I
Inter-
G
Generational
S
Snapshot
This is your guide to doing it correctly. Please ask Mr. Horejsi if you have questions. Ask questions as soon as
you have them.
In every conceivable manner, the family is link to
our past, bridge to our future.
-- Alex Haley
If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row
Would you be proud of them?
Or don’t you even know?
Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees
But there’s another question
Which requires a different view
If you should meet your ancestors
Would they be proud of you?
“We have built education after the Fast Food Model; everything is standardized and conformist.”
- Sir Ken Robinson
The IGS allows YOU to personalize your curriculum in every way.
Inter-Generational Snapshot Project step-by-step Guidelines
Requirement for 11th grade American History
The time has come for you to create an original project, which examines historical events and people while
making it personal to your family history.
Outcome: Create an “intergenerational snapshot” which examines 2-4 different generational periods in your
family history. You will create an original project, which examines historical events and individuals while
making it personal through your family history. The “life and times” of your chosen relatives lives will be
illustrated through artifacts, photos, historical essays, and family biographies.
Final project is 30% of your grade in 11th Grade History. We take about 20% of class time for the project (one work day per
week). Submitting a final product is required to earn the credit for the class.
Step 1: Family Tree and “research windows.”
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Start a rough draft of the family tree template (on moodle). Get the family tree as complete as possible
using immediate family resources. You might need to investigate further to get it more complete for the
final project.
Choose ONE relative in each generation of your family tree to focus on. You may go back and forth mother’s
side to father’s side.
Then, establish a “research window” of each relative chosen.
Research window (10 year span) = birthyear +15
to
birthyear +25
Example: Grandpa Edward J Horejsi was born in 1928.
His Research Window = 1943-1953
Step 2: Choose a Theme: ______________________
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This step is important to your independent study. You may examine a part of history that you have a personal interest in.
Please consult the theme list on moodle for choices. Student created themes not on the list must be approved by the
instructor and must be connected to a standard.
***Requirements for a Theme:
1). Theme is focused.
Example of a non-focused themes:
“Sports”
“People in History”
Example of focused themes:
“Greatest Upsets in Sports History”
“Record Breaking Sports Moments”
“Athletes Americans Looked up to”
“Inspirational Leaders in History”
2). Theme allows for analyzing history.
Example generic themes:
”Arts and Literature”
“Inventions”
Example of analytical themes:
“Freedom of expression through Art
and Literature”
“Inventions that changed way of life.”
Step 1 and Step 2 Evaluation
10 points
Chosen relatives and research windows for all generations are complete on the IGS outline.
Theme is focused and provides for analyzing the greater impact of events on its generation.
Step 3: Choose Events
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Once the research window has been established, student will choose 1 major event within each generation,
which also pertains to the chosen theme. Do this step with special thought, as your choices will affect your
research and how much you personally enjoy putting time into your research. Choose events that you have a
personal interest in! Use the sheet given to you to find your events
Guidelines for choosing events:
1). Events must be specific with a narrowed focus, not a range of years.
Theme: Military History
Not Approved: WWII
1941-1945
Approved:
Dec 7, 1941
June 6, 1944
Attack at Pearl Harbor
D-day
2). Historical People papers must be attached to an event that fits them in that research window.
Theme:
Inspirational People
Not Approved: Bethany Hamilton
Approved:
Theme:
No biographies are allowed.
Bethany Hamilton wins Best Comeback Athlete Award
July 2004
Break-Through in Music
Not Approved: The Beatles
Approved: The Beatles appear on Ed Sullivan Show
Feb 9, 1964
Step 3 Completed Working Outline (Events)
10 points
Completed Outline must be approved before you begin the research stage. All events must:
Fit within the “research window” time frame.
Belong within the chosen theme.
Be focused and tied to an event.
Be able to be analyzed historically (greater impact of the event).
Step 4: Start your Research
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It is important to follow the instructor guidelines for research. Your IGS project will not be graded by the instructor
without sufficient demonstration of your personal research.
Options: Note card method or word document method.
I). Choosing your Sources
a). You must use at minimum 2 sources per event.
b). Choose the best, credible sources for historical research. Quality of sources matter over quantity.
c). What is an accredited website?
**wikipedia, infoplease, Encarta, about.com sources will not be accepted. Websites ending in .com
are not advised
(unless it is a news source, or the official site)
d). Use of Primary Sources.
Primary sources are very important for historical research.
