Revolutionary War
Research Project
Bonnieville Elementary School 8th Grade
You’ll find everything you need to know about
your project here!
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Due Dates Calendar
General Directions and Scoring Information
Suggested Sources
How to Write a Notecard
Outline for Research Paper
How to Write a Bibliography
What to Include on Your Poster
Giving Your Presentation
Rubrics for Each Section
DUE DATES
Note Cards Due
December 16, 2010
Rough Draft Due
January 7, 2011
Note Cards Due
January 15, 2011
Final Copy Due
January 15, 2011
Speech
Poster
January 15, 2011
January 15, 2011
General Instructions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Your due dates are listed on the calendar in the beginning of
this packet. Due dates are firm! If you don’t have each part
completed by the due date, you will receive a 5% deduction on
your grade for each day it is late!
You will need to find 2 internet sources and 2 book sources for
information
Each section of this project has specific directions. Follow
them and you’ll have a great project. Each section will also
have its own grade.
The final copy of your essay must be typed. If you have a
computer at home, please type it there. If you do not, you will
be given time to type it at school.
The final copy is due January 18, 2011. On this date, you must
turn in your notecards, rough draft, final draft, bibliography,
and poster.
Your writing will be graded using the writing rubric. A copy is
included.
You must give a three to five minute presentation to the class.
You must provide your own poster board for the poster part of
this project.
People of Interest
You might want to choose one of these people as the topic of your
research report.
King George III
Patrick Henry
Thomas Jefferson
George Washington
Charles Cornwallis
Benedict Arnold
Nathanael Greene
Paul Revere
Deborah Sampson
Henry Knox
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
James Madison
Phillis Wheatly
Mercy Otic Warren
Sam Adams
Benjamin Franklin
John Adams
Thomas Paine
Abigail Adams
Ethan Allen
Nathan Hale
John Hancock
Betsy Ross
Marquis de Lafayette
Alexander Hamilton
General Internet Sites
You might find the following Internet sites helpful for your research.
The Blue Darter’s Guide to the American Revolution
http://darter.ocps.k12.fl.us*
American History
www.earlyamerica.com
www.dell.homestead.com*
www.ctssar.org
www.atozkidsstuff.com*
http://odur.let.rug.nl*
Encyclopedias
www.encarta.com
http://encyclopedia.com
Revolutionary War Biographies
http://emints.more.net*
http://rims.k12.ca.us*
www.looksmart.infoplease.com*
Internet Sites
Specific People
King George III
www.britannia.com/history
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk
www.royal.gov.uk
www.kirtland.cc.mi.us*
Patrick Henry
www.law.ou.edu/hist/henry.html
www.lexrex.com/bios
Ethan Allen
www.ethanallen.org
www.virtualvermont.com*
www.ethan-allen.org*
8
Marquis de Lafayette
www.ushistory.org
www.thinkquest.org
www.pbs.org
www.marquisdelafayette.net
http://library.advanced.org*
Nathanael Greene
http://member.aol.com*
www.qmfound.com*
www.nathanael.greene.net*
George Washington
http://library.thinkquest.org
www.whitehouse.gov
www.history.org
http://xroads.virginia.edu
www.americanpresidents.org
Benjamin Franklin
www.fi.edu/franklin
www.incwell.com/biographies*
Abigail Adams
www.whitehouse.gov
Benedict Arnold
www.morristourism.org*
www.heroswelcome.com*
www.benedictarnold.org
Thomas Paine
http://libertyonline.hypermall.com
www.bartleby.com/133
www.media-visions.com*
www.thomas-paine.com*
Thomas Jefferson
www.pbs.org/jefferson
www.whitehouse.gov
www.bibliomania.com
http://etext.virginia.edu*
www.presidentjefferson.com
www.constitution.org/tj/jeff*
John Adams
http://encarta.msn.com
www.whitehouse.gov
http://library.thinkquest.org
www.universalway.org*
www.cyber-north.com*
Charles Cornwallis
http://jrshelby.com
www.encyclopedia.com
www.infoplease.com
Deborah Sampson
http://userpages.aug.com*
www.rootsweb.com*
www.canton.org
Nathan Hale
www.armyrotc.uconn.edu*
www.seanet.com*
http://hale.ssd.k12.wa.us*
Molly Pitcher
http://russell.gresham.k12.or.us*
http://sill-www.army.mil*
www.rootsweb.com*
www.cumberlink.com*
John Hancock
www.colonialhall.com
www.norfacad.pvt.k12.va.us*
Paul Revere
www.richmond.edu*
www.paulreverehouse.org
Betsy Ross
www.ushistory.org
www.usflag.org
http://rims.k12.ca.us*
willihttp://prism.troyst.edu*
Alexander Hamilton
http://americanrevwar.homestead.com/files/hamilt.htm*
http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/ham/hamilton.html*
Phillis Wheatley
http://www.earlyamerica.com/review/winter96/wheatley.html*
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aframerwriters/a/philliswheatley.
