Life on a Postage Stamp

A WebQuest for 7th Grade Language Arts    

Designed by
Jennifer Apicella-Lawler
Lawlerj@hudson.edu

Introduction | Task | Process |Resources
Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits

Introduction

You and your partner are the United States Postal Service’s “New Faces” Committee. The President of the United States has commanded a stamp of a famous African-American from the struggles of the Equal Rights Movement.  You must find the best candidate.  By next week.  And create the background artwork.  In order to keep your job.  Good luck.

The Task

Your subcommittee, the “WannaBe Faces”, has compiled a short list for you to research.  You are to research three of the candidates, their plight, and draw a rough sketch of the stamp as you see it.  The background must show their struggle, indicate the time period, and their triumphs.  The foreground must show a face or profile.     

Complete your rough drafts and submit them Vice President Penrod, Vice President Chaboudy or to Vice President Lawler.  Once they review them with the President, your drafts will be returned.  It is up to you, at this point, to decide on your final proposition.  This will be on a 2 feet by 3 feet poster board.  The group with the best stamp will keep their job.  Other groups will be reassigned as follows:

Use the internet resources listed below and the books that your subcommittee members have compiled.  Remember, your three (3) drafts must be on 8.5 X 11 papers and in color.  When those are approved by a Vice President, pick your best stamp to enlarge.  It must show their face in the foreground, the struggles, triumphs and time period in the background.  Do well!

The Process

Your committee will meet in the computer lab to complete the research and use the new computers in the room.  Use the following links to help you.  Use the books on the cart, too.  The President has provided a worksheet to organize your notes. These must be turned in with your drafts.   Once you have created the poster sized mock up, President DiTommaso will select the best final submission for mass distribution.

Resources

Skim through the following sites of intriguing candidates.  Pick three and complete a mock-stamp for each.  Feel free to use non-Web sources, too.  

Evaluation

For your outstanding daily research effort, you and your partner will be awarded ten points.  Each Presidential Worksheet is worth ten points.  Your final stamp is worth 100 points.  The total for this project is 150 points.

You will be evaluated on fulfilling a myriad of requirements.  Check out the requirement sheet.  Your daily grade will be an individual one, while the Presidential Sheets and your Stamp will be a group grade.  Your reflection paper is due the same day as your Stamp.

Conclusion

This was a chance for you and your partner to work on aspects of a  given topic that interested you.  You had opportunities to explore as deeply as you wanted.  The struggle for equality is still fought daily.  Where could you help?  What do you read about it in the paper?  Are there cultures that are horrendous abusers?  Why should we even worry about this problem?

Credits and References

Please make sure that you cite your sources you used on the back of your poster.  Be sure to thank the Media Specialists and your fearless Vice Presidents and President for calling on you to serve in this capacity!