Civil War Expert Groups

Mr. Eagan

Social Studies

THE CIVIL WAR – BECOMING AN EXPERT

WORTH 77 POINTS – DUE DATE: March 21, 2011 –

Presentations March 21-25

PURPOSE – The purpose of this project is to build in-depth knowledge of certain aspects of the Civil War. Because you will be teaching the class about certain events during the Civil War, you will need to become an “expert” in your field. As you will be educating the rest of the class, you will need to put forth your best effort. PLEASE FOLLOW ALL THE REQUIREMENTS AS WRITTEN. If you have any questions, please ask.

TASK: Choose one topic from the list to become an expert on, and present it in a unique, creative, and fun manner

ALL PROJECTS MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

· A “Works Cited” page that cites at least four sources (using correct bibliographic format). You may use up to two sources from the internet, and the rest must be traditional - books, text, periodical, or an encyclopedia (GOOGLE IS NOT A SOURCE) – 12 points

· The Research Aspect of your Project. This will be your report, script, narrative, storybook, storyboard, research board, article, Power Point, etc. Your research must be accurate and factual. This will be the creative aspect of the project as well as credible component, yet be careful not to plagiarize (use someone else’s words as yours). All work must be written in blue or black ink or typed. It must have correct grammar and Punctuation – 20 points

· A one page self evaluation that will include:

(1) the strengths of your project

(2) the areas of improvement in you project

(3) what you have learned from your efforts

(4) how your topic connects with class readings and discussions (5) the number of overall points (out of 77 for the whole project) you would give yourself and why

Worth – 20 points

· A brief presentation (if you are doing a newscast or video your time may not exceed 10 minutes) describing your project and the highlights of the topic you have become an expert on. Remember…you are an expert on your topic, be prepared to answer questions and present in a lively manner. You will be scored along the following guidelines for your presentation:

1. Poise

2. Clear Voice Projection

3. Eye Contact with the Class

4. Organization

5. Content

Worth 25 points

LIST OF TENATIVE TOPICS:

· Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis

· Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee

· The blunders of Union Commanders

· The Battle of Bull Run

· The Battle of Shiloh

· The 54th Massachusetts Infantry

· The Battle of Antietam

· The Siege of Vicksburg

· The Battle of Gettysburg

· The Emancipation Proclamation and The Gettysburg Address

· General Sherman's march from Atlanta to Savannah

· Appomattox Court House

· President Lincoln’s Assassination

· Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

· The role women played in the War

· The role African Americans played in the War

· Music of the War

· Food of the War

· Technology the War gave rise to

· Civil War Uniforms

PLEASE SELECT ONE PROJECT FROM THE CHOICES BELOW:

· Create a newspaper article answering who, what, when, where, and how questions about your topic. Please write this as if it were going to appear in a major newspaper during the Civil War. Use a newspaper format (header, footer, columns, byline etc.) for your article.

· Create a skit or play depicting the events/facts about your topic. Please develop a well written script (which will be submitted the day of your presentation). The skit or play must be well rehearsed and clearly show the important facts.

· Stage a newscast reporting on an event from the Civil War. The newscast must be well rehearsed and answer the who, what, when, where, and how of the event you are reporting on. You may perform this live, or you may video tape the newscast. You must submit a well-written script of the newscast.

· Create a storyboard that accurately depicts the accounts of your chosen topic. The storyboard must include well-chosen visuals and you must submit a one-page narrative that describes the storyboard.

· Create a picture collage that includes published and original pictures of the event you are portraying. Your collage must be neat and clean. All writing must be legible. You must also include a one-page narrative that describes your poster.

· Create a map of a battleground. The map must highlight the major events of the battle. The map must be on large poster board, be accurate, and have a color-coded legend and an accurate compass rose. You must include a one-page narrative/summary of the battle.

· Create a storybook. The storybook will share key facts/events of your topic. The book must be in story form (maybe told from a first person narrative). You will want to include illustrations and appropriate cover.

· Create a PowerPoint presentation of an event during the war or a key person during the war. Your presentation must include key facts and information about your chosen topic. You will need to arrange a means of presenting (video, computer terminal, overhead, etc.) your project.

· Create a diary/journal of someone involved in the Civil War. The diary must be creative, well written, and reflect the time period of the war. The diary must also include factual data relevant to the topic you have chosen to study.

You may choose to complete this project independently or with a partner. If you choose to complete the project with a partner, both of you will be required to submit a one page evaluation.

Select a topic that interests you. We must cover all the topics listed above, so make your selection quickly, or you will be assigned a topic.

