The Sole Project:
This year I completed a SOLE that asked the question: Was the US successful from 1781-1789?
The results I received were pretty good considering I did
not give out a super specific rubric. I
did give them a guide that allowed them to take it in any direction that they
wanted. And the results were pretty
good. Most chose to create a PPT in their
groups as the final piece, but others chose to create a poster. I even had one group write a well-developed essay.
The freedom motivated many students, but was a challenge for
others. Some wanted specifically what I
wanted in the project, but I refused and on the first day many complained that
the project was just too hard. I stuck
to my guns and eventually all the students I had turned in a finished
project. Below is an outline of the
process I underwent with my students.
Day 1: Students used
printouts and the text to begin doing research.
Historians often use older texts to discover things about the past so I
wanted to use this as an opportunity to drive that point home. Plus, there should always be value in
discovering things in printed texts as well.
Research online really does not have all the resources that could be
used yet. I also was unable to get
computers that first day. The students filled
out an organizer. Where I just drew some
squares on a piece of paper. This tripped them up quite a bit because I relied
on them to create the shape they wanted.
Some created two columns of success and not success. Some broke it down
into years. Others did sections of the
text. It was neat to see the process of their
mind create the tools they needed.
Day 2: More Research. This time we used computers and the
texts. I had put some videos on my blog
as a starting point. Some went and found
other things online.
Day 3: Final day for research
on the computer. Most still had not
finished the computer research so I gave them another day. They surfed around to find more
information.
Day 4: They began
working on their project. They were
allowed to choose whatever medium they wanted.
I ended up with essays, posters, and PPTS.
Day 5: They used this
final day to finish up the project and turned it in. Below are a few results.
Overall, the project was a success. For the first time in a long time the
students could tell me all about Shays’ Rebellion, the Northwest Ordnance, and
other events from the time period. I
think it helped them understand why American needed a new constitution better
than all of the readings I have done in the past. I am kind of emboldened by this process and I
am thinking I might have the students write a historiographic essay on Andrew
Jackson next quarter to see how his portray might be different than
others.
For those of you who are wondering about the validity of the
SOLE it does work, but might make your students uncomfortable. Some of my students yelled at me as I pulled
back. To some I was simply not doing
enough for them or my job. I helped many
do research, but I never told them any answers. As the project finished I think
that it was important I didn’t become as involved, but was more of a guiding
hand that constantly posed questions. It
was hard not answering the questions, but overall this seems to be the way
things should be done. Some needed
prompting to stay on task occasionally, so the method is not perfect. Students still need the structure of the
classroom to stay focused and for me to keep helping them stay focused on the
process. It was a risk I took this year
and it seems to have paid off.
Give it a try. You will
be amazed with what some of the students will create.
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