Decade/Presidential Administration Project

This is the Decade Project for U.S. History that my mentor teacher shared with me. Here are the instructions and some student workfrom the Decade Project. Students like the project because it allows them to delve into a short period of time in a great variety of topics. It allows students to be creative, to use technology and to collaborate on the group work elements of the project. Each student must do his/her own research and write the paper independently. The presentation and visual aide elements are collaborative for 3-4 people who are covering the same time period. The class is tested on the material students present after all groups have presented. Each group chooses 3 events/issues that it believes the class should understand after their presentation. They create a brochure of these 3 events. Students are encouraged to interview someone who remembers the time period or can recount the personal experience of someone who is deceased (for example my grandfather telling me his grandfather's immigration experience).

I am actually working on modifying it further to become a Presidential Administration Project. It will be very similar except students will research the years of a presidential administration instead of a decade. Here is what I have so far regarding that:

Your 10 Events must be in the following categories and represent a variety:

1)      Politics: Every group must discuss the president, his party affiliation, and the party that controlled Congress during his administration. You must also discuss the other front-runners in the election(s). Each group will pick at least one but no more than two pieces of legislation (bill or law) to discuss or a court case that was brought before the Supreme Court during this administration. You may pick one piece of legislation and one court case. You may also choose to discuss a political speech as one of your two political events.

2)      Social Movements: Every group must pick at least one but no more than two social movements that were influential during this presidential administration. Social movements include political movements (ie: women’s right to vote, labor union movements, etc), religious movements (like the growth of the Nation of Islam in the 1960’s), or cultural movements (such as the growth of immigrant communities, the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War or the Black Power movement).

3)      Science and Technology: Every group must pick at least one but no more than two events related to science and technology. Examples include inventions like the telephone, computer or microwave, developments in medicine (such as the polio vaccine or the idea of training seeing-eye dogs), natural crises/environmental issues (The Dust Bowl, Exxon Valdez or BP Oil Spills, Hurricane Katrina) or diseases/health concerns (Spanish Influenza of 1918, AIDS, childhood obesity).

4)      Arts and Music: Every group must pick at least one but no more than two artistic or musical movements (ie: the Impressionists, the punk movement in the 1970’s) including a visual or performing artist/group that you will focus on. You must explain their significance in society in the period of this presidential administration. One of your events may be an actor, movie or TV show that had broad influence on society during its time.

5)      Sports: Every group must pick at least one but no more than two influential athletes, organizations or teams to discuss. This must be a person who would be recognizable to anyone who lived at that time, not only to fans of that sport. You must explain their influence in the sport and within the larger society. Examples include Muhammad Ali, the Special Olympics, Magic Johnson, Billie-jean King, etc…)

6)   Economics: Every group must pick at least one but no more than two people, events, or issues related to economics. Examples include: J.D. Rockefeller, Boston Tea Party, Stock Market Crash of 1929, sharecropping, etc...

7)     International Policies: Every group must pick at least one but no more than two international policies or events that occurred during this presidency. Examples include U.S. involvement in wars/military conflicts, U.S. humanitarian efforts in other countries, U.S. disaster response in other countries, and U.S. involvement in the United Nations.