Social Studies 5 ~ Mrs. Waymouth                                                    Guidelines for First Semester Report

·         Students are to choose a person or a group of people from Chapters One through Four.   (It can be an individual or a representative of a group such as an Inuit, Mayan, any Native American (but tell me who you are) a Pilgrim, a colonist, etc.)  NO ONE MAY CHOOSE GEORGE WASHINGTON.  He is only introduced in Chapter Four anyway, so we need to study him more before reporting on him!

·         I would like to know on whom students are doing their reports by this Friday, November 20^th.

·         The students must use the following three sources:  1. The American Journey Textbook.  2.  A reference book . . . a good, old-fashioned, blow the dust off of the cover, reference book.  Our library has a room FULL of them.  Wikipedia will NOT be accepted as a reference book OR an internet site.  NO WIKIPEDIA.  3.  An internet site.  I will ask Mrs. Church to give them good search engines and sites to find what they need.  More information may be used, but must be cited.

·         The students will be expected to produce a Bibliography page indicating which sources they used for their information.  There is a citation manager linked to our Library’s website which the students may use for this report.  I will ask Mrs. Hopkins to help them with this.

·           The students will be expected to write a report on their “person” which will be due on Monday, December 14^th.  The report must be at least two, but not more than three pages type-written.  The margins should be one inch all around.  The font should be Times New Roman, 12 point font.  Black ink ONLY.  The report should have a cover page with the following information included:  In the middle of the paper should be the topic.  In the bottom right-hand corner should be the student’s name, Social Studies ~ Mrs. Waymouth, and finally the date, December 14, 2009.  I will be grading on a rubric.   Attached you will find the details which will be on the rubric.   Any guidelines which are not followed will result in a loss of points.  Giving specific instructions should make this very easy. 

·         The students will then have to be prepared to give an oral presentation on their “person.”  They may prepare NOTE cards, NOT a copy of the entire report.  The presentations should include all important information about the person, why the student was interested in this historical person, and why this person was instrumental in the growth of America.  The presentation should last about three minutes.  (Encourage them to practice this for you or in a mirror!)  The oral presentations will be made at random beginning Tuesday, 12/19 during our class time.  You are welcome to come and observe!  I will choose the next day’s presentations a day in advance and post them on the website.  That way you can plan to come if you wish!

·         In addition to the oral presentation, the students should prepare a visual aid.  This can be a full-size poster or a diorama.  The students should be prepared to point out the details in their visuals. 

In the past these reports have been creative and exciting learning tools!  I am looking forward to being entertained and enlightened!  PLEASE encourage your child to begin work on this project right away.  Just because library and computer time are being allowed, does NOT mean that this is an in-school project entirely.  We will NOT be using class time.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask me.  I will post this sheet online under our Social Studies Homework and Assignments section on the website. 

Sincerely,