US Social History Blog Project

U.S. History 1 - Social History Blog Project
Murry Bergtraum High School, John Elfrank-Dana
Going Deep into History

Purpose: To give students the opportunity to go deep into the early periods of U.S. history by choosing a topic of interest to them they find along the course of their study and reporting on it.

Definition of Social History: The view of history from the lives of ordinary people (like women, slaves, farmers, immigrants, Native Americans, factory workers, indentured servants, working children).

Essential Questions: These are the kinds of questions you can ask and answer in your blog posts.

1. What role did this group play in the formation of our nation?
2. How did their social class impact their lives?
3. What was daily life like for these people?
4. What groups of people today face the same challenges?
5. What are the success stories of these people?
6. How can you learn from knowing about these people?

Task (worth 20% of your grade): To create a blog and posts that illustrate your interest in the depth of U.S. history.

8 Posts by the end of the term. Posts 200 word minimum.

Due Dates:

1. 11/15/2010 - Blog created and 2 posts.

2. 11/30/2010 - Total of 4 posts.

3. 12/15/2010 - Total of 6 posts.

4. 1/3/2011 - Project Completed - 8 Posts total.

Rubric

Aspect	Full Credit	Medium Credit	Low to No Credit
Writing (35%)	Writing is clear and complete, in student's own words except were quotes appear.	Writing is clear, in student's own words except were quotes appear.	Writing is not clear and/or plagiarized (not cited). Little or no writing in the student's own words.
Research (25%)	Independent/quality (no Wikipedia) sources used for each post, fully cited/linked at the bottom.	Independent (no Wikipedia) sources used for each post, fully cited/linked at the bottom.	Sources are missing.
Focus (10%)	The posts remain on the topic of social history, are relevant to the periods studied in class.	The posts remain generally on the topic of social history, are relevant to the periods studied in class.	Posts are not consistently on the social history from the periods studied in class.
Creativity (10%)	The posts combine pre-existing elements into new formations, use student-created art work or poetry, fictional writing (pretending to be a newspaper reporter), mixed media (video, imagery and text)	The posts student-created art work or poetry, fictional writing (pretending to be a newspaper reporter), mixed media (video, imagery and text)	No signs of student originality in the posts.
New Media use (20%)	Blog is well-formatted (consistent with guidelines presented in class), good response to comments, and use of mixed media options available in the blog.	Blog is formatted in a logical manner and can be navigated with little effort. Some response to comments.	Blog is disorganized making it difficult to read.

How to get Started (read all the instructions FIRST)

1. Go to www.Blogger.com and login with your Google account.

2. Follow the prompts to create a new blog. Use your network login for the blog address:
first4ofyourlastname+first4ofyourOsis.

3. Title Your Blog: U.S. Social History Blog Project

4. Under Settings >> Permissions >> Restrict Access to jelfrank1@gmail.com for now.

Suggested Work Process:

     1. Choose one of the groups studied by social history (women, slaves, farmers, immigrants, Native
        Americans, factory workers, indentured servants, working children)
    2. Do a general inquiry to familiarize with your chosen group. Wikipedia is ok for this.
    3. Research the time period and place currently studying (at this writing the early 1800s America).
    4. Choose an interesting sub topic and generate and research looking for some general information.
    5. Generate a research plan by scaffolding some questions in logical sequence you would like to answer.
    6. Include these questions in an introductory post (you can revise them later).
    7. Create a post on each question/issue you have identified. Save your opinions for the end of the
        project. You MUST cite where you got your information and images/video! Copy and paste the web
        site URL at the bottom of each post.

How to Create a Blog Post - YOU MUST READ THIS and follow its guidelines.

Search Help: Put these in your Google search box. Choose which group you will focus on. Notice how the searches are framed (brief, with key terms, date ranges). Create a post on your blog and title it Research. It's where you can keep a journal of your searches.

    Early Suffragists in American history
    Early Abolitionists in American history
    Child labor history America 1800...1900
    Native American History 1800...1900
    Indentured Servants in America 1800...1900
    Slavery History America
    Early Labor History America 1800...1900
    Veteran History America 1800...1900

How to Give Your Blog Purpose and Focus:

1. Look at your post on your project questions (where you are going).
2. How can you make these questions better?
       Example 1:
        Topic: Slavery
        Purpose: Provide an understanding of slavery as it existed in New
          York and how it was different from slavery in the South.
         What? Leads to...
         How/Why?
         Should?
        Example 2:
          Topic: Irish Immigration
          Purpose: To show the significance of the Irish coming to America.
          What? Leads to...
          How/Why?
3. Open your blog settings and go to Description: Put the purpose of your
       blog there.

4. Discuss with your neighbor (if in class) why you chose the topic you did and develop some What questions.

Bureaucratic Stuff:

NY State Standard - use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

Differentiation (If you must know): content - students choose the project, process - students work at their own pace within the flexible schedule between class and home, product - students can use a variety of formats for their content like various combinations of text/image/video.