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(NOTE: This WebQuest is an
adaptation of a high school WebQuest
originally published by Milton Brasher-Cunningham and Beverley Cronan.)
INTRODUCTION
Imagine that you are a new student
that has just moved from an urban middle school in Georgia to suburban
Middle School in New Jersey. At your former school, Black History Month was a
vital part of the school year. It was celebrated by all people in your
school. At your new school there has never been an intentional observance.
The entire school system never paid much attention to Black History Month.
After discussing the problem with your teacher, you have decided to make a presentation to the local School Board to demonstrate how Black History Month should be observed and celebrated in the school district.
TASK
You are to work in groups of three to explore the topic of Black
History Month. Each member of your
team will become an expert on how a given age group should observe Black
History Month. You will come back together to answer the essential
question:
How should Black History Month be observed in a multi-cultural suburban school
district?
Each team will prepare a persuasive essay that will be the foundation of a ten minute presentation to the School Board. You will be arguing whether Black History Month is an essential educational endeavor at the elementary, middle school and high school levels.
Your presentation should include individual projects that illustrate significant contributions of African Americans that will be of interest for the different age levels.
You will be asked to report your daily progress using the assigned task sheet.
PROCESS
STEP 1
Before you
become the expert for a given age group, it is important that everyone in your
group has basic background information about African American History, the
contribution of African Americans, and the celebration of Black History
Month.
1. Everyone is to log onto the Rosa
Online Reference Resources and select World Book Encyclopedia.
Do a search
for Black History Month and read the article.
On the Task
Sheet in your own words, state the purpose of Black History Month
2. Staying in World Book Encyclopedia, search
for African Americans and read the first section of the article. This long
article is divided into several main section.
Each member of your team is to select one of the following section to read and be able to summarize for the other members of the group. The Task Sheet will guide you in selecting information to share with your group.
The
Years of Slavery and the End of Slavery _____________________
Growth of Discrimination
___________________________________
The Civil Rights Movement
__________________________________
Developments since 1970
__________________________________
(If you have four members in your group, one can do this section. If you
do not, everyone should read this section.
3. Share the information that you collected with the other
members of your group. This will give you an outline of the overall topic.
STEP 2
Now that you all have some basic background information,
it is now time to revisit the essential question:
How
should Black History Month be observed in a multi-cultural suburban school
district?
Questions this big and important are better
answered when a few people are working on it at the same time. You are
asked to look at this question from different perspectives. You will become the expert for a given age level by focusing on several questions.
When you later come together, your group will poll their learning and
develop a plan for celebrating Black History Month.
The three age groups are:
Elementary School Expert _________________________
(If you have four members in your group, one can focus on Grades K-2 and the
other on Grades 3-5.)
Middle School Expert ____________________________
High School Expert ______________________________
The questions you are to answer are:
1. What significant event would be an
appropriate focus for your age group?
2. What artistic contribution would
be an appropriate focus for your age group?
3. What social contribution would be
an appropriate focus for your age group?
4. What activities should be planned
to help students learn about these topics?
5. How will the students demonstrate
what they have learned?
NOTE: As
you are locating and using information to answer these questions, you
should be making notes as to arguments you should present to the School Board
concerning the observation of Black History Month.
RESOURCES
The Rosa's
Black History Month Pathfinder provides links to many resources that
will help you complete this assignment. A few have Mr. Del Rossi's name
highlighted in the description.
In addition, there are many books in library
media center on the table and cart as you enter the library.
CONCLUSION
It is now time for your team to meet and share what you
have learned and planned for your given age group. As a group, re-read and
discuss your answers to the essential question -
How should Black History
Month be observed in a multi-cultural suburban school district?
Each WebQuest Team must plan a
persuasive presentation to the School Board. Each presentation is limited to ten
minutes. You should include a description of some of the lessons you have
developed within the presentation. One
option will be to prepare your presentation in PowerPoint.
ASSESSMENT
Criterion A - Rosa Humanities
Rubric
Criterion D - Rosa Humanities
Rubric
TEACHER'S GUIDE