PROJECT CRITICAL

12^th Grade English

Frederick Douglass Academy

Ms. Lee

PUBLIC-POLICY TOPIC:

THE BURNING OF FIRST AMMENDMENT RIGHTS AS FOUND IN RAY BRADBURY’S FARENHEIT 451.

You are not allowed to…

1. Think without permission

2. Have an opinion that does not agree with society’s laws

3. Read whatever you want

4. Acknowledge your feelings

5. Have an individual voice

INTRODUCTION

What would happen if America were no longer a democracy? Imagine having no individual rights, no voice—not being allowed to see, hear, say or even feel what you want. It is easy to think, “That doesn’t affect us, we live in the United States!” But, during the 1940’s-1950’s, Senator Joseph McCarthy preyed on the nation’s fear of communism and went on a “witch hunt” that accused many famous American artists of communistic sympathies. Through the House of Un-American Activities Committee, McCarthy and his people destroyed the careers of many artists and writers with unsubstantiated accusations.

Using the Public Policy Analyst (PPA), http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html you will be assigned to groups of five and identify/investigate the social issue of restrictions placed on gender roles from the perspective of one …. The, using the information you’ve gathered from your PPA Worksheets, create a 4-6 pages layout, newspaper illustrating the social problem through the eyes of…… and the ways this issue could assessed.

SPECIFICS:

· The length of the newspaper must be either 4 OR 6 pages using Microsoft Publisher

· The newspaper must in Times New Roman font at 10 point.

· Your newspaper must have an appropriate title, be numbered and dated

PRODUCT # 1: Thematic Newspaper

Reporters must produce three articles (with a 500 word minimum, and 1200 word maximum) that address the gentrification and its impacts on first amendment rights from a personal, social and/or economic perspective. You must have one article written in each of the following styles:

1. Interview:

a. After identifying a member who lives in the your neighborhood, you must develop at least 10 questions that address the experiences, concerns as well as the positive and negative results of first amendment changes.

b. There are many ways to tackle the interview article. Reporters could choose to tell the story of one interviewee or, interview members of your neighborhood from different generations to compare and contrast their experiences.

c. However, reporters must be sure to have a common focus when interviewing multiple community members. For example, if a reporter wants to focus on the social impact of first amendment rights, he or she would develop questions with a personal or social perspective as opposed to a fiscal/financial one. While responses may include personal and social experiences and reflections, interview articles should have a clear topic.

2: Research:

d. Each research article must have a clear thesis that reflects the reporter’s perspective.

e. All arguments must be supported by 3 outside sources (all sources must receive prior approval from

Ms. Lee)

f. All research articles must follow the MLA format.

To complete the two products each group:

> STEP ONE: Using the Public Policy Analyst…

Your group will research the planning and development of Harlem’s re-gentrification to create a PowerPoint presentation and a special edition of The North Star, FDA’s school newspaper. These projects will develop from a six step process. Be sure to use the hyperlinks to view a complete explanation of each step. There are worksheets involved in each step, download them (at the bottom and fill them out as part of your research.) These worksheets will be used as resource material to complete your newspaper articles and your power point. Remember, both products must include all the six steps of the public policy analyst. They are to be submitted and will be graded.

THE SIX STEP PUBLIC POLICY ANALYST

1. Define the Problem being addressed

2. Gather Evidence of the problem’s existence

3. Identify Causes of the problem

4. Evaluate Policies being currently used to deal with the problem

5. Develop Solutions – Your ideas for dealing with the problem

6. Select the Best Solutions

Ø STEP TWO: Completing the Power Point Presentation…

Each member of the group will select one of the steps from the Public Policy Analyst to research, write, compile and present. He/she will be responsible for contributing to the group’s presentation in a clear, well-written, well-researched manner. For PowerPoint help, go to http://www.bitbetter.com/powertips.htm. The group’s presentation must adhere to the following guidelines:

a. Each group must adhere to the guidelines found on the Project Checklist

b. Each member of the group must take on one of the following roles for the presentation.

a. Presentation “Proofer” :Checks that all information, formatting and content is correct and that the presentation adheres to guidelines.

b. Presentation Constructor> Will take the information gathered to compile the presentation visually and textually.

c. Presentation Scout> Will find the sources and gather relevant and helpful information (in both visual and textual formats)

d. Presentation Architect> Will make sure that everyone stays on task and will also be responsible for organizing the slides and information.

e. Presentation Representative> Will deliver the presentation to the class sharing the information and answering any questions that may arise from the audience.

> STEP THREE: GROUP ROLES

a. Role #1--Managing Editor: Keeps track of the group's daily work and reports to sites recommended by the teacher. The Manager Editor will compile all the research of the group, removing irrelevant or unnecessary information. He/she the teacher any problems. This role also involves leading the group’s research and directing the other group members to the websites listed and also any additional may also choose to do additional research on the issue or policy.

b. Role #2--Beat Reporters: Writes the articles and suggests policy changes supported by research and data (Every member of the group has to contribute AT LEAST one article to the newspaper).

c. Role #3--Editor—Edits: Revises the text on the policy analysis worksheets/articles

d. Role #4--Research Analyst: Organizes the research, facts, numbers and statistics. Checks data and makes sure that the information in the articles and PowerPoint is correct.

e. Role #5/#6--News Photographer/News Artist: Photographers will take photographs of Harlem and relevant images that will provide additional depth and information to the news articles. They will also use Adobe Photoshop to adjust/crop images as necessary.

