Task
After reading Boss of the Plains The Hat That Won The West, you will:
1. Design a hat for the 21st century on notebook paper using a
pencil, colored pencils or crayons.
2. Write a friendly letter to Hats of the 21st Century using Microsoft
Word and persuade them to market your new hat. You will tell
the company why John B. Stetson’s hat was so useful to a cowboy
in the American West and include your group’s reasons for why
your new hat will be useful for present-day life.
The
Process
Step 1: You will be divided into a group of 3 people. Once in your
group decide on a name for your company. (Remember your
company is going to make hats) Your group will work together to
complete each of the 3 tasks: Hat Designer, Letter Writer and
Facilitator.
Hat Designer – Draws the hat on paper and fills out the List of
Purposes Worksheet for the hat that the group has designed.
Letter Writer- Writes a rough draft of a business letter and then
types the final copy in Microsoft Word.
Facilitator- Uses the Internet to navigate links and researches
and keeps group members organized and on task.
continued
Step 2: Within your group you will study the life of an
American Cowboy and the environment which inspired John B.
Stetson’s design of the Boss of the Plains. Complete the List of
Purposes Worksheet for the Boss of the Plains’ Hat and state
reasons why it was useful for life in the American West. Use
the following links:
http://www.stetsonhat.com/history.php
http://www.archives.gov/research/americanwest/images/103.jpg
http://pbskids.org/stantonanthony/frontier_girl.html
http://lib-operations.sonoma.edu/fin/aaa0709.html
The Process
List of Purposes Worksheet
Uses for your new hat
Uses for Boss of the Plains Hat
The
Process
continued
Step 4: Your group is now ready to design a hat for the 21st
century. Complete the List of Purposes Worksheet for your
new hat and state the reasons why it will be useful for present
day life. (Make sure you look at your scoring guide before you
start this step.)
Step 5: Your group has designed a 21st century hat and is
now ready to market the hat. Write a friendly letter to the
Hats of the 21st Century Co. persuading them to choose your
hat to market. In the letter tell the company why John B.
Stetson’s hat was so useful to a cowboy in the American
West. Then include your group’s reasons for why your hat is
useful for present day life.
The Letter
1. Use your List of Purposes Worksheet to help you with your
Sloppy Copy.
2. Revise and Edit your Sloppy Copy
3. Type your final copy in the letter generator, use the link
below:
4. http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/letter_generator/
Presentation
Present your group’s design to the class. (Look at the
evaluation page under presentation.) The group will read
aloud their letter, show their hat design, and discuss why
their hat is useful in the 21st century.
Scoring Guide Boss of the Plains
Category
1
2
3
4
Hat Design
Design is
original, but
lacks neat
appearance;
does not match
the description
on the
Purposes
Worksheet
The hat design is
original, but lacks
neat appearance.
The description
somewhat matches
the Purpose
Worksheet
Design is original, has
a neat appearance,
somewhat matches
the description in the
Purposes Worksheet
The hat design is
original, has a neat
appearance and
matches the
description in the
Purposes Worksheet
Conventions
Witter makes
more than 4
errors in
grammar,
spelling,
punctuation or
capitalization
Writer makes 3-4
errors in grammar,
spelling, punctuation
or capitalization
Writer makes 1-2
errors in grammar,
spelling,
punctuation, or
capitalization
Writer makes very
few mistakes in
grammar, spelling
punctuation or
capitalization
Friendly Letter
Letter doesn’t
state any
purposes or
match time
period
Letter states 1
purpose for Boss of
the Plains hat and 1
for new hat
Letter states 2
purposes for Boss of
Plains hat and 2 for
new hat.
Letter states 3
purposes for Boss of
Plains hat and 3 for
new hat.
Format
1-2 parts of
letter were
present
3 parts of letter were
present
4 parts of letter were
present
All 5 parts of letter
were present
Presentation
Students not
prepared.
Does not speak
clearly or make
good eye
contact
Students somewhat
prepared and
sometimes speak
clearly and make
good eye contact
Students prepared.
Not all in group
participate. Speak
clearly and have
good eye contact
Students prepared.
All participate. Speak
clearly and have
good eye contact
Score