Primary Source- a first-hand account of the event. The source was created during the time of the
event under study. Examples include: personal diaries, eyewitness accounts, news footage at the
time, interviews, speeches, official records, autobiographies.
You must have evidence of Primary Sources in your final works cited.
(at least 2 are required overall).
e). Your researched notes must be organized by source.
Notecard Method: For each new source, put the information into easybib.com, then write the citation on a notecard coded
with a letter (A is first source, B is the second source etc).
Googledoc Method: For each new source, put the information into easybib.com, then copy and paste the full citation to the
top of the notes page.
Source A:
Nye, David E. Consuming Power: A
social history of American energies.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2001.
-----------------------------------------Notes:
1.
2.
II). Gathering your Information (Research) continued…
a). As you read, analyze what is important.
- Your notes must be synthesized bits of information.
-
No chunk of information longer than 3-5 sentences should be copied and pasted for
each “notecard.”
Note: COPYING AND PASTING AN ENTIRE ARTICLE (or even an entire paragraph) AND
TRANSFERING IT TO A WORD DOCUMENT IS NOT SYNTHESIZING WHAT IMPORTANT
and will not be accepted for research. Printed off articles will not be accepted as research either.
b). Always record page numbers (print sour ce) or paragraph #(website source) after each note.
c). Make it clear in your notes when you are:
copying a direct quote
paraphrasing
summarizing the main idea
writing your own thoughts
Quoting directly- you’ve used a sentence (or more) of another author’s work word for word. When you
do this, it will be set off in quotation marks in your notes and you will give credit to author in paper.
Paraphrasing- you are using some, but not all, of the author’s words from a sentence. Because you’re
still using the author’s idea, you need to give credit to author in paper.
Summarizing- you are rewriting in your own words a summary of the information after to read.
Analysis- You are writing your own thoughts that come to your mind as you read. You’re making
determinations, assessments, or conclusions based on your knowledge of the subject you’re studying.
You don’t need to cite such notes.
Above tips came from: Cronon, William. "Learning to Do Historical Research: A Primer The Pleasures of Note Taking." Note-Taking. N.p., 2008. Web. 21 Aug.
2012<http://www.williamcronon.net/researching/notetaking.htm>.
Examples:
Notecard Method
Word Method
Source A:
"George D. Phraner on the USS Arizona." George D. Phraner
on the USS Arizona. Pearlharbor.org, n.d. Web. 21 Aug. 2012.
<http://my.execpc.com/~dschaaf/phraner.html>.
-----------------------------------------Eyewitness Account
“At first, we didn't realize it was a bombing. It didn't mean anything
to us until a large group of planes came near the ship and we could
see for the first time the rising sun emblem on the plane wings.”
(direct quote, para 1).
George Phraner was aboard the USS Arizona when it was attacked.
As the boat was on fire he jumped into the oil filled water and swam
to shore. 1,177 died aboard USS Arizona. He was one of 335
survivors aboard. (summary).
Step 4: Research Grade
30 points. Formative research check (see separate rubric)
Step 5: Write a thesis statement.
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*State Standard: 9.4.1.2.1 Pose questions about topics in history; suggest possible answers and write a thesis; locate and organize primary and
secondary sources; analyze them for credibility and bias; corroborate information across the sources; use sources to support or refute the thesis; and
present supported findings.
This step really should be done early in the research stage so that
the thesis statement guides the research and synthesizing of what is important.
Guidelines for writing a good thesis statement:
1). Your thesis statement needs to pose an idea or answer, not just state a simple fact.
Not a good thesis (common fact):
The attack on September 11, killed a lot of people.
Thesis that poses an idea:
The attack on September 11 was a tragedy that united America and renewed patriotism.
2). Your thesis statement needs to be focused.
Not a focused thesis:
“Jackie Robinson was the best baseball player ever.”
Focused thesis:
“What made Jackie Robinson great was his ability to be a positive role model against the much animosity
he faced as a pioneer in baseball.”
3). Your thesis statement is not a topic sentence that lists what you are going to talk about.
Topic Sentence:
“In this paper I will discuss how FDR’s New Deal included the AAA, FDICand FSA.”
Thesis Statement:
“Through the New Deal, FDR was able to give a feeling of hope to an America deep in despair.”
Step 5: Thesis Statement Evaluation
20 points
Thesis statements meet the guidelines above.
Step 6: Do more research focused on Thesis Statement.
