Over the next six weeks, you will be organizing, synthesizing
and summarizing your notes to create a
comprehensive study of early 19th century America. Your
final project will take on the appearance of textbook entries
similar to what you have used for years. Your textbook will
deal with five major themes in American history.
The steps you will need to take are below.
I. Decide on whether to work independently or with a group
(maximum four students from either class). I only recommend
the group option for mature individuals who know how to focus
on tasks. Those individuals who work successfully in a group
have the potential to create an extremely impressive finished
product, but they also have the potential to have their success
affected negatively. Once you have decided to work in a
group or individually, your decision is final. Due date
for decision: _________
A. Advantages of a group
1. Can share responsibilities
2. Multiple sources for creativity
B. Disadvantages of a group
1. Each student must include answers to 2 key questions
and 1 biography
a. 3 students = 6 key question answers and 3 biographies
2. Time might be wasted socializing
3. Unequal distribution of work (one student becomes “dead
weight” while another completes the
majority of the work
4. Difficulty finding time to meet outside of school
II. MAIN IDEA TOPICS: Write up rough draft summaries for main idea topics. Information from these topics can come from your notes, book outlines, or class quizzes. When writing your summaries include who, what, when, where, causes, effects, and why historically important. All students will complete the same main idea topics.
III. KEY QUESTIONS: Research key questions and write up summaries.
There are numerous links on the www.americanhistory.nu website,
or you may use the library, your textbook, or CD-ROMs. Students
must be careful not to plagiarize. Answers should be one
to two paragraphs for each question. Each student will be
assigned 2 questions for each section. This research will
replace the POWs for the next six weeks.
A. Look for pictures
B. Include source of research
IV. BIOGRAPHIES: Research biographies and write up summaries.
There are numerous links on the www.americanhistory.nu website,
or you may use the library, your textbook, or CD-ROMs. Students
must be careful not to plagiarize. When writing your summaries
include who, what, when, where, causes, effects, and why historically
important. Each student will be assigned one historical
figure for each section. This research will replace the
POWs for the next six weeks.
A. Look for pictures
B. Include source of research
V. CREATE TEXTBOOK: In making
your textbook, you can use a writing application (such as Microsoft
Word, Works, Claris Works), a web page appliction (such as Adobe
PageMill, Netscape Composer), or you can create the pages by hand
and cut and paste the information. Each section
must contain the following
A. One labeled map with captions
B. One labeled timeline
C. Two Key Questions with answers for each student
D. One Biography for each student
E. Heading separating different topics
F. Pictures with captions
G. Key Terms underlined or bold