TIPS WEBQUEST—Marisa Harford
The School for Community Research and
Learning
A Webquest about
in response to Walter
Dean Myers’ novel Monster
Introduction
You
work for Mayor Bloomberg’s task force on young people and crime in
We
have just finished reading Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, which dramatically
presents the impact that the criminal justice system has on Steve, the main
character. Steve’s whole life is transformed by his involvement with a crime
and his prison time and trial that follow. Did you think that Steve was treated
fairly by the court, by the judge, and by his lawyer? How did being in prison
affect Steve? How will this experience change Steve’s future? We discussed
these questions in relation to the novel.
Now,
your job is to connect these questions to real life in
Task
In
groups, you will:
ü
Select
a social problem about youth and crime or the criminal justice system
ü
Use
the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) method to investigate the social problem by
gathering evidence of the problem, identifying the causes of the problem, and
evaluating current NYC policies relating to that problem
ü
Develop
your own policy solution to solve the social problem
ü
Produce
a process journal that demonstrates that the group has gone through all of the
steps of the PPA
ü
Produce
a PowerPoint presentation to describe the results of your investigation and
convince Mayor Bloomberg to support the policy solution you are proposing. The
8 slide presentation will utilize text, pictures, statistics, and charts to
explain how
Process
We will be
following the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) method of examining a social problem.
You will be working in groups of 5 students. For each step, you will need to
record notes in your group’s process journal or on online worksheets. Group
members should take turns being the recorder for the group and writing things
down. If you need help understanding one of the steps, follow the link under
“more information” for that step.
- Define the
social problem—choose
one of the 4 social problems or create your own based on Monster
(ask Ms. Harford first):
Ø
There
is a high recidivism rate (rate of people returning to jail) for young people
who have been in prison.
Ø
The
criminal justice system discriminates against young people from certain
socioeconomic and racial backgrounds.
Ø
Many
teens are involved in violent crime.
Fill out the
worksheet located at: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet1.doc
and put it in your process journal.
More
Information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/select.html
2. Gather evidence— Find out facts about the causes and
effects of your social problem. I have provided some websites below under
“Resources,” but your group should also do some internet investigating on its
own. Remember to think critically about the source of your information and
whether it is reliable. For example, www.gangsaregreat.com [not a real
website] might be a bad place to look up information about the negative effects
of gangs on teenagers-- but on the other hand, it might be a great place to
find out how gangs use peer pressure to intimidate teens.
Take notes on the evidence you gather
and where you find it (make sure to correctly cite websites!) in your process
journal. Fill out the worksheet located at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet2.doc.
More
Information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/gather.html
How to
conduct a search on the internet:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/search.html
3. Identify causes—Based on your evidence, what
actually causes this social problem? Remember, there may be more than one
cause.
Fill out the
worksheet at: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet3.doc
and file it in your process journal.
More
information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/identify.html
4. Evaluate a policy—Find out what NYC is currently doing
to stop or fix the social problem. Read about the policies that already exist
and then decide what the good points and bad points of these policies are.
Record notes in your process journal.
Fill out the
worksheet at: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet4.doc
More
information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/existing.html
5. Develop solutions—Be creative
problem-solvers! Your group is going to brainstorm various possible policy
solutions for your social problem. Remember, this must be something the city
government can do to fix the problem. You must consider both effectiveness
(whether the policy will work) and feasibility (whether the policy can actually
be implemented in the real world). Be open to many different ideas. Record your brainstorming on the worksheet located at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet5.doc
and put it in your process journal.
More
Information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/solutions.html
IMAGINE
A WORLD
WITHOUT VIOLENCE
6. Select the best solution—As a group, work together to chose what
you think would be the best policy solution for your social problem, based on
your research. You will use this policy solution for your PowerPoint proposal
for Mayor Bloomberg. Make sure that your policy is a real plan of action, not
just a policy goal. (For example, don’t just say “reduce juvenile crime.” Tell
me how you’re going to do it!)
Use the
worksheet located at http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/worksheet6.doc
to evaluate how feasible and effective
each of your policy solutions is and help you choose which one is best.
More
information: http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/bestsol.html
7. Create your PowerPoint presentation to convince the mayor that your task
force has the answer for how to stop crime and improve young peoples’ chances
of living a crime-free life. Include whatever facts, statistics, examples,
theories, and policies you think will be useful in making your case. Make sure
to cite information correctly when you include facts from your research. Your
PowerPoint should be at least 8 slides long. Have fun with it! Remember, people
are more convinced when a proposal is colorful and exciting.