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After your thesis statement is approved, then your research needs to transfer from gathering information to form a viewpoint,
to proving your thesis statement with at least three supporting examples which you develop as your middle three paragraphs
of your paper.
Step 10: Organize Your Final Project
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You must have a cover page introducing each generation.
Be sure you have a complete and accurate table of contents
Don’t forget to put your family tree somewhere in your project.
Step 7: Write your Historical Essay
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Each historical essay must be: 5 paragraphs and 1 full page (not over, not under), single spaced, 11 pt font
And follow this guideline:
1st paragraph (3-5 sentences): Introduce the focus event and
include your
thesis statement as the last sentence.
2nd, 3rd, 4th paragraphs (5-7 sentences): Prove your thesis with
three supported illustrations (PIE method)
5th paragraph (3-5 sentences): Conclude.
* Note: When meeting the sentence requirements, all sentences shouldn’t be simple sentences, but should vary in sentence structure.*
What is the P I E method?
P oint.
Make your point. What is the main point of this paragraph?
I llustrate.
Prove your point using specific information, a quotation or other evidence.
- Your illustration will always be cited from a source.
- You should have at least one citation in each of your 2nd, 3rd and 4th paragraphs.
Do not cite general information that is on most cites for the topic. Cite information that is
unique to that source and helpful for your thesis.
E xplain. (This part is always your own words as analysis!)
Explain how the information presented connects to your point and also back to the thesis of the essay.
*** A quote can never make your point for you. It can only illustrate a point you’ve already made. You should never
begin or end a paragraph with a quotation.***
***GENERAL 1/3 RULE: not more than 1/3 of the paragraph should be a citation. The rest should be your explanation and
analysis (in your own words).***
Q: So, what should take up more space in your paragraph, your illustration or your explanation?
A: YOUR EXPLANATION
WRITE ALL ESSAYS MICROSOFT WORD AND THEN
SUBMIT THEM INTO ZOHO. IT WILL SAVE YOU HEADACHES
Step 7: Historical Essay Formative Evaluation
10 points (based off of one essay of your choice)
Essay follows the 5 paragraph, one page requirements.
Essay uses the PIE format. Each paragraph has one main thought.
Citations are embedded as illustrations (paper has at least 3).
Essay provides main historical information while proving the thesis.
Essay follows the GENERAL 1/3 RULE
Step 8: Choose your Historical Artifacts
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1). You must have at least 5 minimum artifacts to accompany each historical essay.
2). Your chosen artifacts must be historical. No clip art. No general google images that are not directly related to that historical event.
3). Your artifacts must directly relate to the content discussed in the essay.
4). Your artifacts must be accompanied with an original caption in which you explain the artifact. Your caption should provide extra
information, not general information.
Vague caption: “This is a picture of President Bush giving a speech.”
Informed caption: “President Bush addressed the American people right after September 11th, in which he
declared war on terror.”
5). When you borrow information for your caption from a cite, you must parenthetical cite after
the caption in your project.
6). Provide a variety of artifacts. Photographs, maps (only if a map would be important to understanding the event such as battles,
inaugural parade routes etc), magazine covers, newspaper headlines, political cartoons, graphs and charts, signs, posters, awards,
mementos etc.
Step 9: Create your Zoho notebooks
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You will need to include on your Zoho Notebooks: Be sure to include ARTIFACTS!
1. Title Page
c. Local Event (replace with title of event
2. Table of Contents (create by using
following pages as reference)
7. Biography of Grand Parent
3. Family Tree
a. International Event (replace with title of
4. Introduction
event)
5. Your Biog. , include research window)
b. National Event (replace with title of
a. International Event (replace with title of
event)
event)
c. Local Event (replace with title of event
b. National Event (replace with title of
event)
8. Biography of Great Grand Parent
c. Local Event (replace with title of event
a. International Event (replace with title of
event)
6. Biography of Parent (include research
b. National Event (replace with title of
window)
event)
a. International Event (replace with title of
c. Local Event (replace with title of event
event)
b. National Event (replace with title of
9. Bibliography
event)
Step 9: Zoho Notebook Evaluation
10 points
At least 5 artifacts are presented.
Artifacts directly relate to content of the paper.
Captions are originally written by the student and are informative.
Artifact types show variety and historical value.
This person created cover pages for each generation
highlighting his great-grandma
(on right)along with each person covered in his historical
papers.