A PROJECT CRITICAL WEB QUEST
Ms. F. MURRELL
MS 319 - MARIA TERESA
Monster
A Novel by Walter Dean Myers
THE
EFFECTS OF NEGATIVE PEER PRESSURE
Crime and Violence
Walter Dean Myers creates
a unique look into the life of a young man in trouble in Monster. Steve
Harmon is a sixteen-year-old boy on trial with his neighborhood acquaintance,
twenty-three-year-old James King, for felony murder. Myers tells the story of
Steve’s experience through Steve’s own writing. The novel is actually a
screenplay that Steve is writing to work out some of the stress that the trial
is putting on him and to share the story of this life-changing experience with
other people. The screenplay includes not only court room scenes, but
also flashbacks to the incident and to other parts of Steve’s life before
prison.
Steve is not directly
responsible for the death of the murder victim, Mr. Nesbitt, but he is
indirectly involved in the premeditated robbery of Mr. Nesbitt’s
drugstore. King convinces Steve to act as a look-out for him and his
other partners, Osvaldo Cruz and Richard “Bobo” Evans. Steve is to case
the drug store and make sure that it is empty before King and Bobo go in to rob
the store. If it is not empty, Steve is to give a sign to them to tell
them to wait. Osvaldo waits outside in case anyone tries to follow King
and Bobo out of the drugstore after the robbery. His job is to roll a
trash can in front of any person who follows them to slow them down.
Their “get-over” goes bad, though, when Mr. Nesbitt produces his gun from
behind the counter to defend his store. There is a struggle and Mr. Nesbitt
ends up being shot and killed.
What drove Steve Harmon to commit such a heinous act?
What causes many of our best youth to become ant-social and waste their
precious lives? These are the questions raised by Mr. Myers. One answer he
gives is PEER PRESSURE.
In this web quest, you will investigate the social
problem of negative peer pressure as a cause for crime and violence in
1: You will be divided into groups of four.
2: Your group will be responsible for producing a
POWER POINT PRESENTATION of a minimum of SEVEN slides.
3: These slides must include text, graphics,
illustrations and/or charts.
4: The power Point must include all the steps of the
Public Policy Analyst (PPA).
You may
use more than one slide per step.
5: You will investigate the problem of peer pressure
as it relates to violence and focus on
A
PUBLIC POLICY solution (STEP # 6 of the PPA)
1: The class will be divided into groups of four to
complete the task
2: The groups will be designed as follows
I:
RESEARCHER- The students will research all categories of the PPA through
internet and text research. He/she will report back to the group, from this
research, the six step PPA categories will be completed.
II:
PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST- This student will coordinate the research and complete
the writing of the six-step PPA worksheets. He/she will have input from all group
members and will help coordinate the creation of the POSTER.
III:
POWER POINT CREATOR: This student will take the PPA steps and create an ARTISTIC
POWER POINT that represents the conclusions of the group on PEER PRESSURE AND
VIOLENT CRIME
IV:
COORDINATOR- This student will keep track of deadlines and coordinate all
research material for the poster makers. He/she will be in charge of presenting
the findings to the teacher (Mayor). This student will also be responsible for
proof reading and correcting mistakes in the power point. He/she must fully
understand the presentation and be able to answer questions when asked by the
committee.
3: Each group MUST complete all
worksheets of the PUBLIC POLICY ANALSYT. The steps and worksheets are linked
below. Your group will use the INTERNET RESOURCES and text material to complete
the power point. Remember, you must use all six steps on your power point
presentation and you will use the worksheets as the research resource.
USE IDEAS FROM “MONSTER” IN YOUR POWER
POINT AS WELL AS FACATS FROM YOUR INTERNET RESEARCH.
STEP
# 2-GATHER THE EVIDENCE FOR THE SOCIAL PROBLEM
STEP
# 3- IDENTIFY THE CAUSES FOR THE SOCIAL PROBLEM
STEP
# 4- EVALUATE EXISITING PUBLIC POLICY
STEP
# 6- SELECT THE BEST SOLUTIONS
The Internet resources include
information on “violent crime”, “peer pressure” and links to “Monster:
Your group is to pick and choose the
sites you feel best complete the PPA worksheets.
