US History Decades Project
600 pts
PPT Due: Day Before Unit Quiz
Skit & Paper Due: Day Before Unit Quiz
Directions: Students will have a choice to form a group of four or do the project by themselves.
(Choose very carefully- your final grade will be affected by this group).
Ms. Rangel will assign each group two decades in history. Each group will be given
a US History Decades packet to complete by the due date. Complete the following
activities in your own group. Each group will be doing each element twice.
Instructions for each are listed below. No late projects will be accepted!
1. Power Point
Your group will choose one event of your decade to complete a six to ten slide
presentation on. This should not be a repeat of a class lecture but provide new
information. The event must be approved by Ms. Rangel. Use the internet,
textbook, reference materials, etc. to gather research and compile the power
point. Be sure to include important dates and key figures involved. Include
pictures, charts, animation, or sounds bytes; anything to help the rest of the
class to understand the material. You should print out an outline form to use
during the presentation. Please rehearse the presentation to make sure it flows
smoothly. Remember to keep it clean, on topic, and professional; if you don’t
your grade will reflect it. Cite your sources in MLA format. Power points not
adhering will result in a FAILING grade.
2. Skit
You will write a script and act out for the class a 10 minute skit in which key
characters from your decade meet and discuss the important issues from your
time period. Each group member will be responsible for picking a historical
figure and researching their life from your assigned decade (you might want to
use this same person for your essay). The entire group will then work together
to have all characters interact and share key piece of information about the
decade. Students should use props and costumes typical of the decade. (All
school and district policies will apply to this skit-so you may not use any real
weapons, drug paraphernalia, alcohol beverages, or break any laws while
performing the skit) Remember to keep it clean, on topic, and professional; if
you don’t your grade will reflect it.
3. Essay
Each person in your group will conduct research on a person from your assigned
decade (you might want to use this same person for your skit) and write a formal
5-paragraph essay using the following as a guide. Essays must be typed, MLA in
text citation, format, double spaced, size 12 font, and with a works cited page.
Essays not adhering will result in a FAILING grade.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Paragraph 1 Introduction (show the reader how your paper will be organized)
Paragraph 2 The person’s biographical background
Paragraph 3 Discuss the person’s accomplishments in their field (how did they earn
their fame?) and controversies that surround the person or things they personally did
that made people dislike them.
Paragraph 4 Conclusion (Review the highlights of your person)
Decades ProjectPowerPoint Presentation A Check List
1) ______Using Google docs presentations create and invite your group
including myself to the group. Select your topic for this decade’s
presentation. Your topic must be an event that occurred during your
decade. Each group will choose a different topic. See the Presentations
sheet)
2) ______Research your topic. Take notes and cite your sources.
3) ______As a group, make an outline for your presentation. You should have
six to ten slides, not including the title slide and closing credits. Create a
storyboard for your presentation.
4) ______Create your PowerPoint. One person should be in charge of setting
up the program on the day of the presentations. All of you must share in
the delivery of the presentation.
5) ______Each frame must consider the following elements:
a) Color for contrast and to highlight main point
b) Use only bullets, not sentences
c) Add clipart, backgrounds, stock photos
d) Use at least 32 font on slides
**Remember use few words on the slide, your spoken words are
more important
**Refrain from reading off papers/note cards
6) ______Rehearse! Present with confidence!
Decades ProjectPowerPoint Presentation B Check List
1) ______Using Google docs presentations create and invite your group
including myself to the group. Select your topic for this decade’s
presentation. Your topic must be an event that occurred during your
decade. Each group will choose a different topic. See the Presentations
sheet)
2) ______Research your topic. Take notes and cite your sources.
3) ______As a group, make an outline for your presentation. You should have
six to ten slides, not including the title slide and closing credits. Create a
storyboard for your presentation.
4) ______Create your PowerPoint. One person should be in charge of setting
up the program on the day of the presentations. All of you must share in
the delivery of the presentation.
5) ______Each frame must consider the following elements:
e) Color for contrast and to highlight main point
f) Use only bullets, not sentences
g) Add clipart, backgrounds, stock photos
h) Use at least 32 font on slides
**Remember use few words on the slide, your spoken words are
more important
**Refrain from reading off papers/note cards
6) ______Rehearse! Present with confidence!
Decades Project- Skit A Check List
1) ______Sign up with Ms. Rangel for your topic for this Decades skit. Your
topic must be an event that occurred during your decade. Each group will
create a different 10 minute skit. (See the Possible Skit Scenarios sheet)
2) ______Research your historical event.
3) ______Each group must complete the Outline for skit sheet and submit it to
Ms. Rangel for approval. Everyone in the group must act in the skit.
4) ______Rehearse! Perform with confidence!