BE CREATIVE AND HAVE FUN!

CIVIL WAR PROJECT –BECOMING AN EXPERT

SCORE SHEET: TOTAL POSSIBLE – 77 POINTS

TOPIC ______

· WORKS CITED PAGE (12 POINTS) ______

· RESEARCH (WRITTEN) ASPECT OF PROJECT (20 POINTS) ______

· SELF EVALUATION (20 POINTS) ______

· PRESENTATION (25 POINTS) ______

1. POISE ______

2. CLEAR VOICE PROJECTION ______

3. EYE CONTACT ______

4. ORGANIZATION ______

5. CONTENT _____

Name ______Total Score ______

CIVIL WAR PROJECT - BECOMING AN EXPERT

SCORE SHEET: TOTAL POSSIBLE – 77 POINTS

TOPIC ______

· WORKS CITED PAGE (12 POINTS) ______

· RESEARCH (WRITTEN) ASPECT OF PROJECT (20 POINTS) ______

· SELF EVALUATION (20 POINTS) ______

· PRESENTATION (25 POINTS) ______

6. POISE ______

7. CLEAR VOICE PROJECTION ______

8. EYE CONTACT ______

9. ORGANIZATION ______

10. CONTENT _____

Name ______Total Score ______

BECOMING AN EXPERT ON THE CIVIL WAR

-PROJECT CHECKLIST-

ALL PROJECTS MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

· A “Works Cited” page that cites at least four sources (using correct MLA bibliographic format!!!). You must use at least two sources from traditional books, text, periodical, or encyclopedia and other sources to have at least four sources.

1. Book one: ______3pts.

2. Book two: ______3 pts.

3. Source 3: ______3 pts.

4. Source 4: ______3 pts.

Total (12 pts. possible) ______

· The Research Aspect of your Project. This will be your report, script, narrative, storybook, storyboard, research board, article, Power Point, etc. Your research must be accurate and factual. This will be the creative aspect of the project as well as credible component, yet be careful not to plagiarize (use someone else’s words as yours). All work must be written in blue or black ink or typed. It must have correct grammar and punctuation

Total (20 pts. possible) ______

· A one page self evaluation that will include:

1. The strengths of your project ______4 pts.

2. The areas of improvement in you project ______4 pts.

3. What you have learned from your efforts ______4 pts.

4. How your topic connects with class work ______4 pts.

5. The number of overall points (out of 77 for the whole project) you would give yourself and why _____ 4pts.

Total (20 pts. possible) ______

· A brief presentation (if you are doing a newscast or video your time may exceed 10 minutes, but no longer than 15 minutes) describing your project and the highlights of the topic you have become an expert on. Remember…you are an expert on your topic, be prepared to answer questions and present in a lively manner. You will be scored along the following guidelines for your presentation:

1 Poise ______5 pts.

2. Clear Voice Projection ______5 pts.

3. Eye Contact with the Class ______5pts.

4. Organization ______5pts.

5. Content ______5 pts.

Total (25 pts. possible) ______

SELF EVALUATION
Strengths of my Project:
I believe my project has much strength. I like how my group members and I arranged our time in a responsible manner. We worked well together and put together our final project with enough time to prepare for the presentation. I enjoyed working on the presentation and it made it easy to present since we were very well prepared. All in all the experience was a very good one.

Areas of Improvement:
What I have Learned:
How Our Topic Connects with Class:
Number of Points Overall Points (out of 77):
Works Cited
Bowman, John S. “Gettysburg, Campaign and Battle” Encyclopedia of the Civil War (1992 ed.), 88-91.
Davidson, James W. and Michael B. Stoff. America: History of Our Nation. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2000.
Smith, Jim W. The Battle of Gettysburg. New York: Harper Collins, 1997.
The Extraordinary Story of the Battle of Gettysburg. 19 March 2007 http://www.gettysburg.com/bog/bogstory/story1.htm
Wikipedia: Battle of Gettysburg. 14 March 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gettysburg

CIVIL WAR PROJECT

BECOMING AN EXPERT

SCORE SHEET: TOTAL POSIBLE – 77 POINTS

TOPIC ______

· WORKS CITED PAGE (12 POINTS) ______

· RESEARCH ASPECT (WRITTEN) OF PRJECT (20 POINTS) ____

· SELF EVALUATION (20 POINTS) ______

· PRESENTATION (25 POINTS) ______

11. POISE ______

12. CLEAR VOICE PROJECTION ______

13. EYE CONTACT ______

14. ORGANIZATION ______

15. CONTENT _____

Total Score ______

Name ______