GENERAL RESOURCE INTERNET WEB SITES (USE THESE WEB SITES FOR A
“GENERAL” SEARCH)
Specific web sites (click on “blue” links) and complete PPA worksheets
SUMMARY OF “MONSTER
WITH LINKS”
|
|
CATEGORY |
4 EXCELLENT |
3 SATISFACTORY |
2 VERY GOOD |
1 UNACCEPTABLE |
|
Originality |
Presentation
shows considerable originality and inventiveness. The content and ideas are
presented in a unique and interesting way. |
Presentation
shows some originality and inventiveness. The content and ideas are presented
in an interesting way. |
Presentation
shows an attempt at originality and inventiveness on 1-2 cards. |
Presentation
is a rehash of other people's ideas and/or graphics and shows very little
attempt at original thought. |
|
Text - Font Choice & Formatting |
Font
formats (e.g., color, bold, italic) have been carefully planned to enhance
readability and content. |
Font
formats have been carefully planned to enhance readability. |
Font
formatting has been carefully planned to complement the content. It may be a
little hard to read. |
Font
formatting makes it very difficult to read the material. |
|
Content - Accuracy |
All
content throughout the presentation is accurate. There are no factual errors.
FULLY USES PPA |
Most
of the content is accurate but there is one piece of information that might
be inaccurate. FULLY USES PPA WITH INACCURACIES |
The
content is generally accurate, but one piece of information is clearly flawed
or inaccurate. USES 5/6 STEPS OF PPA |
Content
is typically confusing or contains more than one factual error. DOES NOT
UTILIZE PPA STEPS |
|
Spelling and Grammar |
Presentation
has no misspellings or grammatical errors. |
Presentation
has 1-2 misspellings, but no grammatical errors. |
Presentation
has 1-2 grammatical errors but no misspellings. |
Presentation
has more than 2 grammatical and/or spelling errors. |
|
Sequencing of Information |
Information
is organized in a clear, logical way. It is easy to anticipate the type of
material that might be on the next SLIDE |
Most
information is organized in a clear, logical way. One SLIDE or item of
information seems out of place. |
Some
information is logically sequenced. An occasional item of information seems
out of place. |
There
is no clear plan for the organization of information. |
|
Use of Graphics |
All
graphics are attractive (size and colors) and support the theme/content of
the presentation. |
A
few graphics are not attractive but all support the theme/content of the
presentation. |
All
graphics are attractive but a few do not seem to support the theme/content of
the presentation. |
|
|
Cooperation |
Group
delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively all of the time. |
Group
delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively most of the time. |
Group
delegates tasks and shares responsibility effectively some of the time. |
Group
often is not effective in delegating tasks and/or sharing responsibility. |
You should have learned from this web quest
that peer pressure can be harmful and lead to the social problem of violent
crime. You now also understand the importance of two professions in our democratic.
First-the writer-he/she has the literary ability to portray social problems
using realism and theatrics. Second-the role of the public policy analyst is
essential in solving social problems through the initiation of new public
polices. Peer pressure can use both positively and negatively as you have seen
in your research. Let’s hope you found a way to use it in a positive way.
Thanks for your participation. Did you
make a difference? Did you save the next Steve Harmon from a wasted and
destructive life?
English Language Arts
Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information.
Standard 2: Language for Literary Response and Expression
Students will read and listen to oral, written, and electronically produced texts and performances from American and world literature; relate texts and performances to their own lives; and develop an understanding of the diverse social, historical, and cultural dimensions the texts and performances represent. As speakers and writers, students will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language for self-expression and artistic creation.
Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for critical analysis and evaluation. As listeners and readers, students will analyze experiences, ideas, information, and issues presented by others using a variety of established criteria. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follows the accepted conventions of the English language to present, from a variety of perspectives, their opinions and judgments on experiences, ideas, information and issues.
Standard 4: Language for Social Interaction
Students will listen, speak, read, and write for social
interaction. Students will use oral and written language that follows the
accepted conventions of the English language for effective social communication
with a wide variety of people. As readers and listeners, they will use the
social communications of others to enrich their understanding of people and
their views.
Social Studies
Standard 4: Economics
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of how the United States and other societies develop economic systems and associated institutions to allocate scarce resources, how major decision-making units function in the United States and other national economies, and how an economy solves the scarcity problem through market and non-market mechanisms.
Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Government
Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to
demonstrate their understanding of the necessity for establishing governments;
the governmental system of the