Resources
For
general web searches:
Specific
sites that may help you:
(Many of these are valuable because they have
links to other useful sites)
Statistics and Factual Information on
Juvenile Crime for step #2:
US Department of Justice Youth Violence site
www.usdoj.gov/youthviolence.htm
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
http://virlib.ncjrs.org/JuvenileJustice.asp
Statistics reference page for the PBS
documentary:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile/stats
New York City Department of Juvenile Justice
Justice Statistics
http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/
Corrections Statistics
http://www.ncvc.org/resources/statistics/corrections/
Resources about Policies and Programs
Currently in Place for steps #2 & 4:
VERA Institute for Justice
http://www.vera.org/section5/section5_1.asp
Partnerships Against
Violence Network
http://www.pavnet.org/
(look at the Programs section)
Health and Justice for Youth Project
http://www.phrusa.org/campaigns/juv_justice/newyork_b.html
http://www.nycourts.gov/press/pr2002_08.shtml
Office of Juvenile Justice:
http://ojjdp.ncjrs.org/programs/programs.html
Justice for Kids and Youth
http://www.usdoj.gov/kidspage/getinvolved/index.html
Interesting News and Opinion
Articles, most useful for steps #3 & 4:
http://www.jrn.columbia.edu/studentwork/children/2001/oped/melone.asp
http://www.youthnoise.com/site/CDA/CDA_Page/0,1004,751,00.html
http://student-voices.org/news/index.php3?NewsID=2782
Youth, Race, and Crime in the News Report
http://www.buildingblocksforyouth.org/media/media.html
A cool PBS documentary about youths and
criminal justice
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/juvenile
Links to sites about
gun violence, juvenile justice, gangs, etc.
Information
about how to handle other sources:
http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/TIPS/info.html
Evaluation
Rubric
for Process Journal
|
25-23
points |
22-20
points |
19-16
points |
must be
redone |
|
Shows
evidence of active and thoughtful group discussion, brainstorming, and
solutions for steps #1-5 |
All
steps present but the journal does not record meaningful discussion and
brainstorming |
One
step missing or incomplete; little evidence of group discussion |
More
than one step missing or incomplete; no evidence of group discussion and
brainstorming |
|
All
worksheets completed, demonstrating thought and careful research |
Worksheets
are completed but do not demonstrate thought or careful research |
One
worksheet missing or worksheets completed carelessly |
More
than one worksheet missing or incomplete |
|
Shows
evidence that all group members have been actively involved in group work |
Shows
that all group members have been involved to some degree |
Shows
that only some of the group members have been working |
Evidence
that only 1 or 2 members of the group have been working |
|
Accurately
and correctly cites sources of information |
Cites
sources but does so incorrectly |
Cites
some sources of information |
Does
not cite sources of information |
Rubric
for PowerPoint Presentation
|
25-23
points |
22-20
points |
19-16 points |
must be
redone |
|
Presentation
has at least 8 slides which cover the steps of the PPA. It demonstrates an
exemplary grasp of the issues. |
Presentation
has at least 8 slides which partially cover the steps of the PPA. It
demonstrates a basic grasp of the issues. |
Presentation
has at least 6 slides and covers some but not all of the steps of the PPA. It
demonstrates a partial grasp of the issues. |
Presentation
has fewer than 6 slides and does not cover the steps of the PPA. It does not
demonstrate a grasp of the issues. |
|
Presentation
presents an original policy solution and makes convincing arguments about why
it should be implemented in |
Presentation
presents an original policy solution and some less-convincing arguments for
why it should be implemented in NYC |
Presentation
presents an original policy solution but does not make arguments for why it
should be implemented in NYC |
Presentation
does not present an original policy solution |
|
Presentation
is very well-organized, persuasive, and easy to understand |
Presentation
is somewhat organized, persuasive, and easy to understand |
The
presentation shows an attempt at organization but is difficult to follow |
Presentation
is disorganized and not persuasive |
|
Presentation
is a well-edited finished product, using an attractive and exciting visual
presentation and correct spelling and grammar |
Presentation
may contain some errors but demonstrates effort to edit the work and create a
pleasing visual presentation |
Presentation
is somewhat visually interesting and shows some attempt at editing although
it may have many errors |
Presentation
contains many grammatical errors and is not visually interesting |
English Language Arts
E1C Read and comprehend informational
materials
E3B Participate in group meetings
E6A Critique public documents
E6B Produce public documents
E3D Make informed judgments about
media
E4B Analyze and subsequently revise
work
Applied Learning
A1A Design a product, service, or
system
A2C Develop a multimedia presentation
A3A Gather information
A5A Self-directed work teams
1: History of (the
5: Civics, Citizenship, and
Government
Conclusion
By
the end of this project, your group will have learned to identify a social
problem that relates to a work of literature, conducted a web search to find out
the causes of the problem and existing policies designed to fix the problem,
evaluated information from web resources, designed your own original policy
solution, and created a presentation to explain your findings and your proposed
solution. You will have learned about working in groups, gathering information
on the internet, analyzing government policies and documents, and creating a
PowerPoint presentation. Wow! Give yourselves a hand!
Questions? Problems?
Contact me at marisaharford@msn.com
