Basic Concept
The students research a historical hero, one of those unimpeachable people students have been forced to memorize facts about since kindergarten. Only this time they’re researching the figure as if they were a reporter for a semi-sleazy tabloid. ((Let’s keep it semi-sleazy so there’s a core of fact to anything reported- like Washington marrying for money, in the example, may be true. There are primary sources I could cite.)) You could do something simple like creating the cover or make it deeper and have the class construct a whole magazine analyzing an individual or period. The key here for the teacher is requiring the explanation of the choices and that students back up their information with solid sources.
I chose to do this with students in groups of 3. Everyone did research and validation work but when we started construction we assigned roles (editor, graphic artist, writer).
Learning Goals
- This is a solid research project that creates a reason for students to explore primary sources and engage in in-depth analysis of sources.
- Students are analyzing and imitating the writing and design style used in tabloid magazines. This requires analysis of genre and higher level processing and application.
- Students are researching the historical figure and seeing them as a human. Historical figures tend to become caricatures which are then referenced with nostalgia. I think it’s really healthy to see these people as having flaws and to look at how the media of the day treated them compared to how we see them now. This goes for whole eras, not just individuals. It opens up a lot of conversations about the media today as well. How would Glenn Beck/Keith Obermann ((You could use clips from these shows and extend this to video. It’d give you ways to work in some solid propaganda and debate options as well as modern aspects of government.)) be commenting on George Washington?
The whole things is really flexible and only loosely fleshed out here. The lawyer’s son in me cautions you about doing this sort of thing in conservative places if you’re not sure of audience reaction.
Keep in mind you could also do the reverse and do a PR spin of “evil” people. Although that might be riskier.
TIPC Ratings
This project can easily hit the Ideal category in Research and Information Fluency. Key elements to include are students selecting from multiple sources (including databases) and evaluating the resources for accuracy.
As is this lesson would be in the Developing category of the TIPC. If students published their work online for outside audiences it’d move the project up a level. In order to reach ideal, students would have to be collaborating virtually and engaging outside audiences with diverse backgrounds.
This project falls pretty solidly in the Approaching category as long as students are allowed to work independently and the project is not limited by over structuring the process.
This project has a high potential for allowing students to think critically, research, communicate and apply these skills to create original work.
