What we don’t know about George Washington

Learning Objectives:
1. Discuss as a class what the group knows about George Washington.
2. Brainstorm and build a list of facts from the prior knowledge of the group.
3. Research individually to find three unique facts different from the list the class created.
4. Share discovered information and sources with class.
5. Explore concepts of information literacy such as source evaluation and information accuracy.

Formative assignment

Outcome: Students will access their prior knowledge on a topic, create a list with classmates of commonly known facts about that topic, and research the topic for new information to share with the class.

Assignment Description: There are a couple of goals with this assignment. The first is for students to recognize and access their prior knowledge about a subject. The second is to evaluate whether what they think they know is actually accurate about a topic. The third is to explore concepts of information literacy including source evaluation and fact substantiation. Students often have a broad understanding of a topic or prior knowledge they have collected over their life time in education and social media. The class will discuss this knowledge and then find new information on the topic to share with each other. Cognitively, this allows students to build connections with what they knew to what they learn from each other. This assignment could be done with any person, event, or significant historical place.

Steps and Instructor Notes:
1. As a class, students will initially brainstorm all the facts they know about George Washington. In an online forum, this could be done with many different types of technology such as a Google doc or discussion board.

2. Class will review the list and divide it between ideas they agree to be true or accurate and ideas that might be questionable.

3. Explore information literacy with class. Discuss effective source evaluation techniques and techniques for determining the accuracy of information in a source. For instance, do at least three sources have the same fact? Here is one resource to help instructors get started: http://novemberlearning.com/resources/information-literacy-resources/

4. Students will then research the topic searching for a minimum of three facts either not on the lists or one that proves the questionable list as accurate or not.

5. Students will share the facts they discovered in their research, the sources they used to find that information, and how they evaluated those sources and their accuracy.

6. Students will compose a grammatically sound and well organized document with all the information listed in step 5 and include proper citation for each source.

Rubric is based on 100 points total but it is likely this assignment would take several days and is very dependent on participation which could be evaluated many different ways.
10 points-Student actively brainstormed prior knowledge with classmates.
10 points-Student actively participated in discussion to divide prior knowledge into two lists.
30 points-Student found and shared with class mates three new facts, the resources used, and how they evaluated those.
50 points- Student composed a grammatically sound and well organized document with the facts they discovered in their research, the sources they used to find that information, and how they evaluated those sources and their accuracy. Student also properly cited each source.

History Research Paper Series--Thesis Statement

Following the brainstorming assignment for a 3-5 page history research paper, students will construct a thesis statement. However, even at the college level, I find many students do not know what a thesis statement is, how it differs from the topic they selected in brainstorming, or how to write one. Have you had a student propose a thesis statement that said, “I will write about Thomas Jefferson because he was a famous president” or something similar? I frequently have, and this assignment helps guide students to a well-constructed thesis.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Thesis Statement
Objective: Learner will construct an effective thesis statement for a 3 to 5 page historical research paper.
Assessment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Student will visit the following Web sites to learn about writing a thesis statement.
http://www.bowdoin.edu/writing-guides/thesis.htm
http://www.english.upenn.edu/Grad/Teachweb/scthesis.html
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/thesis.html
2. In a discussion, students will reflect on at least three ideas they learned from these web sources about constructing a thesis statement. Students may also ask questions of each other and the instructor regarding the scope of the assignment and expectations that may be unclear.
3. Student will construct a strong thesis statement for their topic.
4. Student will post thesis statement for classmates to review and provide each other thoughtful feedback.
5. Student will submit final version for approval to the instructor.

Rubric: Assignment based on 100 points
Student participated in thesis statement discussion with at least three items, learned and responded to instructor and at least 2 classmates. 0-20 points

Student posted thesis statement in discussion 0-10 points

Respond thoughtfully in a supportive and constructive manner to at least two classmates' proposed thesis statements. 0-20 points

Student submitted a well crafted thesis statement to the instructor. 0-50 points

Though I didn’t include it in this rubric, I would like to pose the question to you about whether your students are graded on timeliness? Sometimes for assignments that are graduated like the ones I am outlining in this blog, I deduct points for not submitting the thesis statement to me on time. I have two reasons for this: 1. Students will be in the workplace and timeliness is an important skill. 2. In order to provide the student the most useful feedback during the ongoing project, the student must follow the expected due dates for the assignments. Imagine a student submitting the thesis statement along with the final essay. How would you handle this situation?
Additionally, I would like to ask how flexible you would be on students changing their thesis after submission. A strong brainstorming session might prevent this, but invariably you will be asked.

History Research Paper Series--Brainstorming

If you are familiar with this blog from previous posts, we are changing the format a bit this year to be practical lessons that you can implement in your online, hybrid or face to face classrooms.

To begin this new series we will focus on research and writing skills with a series of assignments designed to lead students to the overall outcome of writing a history research or term paper.

Title: History Research Paper Series--Brainstorming
Objective: Students will brainstorm ideas and interests to select a topic for a research paper
Assessment type: Formative
Assignment Details:
1. Instructor will introduce what brainstorming is and Student will read a source on Brainstorming for papers, from Scholastic, and discuss with teacher brainstorming.
2. Students will make a list of no less than 20 possible topics of personal interests about history or of current interest such as topics related to their career path, hobbies, etc.
3. Student will identify and eliminate topics that seem too broad or narrow the in scope for a 3-5 page paper
4. Student will share top five topics with classmates in a peer support group
5. Students will collaborate in the group to narrow each classmate’s topic list to two possibilities
6. Student will search the internet or other library sources for at least 10 potentially reliable sources on the two topics
7. Based on reasonable ease of research and interest student will select one topic for paper and submit that to the instructor for approval.

Rubric: Assignment based on 100 points
Student generated list of 20 possible topics-0-20 points

Student reduced list to top five to share with classmates in group discussion 0-5 points

Student posted five topics in discussion with classmates, collaborated with peers accepting feedback openly, and provided reasonable, constructive suggestions to at least two classmates.-0-25 points

Student narrowed choices to top two and searched internet for a minimum of 10 possible reasonable sources on the internet or other library sources.-0-25 points

Student selected and submitted one topic. 0-25 points

How do you encourage students to brainstorm?
Next week, we explore thesis statements.