Turning Points in Modern American History:

A Research Project and Micro-Documentary

Overview of Project

You will use I-Movie to produce a 3 to 5 minute “Micro-Documentary” of an event in recent American history experienced by a parent or guardian. You will research the topic in the library and write a short script (between 1.5 to 2.5 minutes) for voice over narration. You will also use your I-pad to interview your parent or guardian about their memories of the event. You will use your I-Pad to combine clips from that interview (no more than 2.5 minutes) with the narration to create the Micro-Documentary. You must talk with your parent to identify a suitable topic and gain their permission to be interviewed and parts of the interview to be shared with the class.

Step 1: Topic Selection: Due May 2 (B & W)

Speak with your parent to identify a major event in modern American history that they would like to speak about. A partial list of possible topics is located below. However, you can select anything that would be appropriate and significant for our US History class. Please have your parent or guardian complete the permission slip and bring it to class on the due date.

Some Possible Topics

·  The Fall of Saigon, End of Vietnam War (1975)

·  The Bicentennial Celebration (1976)

·  The Election of Jimmy Carter (1976)

·  The Three Mile Island Accident (1979)

·  The Iran Hostage Crisis (1979)

·  The election of Ronald Reagan (1980)

·  The Miracle on Ice (US Hockey Team defeats Soviet Union, 1980)

·  The launch of the first space shuttle, Columbia (1981)

·  The introduction of personal computers (1980s, 1st Macintosh 1984)

·  The development of the AIDS crisis (early 1980s)

·  The Challenger Space Shuttle explodes (1986)

·  The Berlin Wall comes down/end of Cold War (1989)

·  Operation Desert Storm/1st Iraq/American War (1991)

·  Los Angels Riots/Rodney King (1992)

·  Bill Clinton elected President (1992)

·  Creation of the World Wide Web (1993)

·  Oklahoma City Bombing (1995)

·  President Clinton Impeached (1998)

·  Columbine High School Shooting (1999)

·  Election of George W. Bush/Election Controversy (2000)

·  September 11 attacks (2001)

·  2nd Iraq War (2003)

·  Hurricane Katrina (2005)

Step 2: Finding Sources: 2 sources due at the end of class May 3 (B) or May 4 (W)

1) A reference source located from the library’s online database.

2) A magazine/journal article (from the database) or a book.

You need to find two published sources that have information about your subject.

·  Using Gale “US History in Context” you will find a reference work. You will write the bibliographical information at the top of your first research sheet.

·  You will find a journal article on your subject using either Gale, US History in Context, EBSCO or JSTOR. You can also find a book using the online search. You will write the bibliographical information at the top of your second research sheet.

Step 3: Research Notes: Due at the end of class on May 5 (B & W)

You should take notes from each source on the sheet provided. You should find information that will help you quickly explain this event. Consider the 5 W’s while taking notes:

1)  What happened

2)  When did it happen

3)  Where did it happen

4)  Who was involved

5)  WHY IS IT IMPORTANT (a significant part of the narrative)

Step 4: Writing Your Script: Due at the beginning of class on May 6 (B) or May 9 (W)

Once you have completed your research, you should write a short script for your narration using the information from your research. The narration should explain only the major facts about the event. The maximum length should be two typed, double-spaced page (it takes about 1.5 minutes to read one page). You should share your script on google docs

Turning Points in Modern American History:

A Research Project and Micro-Documentary

Step 5: Conduct your interview (anytime after May 2)

You should arrange to interview your subject sometime before May 6 or 9. You will conduct a short, semi-structured interview on the topic. In a semi-structured interview, you write several open-ended questions, and you can always ask more questions if needed. You should record your interview using the video recorder on I-Movie.

Your interview should have the following elements:

1. Demographic Questions

·  These include questions about where the person lived and how old they were when the event occurred.

2. Descriptive Questions

·  These include questions about the person’s memory of the event.

o  What do they remember happening?

o  How did they learn about the event?

o  What were their feelings?

o  How did other people react to the event?

3. Evaluative Question

·  Here, you should link the event to your citizenship question.

o  Based on what they have shared with you, how did the event in question influence their life or effect the country?

Step 6: Create your documentary (Extra Credit on May 9. Otherwise the project is due on May 11 or May 12.

You will use I-Movie to produce your documentary (NO MORE THAN 5 MINUTES). You must produce this on your I-Pad (it is very difficult to move between platforms like a computers to I-Pad). You should select images or video clips from the web to display on screen during the narration (we will not publish these, so it will fall under the educational fair use rules for coywrite). You should select the most relevant portions of the interview to share. The documentary does not need to be fancy. It should include a title. You can elect to either have the narration followed by the interview or you can mix the narration and interview in any order you see fit. You will share it with me by saving it to your camera roll and then sharing the document with me through google drive.

Preparation Points

1. Topic/Parent or Guardian Permission (10 points)

2. 2 Sources (10 points)

3. Research Notes (10 points)

4. Script (20 Points)

Final Documentary Grading Standard

Narrative Quality
·  Includes a clear introduction and conclusion
·  Clearly explains the major aspects of the event
·  Is well-researched
·  Connects historical background with interviewee’s comments / 30 points ______
Aesthetic Quality
·  Images and music are appropriate and correspond with the narrative.
·  Voice-overs are well articulated.
·  Entire project is visually and orally appealing. / 20 points ______
Total / 50 points ______

Turning Points in Modern American History:

A Research Project and Micro-Documentary

Participant Permission Form

About the project:

Students in Dr. Good’s US Studies class at Ladue Horton Watkins High School are participating in a project to share their parent or guardian’s memory of a turning point in modern American history. The student has a list of possible topics, but other topics are also acceptable. The student listed below is asking your permission to be interviewed, video recorded, and have your memories presented to the rest of the student’s class in a short (3-5minute) documentary. The student agrees to share this documentary only with the teacher, the class and you. If you have any questions regarding the project, please contact Dr. Rob Good ().

______

Name of Interviewee (Include the person’s title—Dr., Mr., Ms., Mrs.)

______

Student producing the documentary:

Event to be discussed______

The student named above has explained the class assignment to me and I have agreed to participate. I understand that students will record my memories of the event listed above and create a micro-documentary that will be shared with the student’s US Studies class.

Signature of Interviewee______

Turning Points in Modern American History:

A Research Project and Micro-Documentary

RESEARCH SHEET

Type of Source ______

Source Citation ______

______

______

WHO
WHAT
WHEN
WHERE
WHY IMPORTANT

RESEARCH SHEET

Type of Source ______

Source Citation ______

______

______

WHO
WHAT
WHEN
WHERE
WHY IMPORTANT