U.S. History Name
The Turbulent Sixties
Thinking Skills: Simile Project Date Hour
A simile is a comparison between things that would make them seem to be alike. Some similes stretch the comparison in order to help people understand one of the items being compared. Similes are often used in poetry and literature. Lucky for us, they can be used in history too!
Your Thinking Skill Project for this unit will be to reflect on the issues of the Sixties and create a visual simile that conveys what you believe to be the essence of that time period.
You may work with a partner on this project. The partner has to be in one of my classes, but does not have to be in the same hour you are in.
The project will be due on Friday, May 27, 2011.
You will create a poster of your simile using the following format:
1. TITLE: The Sixties was like ______
2. VISUAL IMAGE: create an image for the simile and place it in the middle of the poster.
Use at least 4 details symbolically in the image. For example, if the Sixties was like a gambler, what would the chips represent.
3. EXPLANATION: under the image, write the word “BECAUSE” followed by a list of the three
most important similarities that make your simile work.
4. TAKING A STAND: on the bottom of the poster or on the backside, take an overall stand on
the Sixties by defending or arguing that “The Sixties was a positive or negative time for the United States.” (Your answer may not be both positive and negative)
Your poster should be bold, artistic and creative and should reflect your understanding of the Sixties.
EXAMPLES
A good simile for the Cold War would be “The Cold War was like the Super Bowl because it had adversarial sides – NATO and the Warsaw Pact which were competing for 1st place in world power and domination of the other.” The visual image would be a football stadium.
For the Civil Rights Movement it could be “The Civil Rights Movement is like a marriage because a marriage is better when the partners are equal instead of one dominating the other and even though each spouse may have family members who think they could have done better they can’t let that get in the way of their relationship. The visual image would be a bride and groom.
Be creative and have some fun. Poster board, markers, glue, and all that stuff are available in the room if you need them. You can use my room before school and during lunch if you need to. This is a homework assignment; no class time will be used for working on them. Please, please, please, ask questions if you don’t understand.
EVALUATION RUBRIC
100 – 90 Exceptional Simile
This project far exceeds expectations; the project includes extra details; there is
evidence of outside research in the project; the illustration is very effective and
has more details than required; this project reflects creativity in thought and
design; this project is edited perfectly; rationale for the simile is well
supported with facts; this project reflects exceptional time, care and effort.
89 – 80 Strong Simile
This project has all the requirements of the standard project and may include one
or more of the following: extra details/symbols; outstanding artwork; more than 5
facts in explanation; reflects a lot of time, care and effort.
79 – 70 Standard Simile
This project meets all the requirements – it has a title, a visual image that
illustrates the simile, 4 details in the illustration that are symbolic and describe
the historical events, persons, dates, facts, etc. of theSixties, an in-depth explanation of 3 ways the simile is effective (one fact per explanation) and a paragraph stating the student’s opinion of the Sixties (at least 5 facts incorporated); the project is neat and reflects care and pride; the project is colored or effectively presented in another way; the simile is effective
69 – 60 Capable Simile
This project may not meet all the requirements; this smile may not be
effective or be explained using facts; this project may not reflect time and effort
in that the artwork may be poor in quality; this project may not be colored or
otherwise well presented.
59 – 0 Inadequate Simile
This project is inadequate in most of the requirements; this project may not
reflect care, time and effort.