As part of our study of the American Revolution and our whole class novels, My Brother Sam Is Dead and War Comes to Willy Freeman, each student will complete several parts to an integrated project. As part of this project, students will design a time capsule that shows their understanding of their reading in one of the novels. Students will also research and create a Smore about an important person of the American Revolution, and write book reviews for each novel to be posted on Biblionausium, using your account set up in your Library blocks. Students will have several blocks in class to complete parts of the projects. However, please note that MOST tasks will need to be completed for homework, during study hall time or at home. Part 1: Time Capsule (110 pts) Projects Due: Friday, March 16th On the outside of your Time Capsule write: 1779- Don t Open Until 2018 You will be creating a time capsule filled with documents, artifacts, and personal effects from the Meeker family's experience or Willy s experience of the American Revolutionary War. Some everyday items that make great time capsules are (but not limited to): a large shoe box or large oatmeal cylinders. These will be shared in class on March 16th. Items that will need to go into the time capsule: 1. Family Letters (10 pts) Write ONE letter that can be chosen from the characters below: Susannah Meeker to Sam OR Sam to Susannah Meeker Tim Meeker to Sam OR Sam to Tim Meeker Willy to Ma Willy to her aunt or uncle Include information from the novels, and incorporate 3-4 Revolutionary facts. Historic sites and events may provide the concrete information you need to complete this task. Write from your character's point of view.
2. Diary Entries of Family Members (5 pts each for a total of 10 pts) Write very old entries torn out of a diary from someone in the Meeker family or Willy s family. Write diary entries for one or two of the following characters from the novels: Susannah Meeker, Sam Meeker, Tim Meeker and Life Meeker, Willy Freeman, Horace, Pa, Mr. Fraunces, or Uncle Jack. There should be at least TWO entries total. Include information about one of the historical conflicts that the character needs to confront in the novel. Your diary entry needs to at least a half a page long, handwritten, single-spaced. Include the character's emotions regarding the conflict. Include personal insight into the character's point of view regarding the conflict. 3. Newspaper Clipping (10 pts) Write ONE newspaper clipping related to events and conflicts that were part of My Brother Sam Is Dead or War Comes to Willy Freeman. You may look up some examples of old newspaper articles. Your news article should be two paragraphs long and include events of the time period. Choose a font and background as desired that makes it look dated. The first paragraph should include information that answers these questions: who, what, where, when, and why/how? The second paragraph should include interesting facts/information about the event. Check out some examples from 18th Century Newspapers linked here: https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/02/top-10-revolutionary-war-newspapers/ Here are some possible headlines/news stories: Yale students go off to fight Lobsterbacks! Redding turns into a Tory town! Cowboys threaten Loyalists beef tenderloins from getting to Lobsterbacks! General Tyron's British Raid Redding! Executioner Putnam puts two Redding Natives to death. Mother ( or Daughter) silently grieves. Attack at Fort Griswold!
4. Artifact from the Novel (20 pts) Create or "recreate" ONE artifact from the Meeker home or Willy s life. Put some effort into this. Here are some ideas. A mug from the tap room that has a Meeker Tavern logo. Knitting materials from Susannah Meeker's knitting basket Tim's fishing pole used to fish for shad3 Freedom Papers for Uncle Jack or Willy 5. Literary Analysis Items (60 pts) Pick ONE from each subtopic, column on the next page and include these items in your time capsule. Each component is worth a total of 15 points for a total of 60 points for this section. You will be graded on your creativity, thoroughness, and the quality of your finalized product. Plot Development Characterization Historical Context Literary Elements Story Board: A story board is a series of pictures and descriptions that retell the plot of a story. Your story board must include at least 6 pictures with captions of at least 3 sentences each. Paper Dolls: Create 6 authentic paper dolls that represent different characters from the novel. Glue them to a piece of paper and include a summary of who each character is and why they are important to the development of the plot. Benedict Arnold: Sam fought alongside Benedict Arnold. Research Benedict Arnold and write a brief biography of his life. How does history remember him? Why would he be included in this novel? Conflict: What is the driving conflict of this story? Create a visual representation of this conflict and provide a well developed paragraph explaining the conflict. Use specific examples from the novel to support your ideas. Use what you wrote in your Author Study to help guide you. Picture Plot: Draw an object that represents a key component from the story and describe the 5 elements of a story at various places on the object. Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Resolution Eulogy: A eulogy is a tribute written to honor a person who has lost their life. Choose 2 characters from the story and write their eulogy. What would they be remembered for, and what gave their life meaning? 2 paragraphs for each character. Battle of Ridgefield or Fort Griswold Memorial: This notable battle was an important moment in the war. Today, the dead from both sides are buried together in a small cemetery in town "...foes in arms, brothers in death..." Research one of these battles and design a memorial with a description of the battle and the lives that were lost there. Imagery: Choose a section from this novel that is highly descriptive or emotional. Write a 21 line poem that describes this scene using vivid imagery. Your poem must also include a title and illustrations. It does not have to rhyme.
