Hello ladies and gentlemen,
Since we have State Testing going on this week I thought it would be good to provide you with a brief introduction to the End of Year Project, which we will start working on as soon as the APUSH Exam has finished. It is comparable in size to the Final Exam and so should merit your sincere attention and effort. I personally love this project because it allows you a creative control over what you produce. You have five options available to you and this allows a great deal of your personal style to drive the project. Below you will find the assignment sheet as well as detailed descriptions of each option. If you have any questions feel free to email me, ask me during tutorial, or ask in class. Hope this helps! We are so very nearly done!
Live long and prosper,
Mr. Marchetti
End of Year Project Assignment Sheet
General Overview
Your task for this project is to research and create a deliverable presentation to your peers (i.e., create a Google Slideshow, PPT, Prezi, Video, Poster, etc.). Your presentation must be thoroughly researched and teach your fellow students about United States history in a particular area. You have five project options available to you and complete control over what you choose and how to do it. You may work with one other person on this project. The Five project options are: 1) Five most Significant Days in U.S. History you have never heard of; 2) Across the Borders Project; 3) What If?; 4) Five Most Significant People in U.S. History you have never heard of; 5) U.S. History through Pop Culture.
This project is worth 600 points and is due June 1.
Below I will provide a brief description with hints on what to do for each project.
You will also have the opportunity to present your End of Year Project to the class for extra credit on the Days leading up to (and including) the Final schedule. If you present for extra credit you may need to turn in your project early.
Option 1: Five Most Significant Days in U.S. History you have never heard of
For this option you must choose 5 days from US history. They must be a single date in history (such as September 17, 1862). They also cannot be obvious days (such as July 4, 1776) as the point of this is for you to examine and present about a topic that is lesser known to you and your peers. If you are unsure if a date is too famous (and therefore should not be used) feel free to double check with me!
5 Days Sample
Option 2: Across the Borders
For this option you are doing a little digging into your personal family history. One mistake that many students have made in the past is that they focus only on their family history. If you read the directions carefully you need to find the year that you family immigrated into the US, and then you need to do an in depth history report of that year. You may include how the events of that year impacted your family, but that should not be the emphasis of this project. Because this involves family history, you must do this one alone.
Across the Border Sample
Option 3: What if?
This option may be the hardest! But it is also the most creative and interesting (if done right). Essentially you need to research an important event in history, and the hypothesize what might have happened if that event was changed. This is difficult because you need to make LOGICAL conclusions based on what actually happened to defend your hypothetical timeline. It can be a lot of fun but it can also be really tough!
What If Sample
Option 4: Five Most Significant People in U.S. History you have never heard of
This option is very similar to option #1. Instead of dates in history you are researching people. Once again these must be people that are not commonly known (such as George Washington). You must provide a brief biography as well as a clear analysis of why people SHOULD know about them. One fun way to make this unique and personal is to choose people who impacted a particular field of history. For instance if you are interested in medicine, you might research people who made significant contributions to medicine (or video games, or music, etc.).
5 Important People Sample
Option 5: U.S. History through Pop Culture
This option is all about examining Pop Culture people and/or trends. For example you could research the history of Spider-Man, Stan Lee, Superman, Michael Jackson, Punk Rock, Green Day, etc. One common mistake with this project is that students focus only on the history of the Pop Culture person and/or movement, they forget that they need to tie the significance of the person and/or movement into the grander scheme of U.S. History as well. This can be really fun and I have seen great examples over the years!
Pop Culture Sample
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions, I will be more than happy to answer them!