Below are the websites students will use to complete the task. Also, other website links related to the topic may be included.

GENERAL WEB SITES

WWW.GOOGLE.COM

WWW.YAHOO.COM

WWW.ALTAVISTA.COM

SPECIFIC WEB SITES

a. JOURNALISM

i. The Write Site: https://www.writesite.org

ii. Research and Writing: https://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/stepfirst.htm

b. RESEARCH & WRITING

i. http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html

ii. www.google.com> TOPIC: Harlem Re-gentrification

iii. http://www.ipl.org/div/aplus/stepfirst.htm

c. RELEVANT ARTICLES

i. “Real Estate 2000: Uptown Boomtown--http://nymag.com/nymetro/realestate/features/2652/index5.html

ii. New York Times online: www.nytimes.com

The evaluation measures the results of the activity. The following rubrics show how the PowerPoint presentations and the newspaper articles will be graded.

§ You will be graded as a group for your PowerPoint presentation according to the rubric below. Your score for each aspect of the assignment will be summed and you will receive a grade of A-F.

	Beginning 1	Developing 2	Accomplished 3	Exemplary 4	Score
Worksheet 1
Worksheet 2
Worksheet 3
Worksheet 4
Worksheet 5
Worksheet 6
Defining the Problem	Problem defined incorrectly.	Problem defined incompletely, no mention of BMI.	All aspects of problem clearly defined.	Definition of problem reflects clear understanding of problem.
Gathering Evidence of the Problem	No evidence of problem cited.	1 piece of evidence included.	2 pieces of evidence included.	2 pieces of evidence included. Evidence is particular to NYC high school students.
Determining Causes of the Problem	1 cause mentioned.	3 causes specific to Harlem mentioned.	3 causes specific to Harlem mentioned with in-depth explanation.	4 causes specific to NYC high schools mentioned with in-depth explanation.
Looking at Current Policies	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting a beginning level of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting development and movement toward mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting mastery of performance.	Description of identifiable performance characteristics reflecting the highest level of performance.
Practical Solutions Included in Presentation?	No practical solutions included.	One practical solution included.	More than one practical solution included.	Multiple practical solutions that would appeal to high school students included.
Visual Appeal of Presentation	Presentation is incomplete without appropriate info/#of slides.	Presentation is presented with minimum requirements fulfilled.	Presentation is presented with clear images and helpful info. Most presentation guidelines addressed.	Presentation goes above and beyond the presentation guidelines.
Scoring of Articles	Not appropriate for newspaper.	Appropriate for the newspaper, but not well organized.	Appropriate for the newspaper, and well organized .	Appropriate for middle school students, well organized and will grab the interest of middle school students.
Total Score
Letter Grade	A = 44 - 38	B = 37 - 34	C = 33 - 29	D = 28 - 27	F = < 27

CONCLUSION

By completing this web quest you have experienced the importance of a “Public Policy Analyst”. This political scientist searches for social problems and finds workable solutions that benefit all citizens. You also have studied a critical period in American History. The McCarthy era was a second “red scare” that threatened our Constitution and democratic principles embodied in the first, fourth and fifth amendments of the “Bill of Rights”.

Moreover, you have seen the importance of citizen participation in the democratic process. Without an informed and politically active citizenry, democracy can wither and die.

Thanks for your participation. Let’s hope you will make a difference!

NEW YORK STATE STANDARDS

§ ELA Standards:

STUDENTS WILL HAVE PERFORMED THE FOLLOWING STANDARDS:

ü E1c Reads and comprehends information materials.

ü E2a Produce a report of information.

ü E3b Participate in group meetings.

ü E6a Critique public documents with an eye to strategies common in public discourse.

ü E6b Produce public documents.

ü E7a Critique functional documents with an eye to strategies common to effective functional documents.

ü E7b Produce functional documents appropriate to audience and purpose.

o Problem Solving

A. Design a Product, Service, or System: Identify needs that could be met by new products, services, or systems and create solutions for meeting them.

B. Improve a System: Develop an understanding of the way systems of people, machines, and processes work;
troubleshoot problems in their operation and devise strategies for improving their effectiveness.

o Communication Tools and Techniques

A. Prepare a formal written proposal or report to an organization beyond the school.

B. Use on-line sources to exchange information for specific purposes.

C. Use word-processing software to produce a multi-page document

§ Social Studies Standards #2:

STUDENTS WILL HAVE PERFORMED THE FOLLOWING STANDARDS

ü Research and analyze the major themes and developments in New York State and United States history (e.g., colonization and settlement; Revolution and New National Period; immigration; expansion and reform era; Civil War and Reconstruction; The American labor movement; Great Depression; World Wars; contemporary United States)

ü Prepare essays and oral reports about the important social, political, economic, scientific, technological, and cultural developments, issues, and events from New York State and United States history

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 nonmarket 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 United States and other nations; the United States Constitution; the basic civic values of American constitutional democracy; and the roles, rights, and responsibilities of citizenship, including avenues of participation.