htm*
Sam Adams
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/signers/adams_s.htm+
http://www.patriotresource.com/amerrev/people/patriots/samadams.h
tml*
James Madison
http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesmadison*
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Lo-Ma/Madison-James.html*
Mercy Otic Warren
http://library.thinkquest.org/TQ0312848/mowarren.htm*
http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/ushistory/mercyotiswarr
en.htm*
Research Paper Outline
I.
Introduction
II. General biography
Tell where/when s/he was born.
Tell about family members & background. (Were they
wealthy? What was their occupation farmers? Shopkeepers?)
Is there something interesting about his/her childhood?
What was his/her educational background?
Was s/he married?
Did s/he have children?
What are some interesting things about his/her post-war
years?
Where/when did s/he die?
III. Contribution to the Revolutionary War
What did s/he do?
Why was it important – what was the effect on the outcome or
morale in the war?
IV.
Evaluation of his/her contribution
What would you have done in his/her place? Do you think s/he
made a good choice? Would you have had the personal qualities
to do what s/he did? How might things have turned out if this
person had not made the same choices?
V. Conclusion
How to Write a Notecard
1. On the red line of your notecard, you need to write the topic of the card.
2. Next, you need to write the source of your information. The source should
be written in this order: Author of book. (Date of Publication). Title of
book. City, State: Publisher. Page Number. where you found the
information. If you are using information from the Internet, list the title of
the site and the URL. If you are using a computer encyclopedia, you do not
need to include the name of the author.
3. The last thing you should put on the card is the information. This should not
be in sentence format. Just write the important information. Do not copy
every word from your source. Pick out the important things only!!!
4. Be sure that you only have one topic and one source on each notecard. You
don’t want to write something about a person’s childhood on the same card as
something about his political career. You also don’t want to include 2
different sources on the same card.
5. If you have information from one source, don’t use the same information
from another source. 6. You must use at least two book sources and two
Internet sources.
How to Write a Bibliography
A bibliography is a list of the sources you used to get information for your
essay. You must give credit to the authors whose information you used.
1. Title: On the center of the top line of your paper, you need to write the
word “Bibliography”.
2. On the next lines, you need to write the sources that you used. You will cite
them in the same way you did on your notecards. Be sure to use the correct
punctuation marks (see the example below)!
3. Sources need to be listed in alphabetical order by the last name of each
author.
4. Internet sites need to be listed separately from the books or encyclopedias
you use.
EXAMPLE:
Bibliography
Baker, John. (1958). History of the American Revolution. Centerville, CA: Write
Publications. Pages 211 – 215.
Denver, Betsy. (1997). The Life and Times of Deborah Sampson. New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill. Pages 23 – 28.
Encyclopedia Britannica. (1978). Volume 14. Cambridge, MS: Harvard Press, 1998.
Winger, Susan. (1978). Famous American Women. Los Angeles, CA: Westing
Publications. Pages 41-42.
Internet Sites
Deborah Sampson Home Page, www.deborahsampson.com
Women of the Revolutionary War, www.womenrevwar.com
Presentation Poster
When you present to the class, you must include a presentation
poster. You will need to provide this poster yourself. You can purchase
a piece of poster board at Wal-Mart, The Dollar Store, CVS,
Walgreen’s, etc. Many grocery stores carry poster board. You may
choose any color you like, as long as your information can be seen
easily. You need to include the following on your poster:
1. Title
2. At least two pictures of your historical figure
3. Information that you learned during your
research
4. Your name
You Want Me to Talk for How Long??
1. Your presentation must be at least 3 minutes, but no longer than
5 minutes long. A 5% grade deduction will be made for each 30
seconds under 3 minutes and each 30 seconds over 5
minutes. (Questions from the audience are not included in the
time restrictions.)
2. You may use notecards for your presentation, but you may not
read from your essay or use your research notecards.
3. During your presentation, you need to share with the class what
you learned about your topic. You probably won’t have time to tell
them everything that you learned. Just share the most
important points. Your poster can help you with this.
