Famous Americans WebQuest & PowerPoint
Due on July 22.

TASK | PROCESS | WEBLINKS | SLIDE SHOW | EVALUATION

TASK

You are going to create a PowerPoint presentation about a famous American, of your choice. (These people must have been born in our country.)  Use the websites listed within this WebQuest to help you find information. Make sure to choose an American who is famous for contributing to our American history. You may choose a president, first lady, founding father of our country, inventor, explorer or someone who changed history. (Do not choose a sports figure or entertainer.) Talk to Mrs. Crawford if you're not sure.

You will complete research on your famous person using the Data Collector provided in class. Then you will use the Slide Show Planner to write your text and plan your graphics. When your planner is complete, you will design a PowerPoint slide show that will be presented to your classmates. 

PROCESS

Step 1: Choose a Famous American who interests you.
Complete some quick research about several famous Americans. The links below will take you to information about many famous Americans. When you find the person that you want to learn more about, give the name to Mrs. Crawford. Ask her for help if you need it. Each student must have a different famous American.

Step 2: Conduct your research.
Use the Data Collector given to you in class to gather specific details about your famous American. Write answers in complete sentences and write more than one sentence when appropriate. You may refer to your sources of information, but do not copy phrases or sentences. You will use the information from the Data Collector to create slides in a PowerPoint presentation for your classmates. Your completed Data Collector is due on Thursday, July 16.

Use the weblinks listed below to find information about your topic. You may also want to get information from a book or encyclopedia from the library, a book from our classroom, or your Social Studies textbook. Keep track of all your sources of information to create your bibliography slide. (A bibliography is an alphabetical list of the resources used in your research.)

Step 3: Complete your Bibliography.
Keep track of the following information about each of your resources, and then format it as listed and shown below.

• Author or editor (last name first, then first name).
• Title of work (book and magazine titles are put in italics when typed).
• City of publication: publisher, date published (show page numbers if you used part of a book instead of the whole book).
• Get the complete web address for any information taken from a website (note that Google, Yahoo, Ask, etc. are search engines and not the site where you get the information).
• End the entry with a period.

BOOK -- If you get your information from a book, write: the author's name (Last name, First name). Title. Place: Publisher, date.

Example:

Smith, John. Michigan Destinations. New York: Best Books Press, 2004.

ENCYCLOPEDIA -- If you get your information from an encyclopedia, write: the "Article Title." Encyclopedia Name. Date.

Example:

"Abraham Lincoln." Groliers Encyclopedia. 2007.

WEBSITE -- If you get your information from a website, write: the "Article Title." Available on Month XX, Year, from www.websitename.com.

Example:

"World Explorers." Available on October 14, 2007, from www.HarcourtBiographies.com/explorers.

WEBLINKS

Check out these web sites to find information about your famous American. Don't forget to check the Forbuss Library Groliers encyclopedia link.

SLIDE SHOW

Step 1: Complete your Slideshow Planner.
Next, you will plan a slide show presentation about your Famous American. The presentation is to include six to eight important facts about your famous person. All slides in this presentation must include meaningful pictures, an interesting background, and/or borders.

Use the Slide Show Planner (that will be provided to you when you've completed your research) to write out your text and plan what you want your photo or graphic to be on each slide. Use the information gathered in your Data Collector. The Slide Show Planner is due by Tuesday, July 21.

To create a slide show presentation, follow these guidelines.

Slide 1: Contains the title, "Famous Americans," the name and picture of your famous person, and dates of birth and death. Type your name as the presentation designer. You can create electronic drawings or use appropriate clipart to illustrate this project.

Slide 2: Contains information about where this person was born with a drawing of him or her in a family setting.

Slide 3: Contains one or two interesting facts about the person's childhood with a drawing or picture.

Slide 4: Contains one or two significant events in the person's life as he or she became a young adult. Tell if the person married and had a family. Use the artwork to clarify the facts.

Slide 5 and 6: Contains events and people that contributed to or supported this person's fame. Include meaningful symbols or pictures. Use animation if it makes sense.

Slide 7: Contains the most important thing you learned about this person. Give your opinion of this person's accomplishments, and tell why you feel this way. Include a closing picture that shows your famous American as he or she grew older.

Slide 8: Contains an alphabetized list of reference that you used to make this presentation. This slide should contain scrolling text.

Step 2: Create your PowerPoint Slide Show.

Use the information taught to you in class about creating a PowerPoint presentation. Ask lots of questions... of your teacher and your classmates. The best way for everyone to learn to use the software is to share what you know. This can be a great project to support each other on. All slides in the presentation should include sound and/or animations where appropriate. Your writing and art should be as creative as possible.

Pay Attention to Detail
Before making your presentation to your classmates, make sure to edit your final presentation for:

• Capitalization (sentence beginnings, proper nouns, titles)
• Understanding (makes sense)
• Punctuation (periods, commas, exclamation points, question marks)
• Spelling (spell check or use a dictionary)

Your slide show is due on Friday, July 24. We will begin making presentations beginning on Friday, July 24.

EVALUATION

Review the Grading Rubric to see exactly how your project will be graded.

Present your PowerPoint Slide Show to our class.
Students will use oral presentation skills to present their slide shows to their classmates. Students will listen to presentations and ask appropriate questions.

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