Project Portal:
Example Project
End of the Year Project for U.S. History
Project Overview: US History Museum Pass
The US History Museum Pass is an end of the year project, you will be completing in groups of 3 to 4. Each group will pick a topic from the list below and create an online museum exhibit that teaches the viewer about topic throughout the entire course of American history that we have or will cover in our class. The exhibit will be made up of primary and secondary sources, and must be accompanied by an annotated bibliography. Each group will be allowed to create their own weekly website and/or wiki space.
Topics to Choose From:
- Culture/Role in Society
- Culture/Role in Society
- Military
***NOTE: If there is a topic your group would like to cover/research that is not on the list please see me to get the topic approved, these are just a starting point. Also each topic may only be choose once per class. |
The Exhibit: Developing your topic
Just like when writing research papers and essays, museum exhibits need to have a thesis statement, and/or essential question that is being asked, then explored and concluded. The first step after picking your topic with your group will be to develop a central focus for your exhibit. First do some research, look back at class notes, the textbook, the library, and online. From your research come up with a few thesis statements you could possibly use in your exhibit. Your group must get their thesis approved, before you can finish researching and put together your online exhibit.
If you are having trouble coming up with a place to start or how to bring all of the information from the past to the present together think about how the past impacts the present, and with your research come up with a central focus from there.
If you are having trouble coming up with a place to start or how to bring all of the information from the past to the present together think about how the past impacts the present, and with your research come up with a central focus from there.
Sources needed:You will need a mix of primary and secondary sources to create your exhibition. This will require research and you will be completing an annotated bibliography to justify and explain the sources you choose for the presentation.
How many primary sources do you need?
How many secondary sources do you need?
*** NOTE: looking at the rubric you will see the bare minimum will get you a C, the more quality sources you use the better your group's grade will be. |
Presentation:
It is up to you how you want to create and/or display your exhibit, for example the exhibit can be walking/driving tour with an app and the webpage is showing highlights, or it could be a web exhibit for a museum located somewhere in the United States. While the project is designed to allow you to be creative and innovative there are some general requirements.
***NOTE: Have fun creating your museums and the more details you include, the more it feels like an actual museum somewhere the better the overall presentation score will be.
- Your museum should have a name- it doesn't have to be specific to your topic, unless you want it to be.
- The exhibit should have a layout and it should make sense. The sources you include should flow well from one to an other for example if your topic was African Americans civil rights you wouldn't want to have a document about abolition movement in 1850 and then the next thing the viewer sees is a source about African American's civil rights in 2014. The time jump is to much and doesn't make sense unless there is a reason for the time jump which should be explained so the viewer understands where your going with your exhibit.
- You must use at least one web 2.0 tool, below there are links in the Resource section to tools you can utilize.
- Every exhibit needs some explanation and history given, you will need this too, to help teach the viewer about your topic. There isn't a lot of writing in exhibits a few paragraphs in the beginning/end, captions under the objects/sources in the exhibit, and occasionally when needed a paragraph of text is added. Its up to you how this information will be given, you can make podcasts that can act as an audio tour or you can have it written, maybe provide a mix like most museums do, with the podcast going more in-depth into the topic. Remember the writing and podcasting does not mean you simply copy what is said in the secondary and primary sources you find, you must put it in your own words and cite anything that is directly quoted. Plagiarism will result in a Zero.
***NOTE: Have fun creating your museums and the more details you include, the more it feels like an actual museum somewhere the better the overall presentation score will be.
Collaborating:For this project you are working in small groups, and their will be a group grade. It may be helpful for you group to break down the roles of the group.
Example Roles: Leader: makes sure everyones voice is heard Recorder: compiles the groups ideas for anything written Time Keeper: makes sure the group stays on task and the groups meeting deadlines Artist: complies the groups ideas to make the museum more realistic Everyone needs to contribute to the research and creation of the exhibit, these roles are to help make it easier and hold everyone accountable for their work. |
How the project will be Graded:
Below is the rubric that will be used to grade your projects. On the due date each group will be asked to score their own projects, and fill out a group survey. You will receive two grades for this project an individual grade and a group grade, so everyone needs to pull their own weight, its to much work for one person to do this project all on their own.
Resources:
Below are tutorials on how to use the weekly website, to create and design your webpages.
Tutorial on how to use GarageBand to make podcasts.
WEB 2.0 TOOLS:
These are just a few web 2.0 tools you can use, a google search of web 2.0 tools will bring up much more.
http://www.scribblemaps.com- good for if you are making exhibit apart of a walking tour.
http://padlet.com or answer garden - a blank wall people can post on, if you want to get people to think about a question during your exhibit and have them post a response
Think Link - add things to your images
Voki - if you want to have a tour guide for your exhibit make one with voki (this is a nice alternative to podcasts or writing out information you want to get across.)
http://www.myhistro.com create interactive maps
http://edu.glogster.com- create display with images, music, videos, etc.
These are just a few web 2.0 tools you can use, a google search of web 2.0 tools will bring up much more.
http://www.scribblemaps.com- good for if you are making exhibit apart of a walking tour.
http://padlet.com or answer garden - a blank wall people can post on, if you want to get people to think about a question during your exhibit and have them post a response
Think Link - add things to your images
Voki - if you want to have a tour guide for your exhibit make one with voki (this is a nice alternative to podcasts or writing out information you want to get across.)
http://www.myhistro.com create interactive maps
http://edu.glogster.com- create display with images, music, videos, etc.
Websites with more web 2.0 tools listed.
http://web20guru.wikispaces.com/Web+2.0+Resources
https://web2012.discoveryeducation.com/web20tools.cfm
http://cooltoolsforschools.wikispaces.com
If you don't have garageband and want to podcast check out:
https://www.podomatic.com/login
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/stepbystep-guide-audacity-produce-home-music-recordings/
There is also away to make podcasts with windows movie maker. The tutorials I saw on Youtube were a little strange, but I found a pdf with pictures, you can also google it yourself. http://usailc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Podcast-using-WindowsLiveMovieMaker11.pdf
http://audioboo.fm
Websites to jump start your research:
please don't limit yourself to just what is below this is just to help you get started. http://www.gilderlehrman.org http://whitehousetapes.net world digital library http://avalon.law.yale.edu/default.asp National Archives |
Project schedule
See April, May, and June 2014 for project schedule.
NOTE: This project could be converted for almost any social studies class with some tweaking.