4. At the end of your speech, you need to hold a question and
answer session with the audience. The teacher will limit this to 5
minutes for you.
5. You will be graded on the following:
Organization of the speech
Presentation skills (eye contact, volume, clearness of
speech)
Time
Scoring Criteria
Note cards will be graded on the following:
On time (due at school Tuesday, April 12)
Source information is formatted correctly
Notecards use notes, not complete sentences
Each notecard contains unique information
Sufficient number of notecards (minimum of 8)
Rough drafts will be graded on the following:
On time (due at school Friday, April 15, and Thursday, April 21)
Follows the outline – 5 separate paragraphs with specific information in each
Makes use of information from at least 4 sources
Poster will be graded on the following:
Contains required elements
Neatness
Use of space
Creativity
See rubrics on the next pages for the Presentation and the Report.
Notecard Rubric
4
3
2
Quality
Information on index
cards is recorded and
organized neatly in the
required manner.
Information on index
cards is recorded
legibly and are
somewhat organized
according to
requirements.
Information is recorded Information on index
on index cards.
cards is recorded only
with peer/teacher
assistance and
reminders.
Quantity
There are 8 or more
index cards.
There are 6 or 7 index
cards.
There are 5 index
cards.
Number of
Sources
There are more than 4 4 different sources are
different sources
given- 2 internet and 2
given, with at least 2
print.
internet and at least 2
print sources.
CATEGORY
1
There are 4 or fewer
index cards.
At least 4 different
4 different sources are
sources are given, but not given.
not 2 of each - internet
and print.
Research Report Rubric
4
3
2
1
Organization
Information is very
organized with wellconstructed
paragraphs.
Information is
organized, but
paragraphs are not
well-constructed.
Information is
organized, but there
are no paragraphs.
The information appears
to be disorganized. 8)
Amount of
Information
Exceptional amount of All topics or questions
information. Addresses are answered.
all topics fully.
Most topics or
questions are
answered.
Several topics were not
addressed.
Quality of
Information
Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It includes
several supporting
details and/or
examples.
Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. No details
and/or examples are
given.
Information has little or
nothing to do with the
main topic.
Bibliography
All sources are
All sources are
accurately documented accurately
in the desired format.
documented, but a few
are not in the desired
format.
All sources are
accurately
documented, but
many are not in the
desired format.
Some sources are not
accurately documented.
Mechanics
No grammatical,
spelling or punctuation
errors.
First Draft
Detailed draft is neatly Draft includes all
presented and includes required information
all required information. and is legible.
CATEGORY
Information clearly
relates to the main
topic. It provides 1-2
supporting details
and/or examples.
Almost no grammatical, A few grammatical
spelling or punctuation spelling, or
errors
punctuation errors.
All paragraphs include Most paragraphs
Paragraph
Construction introductory sentence, include introductory
Draft includes most
required information
and is legible.
Paragraphs included
related information
explanations or details, sentence, explanations but were not
and concluding
or details, and
constructed well.
sentence.
concluding sentence.
Many grammatical,
spelling, or punctuation
errors.
Draft is missing required
information and is
difficult to read.
Paragraphing structure
was not clear and
sentences were not
typically related within
the paragraphs.
Revolutionary War Poster Rubric
CATEGORY
4
3
2
1
Required
Elements
The poster includes all All required elements
required elements as are included on the
well as extra
poster.
information.
All but 1 of the
Several required
required elements are elements were
included on the poster. missing.
Graphics Originality
Several of the
graphics/pictures used
on the poster show a
lot of student creativity
in their creation and/or
display.
One or two of the
graphics used on the
poster show creativity
in their creation and/or
display.
The graphics are made No graphics made by
by the student, but are the student are
based on the designs included.
or ideas of others.
Mechanics
There are no grammar,
spelling, punctuation,
or capitalization
mistakes on the
poster.
There is 1 grammar,
spelling, punctuation,
or capitalization
mistake on the poster.
There are 2 grammar,
spelling, punctuation,
or capitalization
mistakes on the
poster.
There are more than 2
grammar, spelling,
punctuation, or
capitalization mistakes
on the poster.
Attractiveness
The poster is
The poster is attractive
exceptionally attractive in terms of design,
in terms of design,
layout and neatness.
layout, and neatness.
The poster is
acceptably attractive
though it may be a bit
messy.
The poster is
distractingly messy or
very poorly designed.
It is not attractive.