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Colonial Unit: Research on a Statesman

Grade 11, English
Overview and Objective:
Students will conduct research on ONE of the following colonial statesmen/founding
fathers of America. Student will learn and understand the background of the colonial
times through in class discussions, video and their individual research, with regards to
their statesmen in terms of their making change in colonial America. Students will be
able to, through their research, draw evidence and inferences to answer the three focus
questions and demonstrate analysis and understanding of the concepts behind them.
Research Requirements:
1. Use various sources to answer the 3 focus questions:
a. What KIND OF MAN an was he PRIOR to his involvement in the events
around the Declaration of Independence?
b. What were ALL of the main things/events that he was REMEMBERED
FOR?
c. How did he INFLUENCE OTHERS to make change?
2. WRITE an INFORMATIVE REPORT that demonstrates youve examined and
understand general knowledge about your subject in terms of basic information
and answering the focus questions above. You should draw inferences from your
research and connect the dots to answer the focus questions. You must complete
the draft and editing stage prior to completing a final, published draft. You should
improve your document with subject-specific vocabulary and maintain a formal
style and tone.
3. Include REFLECTIONS in the conclusion of your report that discusses the
following:
a. What kinds of images did you imagine while conducting your research?
b. What did you think about, feel and learn?
c. How different might things have been had he not done the things hed
done (see the focus questions)?
4. Conduct your research USING: print, digital text and digital video sources.
a. View background videos and take notes:
i. The Story of UsRebels (youtube)
ii. Thomas Jefferson
iii. Benjamin Franklin
iv. John Adams
v. Complete a KWL chart based on the notes youve taken and prior
knowledge after viewing segments of video on each of the three
men of topic in class.
b. Complete an MLA style bibliography practice sheet and include to your
report a complete MLA bibliography of your own research sources.

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Assignments to have turned in at the end

of the unit:
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Notes:
__video/background class discussion notes; dated
__research notes with quotes, textual evidence/citations, dates,
locations, significant names and summary of events

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Practice bibliography sheet

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KWL chart

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Rough Draft(s)handwritten with revisions (edits, re-writing)

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Participation in editing forum, incl. form

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Published Final Draft with title page

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Poster Board or Poster: reflects three focus questions

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DRAFT EXPECTATIONS

The DRAFT should be laid out in the following sections (this does not mean one
paragraph for each section):
Background

General knowledge of your statesman such as when/where he was born, his

education, his livelihood and family background.
What hes known for?

Accomplishments:

Whats he known/remembered for?

What did he accomplish in his day?

How did he influence others?

What critical changes did he make for America?

Reflections:

What kinds of images did you imagine while conducting your research?
What did you think about, feel and learn?
How different might things have been had he not done the things hed done (see
the focus questions)?

Bibliography
All work should have citations (author and page numbers of where you found the info),
within the text, especially if you are using a direct quote! Any work with incorrect
citations will count against you. Citations will match the bibliography sources. The
poster board should include a small section for sources cited.

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Focus Question Template

What KIND OF MAN an was he PRIOR to his involvement in the events around the
Declaration of Independence?
Author/Pg.

NOTES

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Focus Question Template
What were ALL of the main things/events that he was REMEMBERED FOR?
Author/pg.

NOTES

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Focus Question Template
How did he INFLUENCE OTHERS to make change?
Author/pg.

NOTES

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KWL CHART: What you already KNOW, WANNA KNOW, and what you
LEARNED.

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Bibliography Practice Sheet
Using a book in the classroom library, practice citing a book with one author. Pay
attention to the periods, commas, and colons. If it goes into another line, use a hanging
indent. Then do the same for a video and a website. Use the MLA study guide provided.
Cite one book here, using one author.

[Author. Title of Book. City book was published: Publisher, year published.]
CITE A VIDEO HERE.

[Title. DVD. Movie Company, year released.]

CITE A WEBSITE HERE

[Title of website. Month and year. Name of website organization. Date that you
retrieved the information (day month year order). Website address.]
PRACTICE REVIEW
Now, put them in alphabetical order according to the authors name in the box.
Remember to use hanging indents and to put space between each entry.

Name____________________________