Famous American Report
You will select a famous American on which to report. Your report will consist of a
written report and an oral report to be given in front of the class. The guidelines for the
report are as follows.
Written Report
*Your written report must include the following information:
1. The person’s birth and death dates and cause of death. (If the person is still
living, this must be stated in place of the death information.)
2. What the person did that made them famous.
3. At least 2 nonfiction stories about the person’s life.
4. A bibliography page with at least 3 entries.
**Your written report may include the following information:
1. Drawings or pictures from the person’s life. (Photocopies or graphics from
electronic resources will not be as valuable as original artwork.)
2. Graphs, charts, or maps.
3. Anything else to make your report more creative and interesting.
The written report must be typed (double spaced) or in handwriting in ink (skipping
lines). Remember...neatness counts! When you turn in your report, it must be in some
kind of report folder, not just stapled in the top corner.
Length
There is no length requirement on this report; however, you will want to include lots of
good information. Therefore, make your report as interesting as possible. It will be
graded on its content and quality.
Helpful Hints
You may get your information from encyclopedias, CDRoms, the Internet, books, or
magazines. Take notes as you research. You may not plagiarize, that is, copy word-forword from another source. Plagiarism is against the law!
Once you have done your research you may want to make an outline (the outline will
not be turned in however). Then make a sloppy copy. Have a parent check your sloppy
copy for mistakes or suggestions. Finally, make a final draft to turn in.
Bibliography
As you do your research, write down any information that you will need for your
bibliography. It should include:
 The title of the book, CDRom, website, or magazine (underlined)
 The address if the source is a web site (ex. http://www.americaslibrary.gov)
 The author’s or webmaster’s name
 The copyright date (for Internet, the date you found the information)
 The publishing company (address or “burl” of a web site)
 The page numbers where you found your information.
Here is an example of how a bibliography entry must be listed at the end of your report:
The New Popular History of the World, Caldwell, c.1950, Greystone Press, pgs. 491-495.
Oral Report
You will present the oral report in front of the class. It should contain all of the
information you must* include in your written report, however you will not stand in
front of the class and read your report. You may, though, use notes from your report
written on 3x5 or 4x6 index cards. Your oral report will not take more than 5 minutes.
Part of the grading of your oral report will be on creativity and presentation. These
things will be graded just like the things that may** be included in your written report.
Try to think of some ways to make your report more interesting for the class to listen to.
Here are some ideas you may use if you can’t think of any others on your own:
 Dress up like your Famous American.
 Have a shoebox or bag containing articles relating to your Famous American.
 Use maps, charts, or even the overhead projector.
 Do a PowerPoint presentation. Please see Mr. Cliffe ahead of time if you choose
to do this.
Due Dates
The written report will be due on Friday, February 8. Any reports turned in after that
date will be considered late and will receive a grade of zero. You may turn in your
written report on the day you do your oral report.
Your oral report will be presented to the class on one of the days during the week of
February 4 through 8. You will choose which day of that week you want to present,
however, we can only have up to 8 presentations each day, so you may not get your
first choice.
Grading
This report will count for a great deal of your Social Studies grade for this quarter. Each
part of the report will be worth 100 points (Written = 100, Oral = 100). Points will be
awarded as follows:
75 points for what must be included in the report. *
25 points for what may be included in the report. **
Grading Scale
Points
Grade
98 - 100 --------------- A+
93 - 97 ---------------- A
90 - 92 ---------------- A88 - 89 ---------------- B+
83 - 87 ---------------- B
80 - 82 ---------------- B78 - 79 ---------------- C+
73 - 77 ---------------- C
70 - 72 ---------------- C68 - 69 ---------------- D+
63 - 67 ---------------- D
60 - 62 ---------------- D0 - 59 ------------------ F
These instructions are available on Mr. Cliffe’s website:
http://apu.edu/~pcliffe/
Resources
Some very helpful websites for this report are:
 Mr. Cliffe’s website: http://apu.edu/~pcliffe
 Grolier Online: http://go.grolier.com (From school your username is cousd and
your password is school. From home your username is cousd5 and your
password is home.)
Famous Americans
Below is a list of Famous Americans from which you may choose one to do your report
on. If you want to do your report on someone whose name is not listed below, you must
get my approval before you start your research.
Any President of the U. S. A.
Any First Lady of the U. S. A.
Meriwether Lewis
Jedediah Strong Smith
Neil Armstrong
Samuel Adams
Benjamin Banneker
Samuel Clemens
Benjamin Franklin
James Marshall
John Wesley Powell
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
John Glen
Harriet Tubman
Eli Whitney
Martin Luther King Jr.
Lucretia Mott
Nathaniel Hawthorne
William Clark
John Charles Fremont
Zebulon Pike
Edwin Aldrin
John W. Young
Susan B. Anthony
Daniel Boon
Davy Crockett
Patrick Henry
William Penn
Paul Revere
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Anne Mansfield Sullivan
Nat Turner
James Wilson
Amelia Earhart
Christa McAuliffe
Betsy Ross
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------
(Cut off and return this portion with the required signatures.)
Mr. Cliffe,
We have read and discussed these report guidelines and will encourage our child to
complete its requirements. The report will be about _____________________.
(Famous American)
_______________________________________________
Parent Signature
___________________________________________
Date
_______________________________________________
Student Signature
___________________________________________
Date