“The Color of Water”
A WEB QUEST DEALING
WITH MAJOR SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN
Presented by:
Mitchell Klein
THIS IS THE RED
HOOK SECTION OF
INTRODUCTION:
In “The Color of Water”, James McBride
describes the many difficulties and triumphs of his mother Ruth. The book is
set against the backgrounds of
Now that you have read this incisive
work, you can identify and evaluate the social problem of poverty as the author
portrays it. Your evaluations, using the PPA, may be used to alleviate some of
the problems of poverty in the future. You will be assigned to make a report to
the MAYOR’S COMMISSION ON POVERTY. This will be your assignment. In this web
quest you have an opportunity to discover the causes for major social problems
and evaluate the public policies that have been enacted to address them.
You will be asked as a public policy
analyst, to create new and innovative policies that can improve the existing
conditions in
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Your class will be broken up into groups
of four students each. Each group will
present an oral report of five minutes.
For visuals, we would like to see web pages from the Internet. You will also present your report in a short Power
Point presentation of a minimum of 6 slides. This report will be used by the Mayor’s
commission to solve future problems of bigotry and racism. For your report and
power point you will use the TIPS PPA and follow the methodology www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html
Your power point and
presentation should then be put into essay form following the TIPS methodology.
Your essay should be a minimum of 3 type-written pages. Please study the
RUBRICS for the oral and written reports so you can get a good idea of what is
expected
James McBride described many examples of
anti-Black and anti-Jewish bigotry in his book.
You should include highlights regarding the wonderful contributions made
by African-Americans and Jews
You will make use of the PUBLIC POLICY
ANALYST at the TIPS website. Go to http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/tips.html and complete the Public Policy worksheets on
the sites hyperlinked below. The
worksheets will guide you through the following steps: You will use the
information on the worksheets in the power point presentation and in your
essay.
4.
Evaluating Existing
Public Policies
5.
Developing Public
Policy Solutions
These steps will help you clarify your
thoughts as you think about solutions to the problems of poverty and bigotry.
Use the PPA worksheets to construct your report, oral presentation and power
point. You will clearly define the
social problem in the book, gather evidence for the problem as the author sees
it, identify the causes for the problem (this can be done by using previous
knowledge of the era and use of history texts and the resources hyperlinked
below}, evaluate the public policy as you find it in the book and develop some
solutions that the author of the “Color of Water” would accept. You will also be asked to make
recommendations to the Mayor’s committee for solving the problem. You can add
suggestions made in the task. This is step # 5 in the PPA format.
As a conclusion
for your presentation and essay, you should compare your life with the McBride
family?
HERE ARE OTHER SUGGESTIONS FOR COMPLETING
YOUR TASK AND MAKING YOUR POWER POINT INTERESTING:
1. Demonstrate positive elements of ethnicity
and culture.
2. Trace the path of an immigrant group.
3. Draw your family tree.
RESOURCES
You will use any
websites and print materials, as long as you are able to document and credit
your sources. You are welcome to use the
following websites, but are not restricted to them:
Suggested Websites
Here are some websites which may give you some
information:
1. http://www.dot.state.ny.us/reg/r11gowanus/projectarea.html
2. http://www.nyu.edu/classes/crisis/red_hook.html
3. http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nycha/html/factsheet.html
5.
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/nycha/home.html
GENERAL SEARCH ENGINES THAT CAN BE USED
EVALUATION:
Your written work will be graded in the
following manner:
Grade |
65%-69% |
70%-79% |
80-95% |
100% |
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Too few links
related to the proposed policy |
Adequate links but
few are supporting the proposed policy |
Many links that
supported the proposed policy |
Excellent use
links which supported the proposed policy |
Presentation Rubric – Evaluating Student Presentations
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Total |
Organization |
Audience cannot understand presentation because there is no sequence of information. |
Audience has difficulty following presentation because student jumps around.. |
Student presents information in logical sequence which audience can follow. |
Student presents information in logical, interesting sequence which audience can follow. |
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Subject Knowledge |
Student does not have grasp of information; student cannot answer questions about subject. |
Student is uncomfortable with information and is able to answer only rudimentary questions. |
Student is at ease, with expected answers to all questions, but fails to elaborate. |
Student demonstrates full knowledge (more than required) by answering all questions with explanations and elaboration. |
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Graphics |
Student uses superfluous graphics or no graphics. |
Student occasionally uses graphics that rarely support text and presentation. |
Student’s graphics relate to text and presentation. |
Student’s graphics explain and reinforce screen text and presentation. |
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Mechanics |
Students presentation has four or more spelling errors and/or grammatical errors. |
Presentation has three misspellings and/or grammatical errors. |
Presentation has no more than two misspellings and/or grammatical errors. |
Presentation has no misspellings and/or grammatical errors. |
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Eye Contact |
Student reads all of report with no eye contact. |
Student occasionally uses eye contact, but still reads most of report. |
Student maintains eye contact most of the time but frequently returns to notes. |
Student maintains eye contact with audience, seldom returning to notes. |
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Elocution |
Student mumbles, incorrectly pronounces terms, and speaks too quietly for student in the back of class to hear. |
Students voice is low. Student incorrectly pronounces terms. Audience members have difficulty hearing presentation. |
Student’s voice is clear. Student pronounces most words correctly. Most audience members can hear presentation. |
Student uses a clear voice and correct precise pronunciation of terms so that all audience can hear presentation. |
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Total Points |
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The McBride family provided an inspiring
example of success despite the poverty and bigotry, which surrounded them. But we still need the power of our laws and
public policies to lessen and even end these problems. Just as much, we need
the power of our own hearts and minds to end them. You should now understand the author’s views
on the social problems that existed in the 20th century. You should
further understand their causes and possible solutions as racism adversely affects
every citizen of the planet. As a public policy analyst and critical thinker,
you have the power to change. Keep that in mind as you advance through society.
We hope that your web quest has demonstrated some of that power.
STANDARDS : This webquest incorporated the following
ENGLISH
LANGUAGE ARTS
1:
Standard # 3—Language for critical analysis and evaluation
2:
Standard # 4—Language for social interaction
SOCIAL
STUDIES
1:
Standard # 1--History of the
2:
Standard # 5—Civics, Citizenship and Government
THE
ARTS
1:
Standard # 4—Understanding the cultural contribution of the arts