Decades Project- Skit B Check List
1) ______Sign up with Ms. Rangel for your topic for this Decades skit. Your
topic must be an event that occurred during your decade. Each group will
create a different 10 minute skit. (See the Possible Skit Scenarios sheet)
2) ______Research your historical event.
3) ______Each group must complete the Outline for skit sheet and submit it to
Ms. Rangel for approval. Everyone in the group must act in the skit.
4) ______Rehearse! Perform with confidence!
PowerPoint Topics for Decades Presentations
Unit 1:
1800s
Jamestown, Great Awakening, The Enlightenment, Revolutionary War, Constitution, Lewis & Clark, Trail of
Tears, Missouri Compromise, Texas Republic, California Gold Rush
Unit 2:
1860s:
Wounded Knee, Populist Movement, William Jennings Bryan, William McKinley, Thomas Edison,
Alexander Graham Bell, Labor Unions, Women Organize, Ellis & Angel Island, Urban Issues, Political Machines
Unit 3:
1910s
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Catches on Fire, The Titanic Sinks, Henry Ford Creates Assembly Line, Treaty of
Versailles, Jazz music begins to become popular
1920s
Harlem Renaissance, Women Granted the Right to Vote in U.S.(Women Suffrage) , The Scopes Trial,
speakeasies, prohibition, organized crime(gangsters), Stock Market Crashes
Unit 4:
1930s
World War I, Panama Canal is built, Great Depression, Pluto Discovered, Empire State Building Completed,
Amelia Earhart First Woman to Fly Solo Across the Atlantic, FDR Launches New Deal, The Dust Bowl
Unit 5:
1940s
World War II, women in the workforce, the Holocaust, Roosevelt, the atomic bomb, the postwar boom,
Tuskegee Airmen, Pearl Harbor, Cold War, Truman Doctrine
1950s
The arms race, McCarthy’s witch hunts, television, Elvis, Korean War, Fidel Castro, bomb shelters, rock-n’
roll, Sputnik, baby boom
1960s
Cold War tensions, assassinations, Vietnam, anti-war demonstrations, space race, hippies, Civil Rights
Movement, Moon Landing, Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs
Unit 6:
1970s
Watergate scandal, fall of Saigon, hostages in Iran, microwaves, fast food, VCR’s, inflation, discos, Kent
State
Unit 7:
1980s
The space Shuttle Challenger disaster, Chernobyl meltdown, Exxon Valdez, Cold War thaw, Iran-Contra
affair, PC’s, cell phones, AIDS epidemic
1990s
Use of the Internet Grows Exponentially, Official End of the Cold War, Riots in Los Angeles after the
Rodney King Verdict, U.S. President Clinton Impeached, The Euro the New European Currency, Fear of Y2K Bug
2000s
911 disaster , Global Warming, Iraq War, Afghanistan War, Hurricane Katrina, the first African- American
president Barack Obama, Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, Haiti Earthquake
Decades Project- Possible Skit Scenarios
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Stuck in an elevator
In a gym
On the Jerry Springer Show
A bus hijacking
At Heaven’s gate
On the Dating Game
On a lifeboat
Celebrity boxing
Survivor
In an on-line chat room
At a poetry reading
Landing on the moon
Jersey Shore Show
The Bachelor/Bachelorette
American Idol
TURN In One Per Group
Decades Project- Outline for skit A
*(This sheet must be shown to Ms. Rangel for approval of your skit!)
SETTING:___________________________________________________________
CONFLICT:__________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION:_______________________________________________________
TURN In One Per Group
Decades Project- Outline for skit B
*(This sheet must be shown to Ms. Rangel for approval of your skit!)
SETTING:___________________________________________________________
CONFLICT:__________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION:_______________________________________________________
US History Decades Project Rubric
Group Member Names:_______________________________________________
Skits: Unit _____ & _____
Power Point: Unit _____ & _____
A
PowerPoint
Presentation:
Demonstrates a clear understanding of
the historical topic (Proficient)
Demonstrates a basic level of
understanding of the historical topic
(Basic)
Demonstrates a lack of understanding
of the historical topic (Below Basic)
Skit:
Demonstrates a clear understanding of
the historical event (Proficient)
Demonstrates a basic level of
understanding of the historical event
(Basic)
Demonstrates a lack of understanding
of the historical topic (Below Basic)
Essay:
Total points for each
member:
Group
member#1_________
Group
member#2_________
Group
member#3_________
Introduction and conclusion clearly
guides the reader through the
organization of the topic and
summarizes the key components of
the paper
Paper clearly describes the
biographical background of the
historical figure
Paper properly identifies the persons
accomplishments
Paper addresses the controversies
surrounding the subject
Group
member#4_________
B
100-90
89-70
69-50
100-90
89-70
69-50
25-10
25-10
25-10
25-10
Average of
points:________
600-540
A
539-480
B
478-420
TOTAL POINTS:_____________
C
418-360
D
358-0
GRADE:________
F