Comic Strip: Alright I know these are not a humorous story, however, maybe you can find a way to find some humor in it. If that resonates with you, create a comic strip outlining the basic premise of the plot. Your comic must include at least 10 different scenes/ boxes. Social Studies and Language Arts Movie Marquee: Assume they are turning the novel into a movie. Create a movie poster where you cast the main characters in the novel with modern day actors. Your poster must represent at least 6 characters with a summary of each. Be creative and have fun! Cowboys Wanted Poster: The cowboys represented in this novel are different from the stereotypical cowboys of the wild west. Research the cowboys of the American Revolution and create a wanted poster for them that describes who they were and the types of crimes the committed. Point of View: These novels are written in first person using either Tim s or Willy s point of view.point of Tim. We see their side of the story, but how would things be different if another character were to tell the the story. Write a 3 paragraph prologue (beginning) to the story from the view point of of another character. Simply Summarize: Summarize the key components of each element of a story. Your summary should be at least 3 paragraphs, one for each element of a story. Facebook Page: Create a paper Facebook Profile Page for a character from the novel. You must include at least 6 friends, pictures, a timeline with at least 6 different posts from friends. Be creative and have fun! Template Should be attached to this assignment packet. Prison Ships: There is much mention of the prison ships that existed during the Revolutionary War. Create a diagram of a prison ship and include 10 facts that you find interesting regarding prison ships. Part 2: Famous Faces Of The American Revolution Smore (70 pts) In this section, each student will create a Smore that spotlights a Famous Face of the American Revolution. Include the following sections in the Smore: Answer the Essential Question: How did this person influence or impact the American Revolution? 1. Have a clear title of your Famous Face person at the top of the Smore. You can be creative with the title, but it needs to allow your audience to know who you are sharing about. (1 pt) 2. One paragraph section about the famous person and their personal life. Include birth and death, if they were married and about their family, along with where they grew up and lived. (10 pts) 3. One paragraph section about the person s professional life. Where did they work? Were they in politics? The military? How did they influence or impact the American Revolution? (10 pts) 4. One paragraph section about how they are connected to other famous faces of the Amercian Revolution. (For example: George Washington is connected to John Adams and Benjamin Franklin because they are founding fathers.) Include pictures of these people in this section. (10 pts) 5. Include one more section that has 5 other interesting quick facts. This may be in bulleted form. (10 pts) 6. Include 3-5 other pictures throughout your Smore, that represents your Famous Face person. (4 pts)
7. Create a portrait using the paper provided to you. Ms. Martucci will be working with you on this assignment and will return in one you have finished this component. Take a picture of this portrait and embed this at the top of your Famous Faces Smore. Turn this in, to be displayed in the classroom as well. (20 pts) 8. Cite your sources for the information! Please see teacher if you need a reminder how to use easybib.com! (5 pts) 9. DO NOT FORGET TO SAVE! Make sure you save your Smore every few minutes or if you are going to leave it for a while. A good rule of thumb is to type all your paragraphs in a Pages document first and then copy, paste and save to your Smore. Edit through for conventions and grammar before turning in this project. 10. Upload link of Smore to Seesaw for your teacher to create a QR code. This will be attached to your person s portrait and displayed in the classroom. 11. Extra credit! Find a primary source that is written or portrays this person. It can be a diary entry, artwork, newspaper article etc. Then write a 1-2 sentence explanation about the primary source. ( 5 pts) Part 3: Book Reviews (20 pts) For this final part, students will write a TWO concise paragraphs for a book review about the two novels. Each should be 8-10 sentences and include your own thoughts, perspective and opinions of each novel. Include some of your favorite elements or not so favorite elements. Have fun with this, but be specific! After having this paragraph reviewed with your teacher, you will upload it to Biblionausium in your Library block for other students to read your review! Project total 200 points. Good luck, use your time wisely and have fun! NLCI Standards Based Learning: Social Studies Student identifies, explains, and analyzes significant historical events and chronological sequences of events. Student compares life and perspectives from the past to the present using varied sources. Student identifies and evaluates a variety of historical & contemporary sources and uses source evidence to prove or disprove historic accounts, develop arguments, and support conclusions. Language Arts Student identifies key ideas and details in literature. Student analyzes the author s craft and structure in literature.
Student identifies and analyzes features, events and characters in stories. Student identifies key ideas and details in informational text. Student writes various pieces for a variety of purposes. Student uses the writing process to produce and distribute pieces of writing. Student gathers information from sources and presents content. Student presents knowledge and ideas to varied audiences. Tech Integration: Online Smore and text writing Use of ipad to create written documents and Facebook page. Uploading project pieces to Seesaw app online to create QR code to be linked to a poster displayed in classroom for each student project. SLOs: Demonstrates Knowledge Innovatively, Communicates Effectively, Lifelong Learner.