. A five-item bibliography is included. (DJC)