Summary
For AP English 11, students read and analyze The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. In particular, they complete a rhetorical analysis of Franklin’s morality experiment, which is designed to encourage daily self-examination and responsible, ethical behavior. Franklin promoted taking individual responsibility for one’s actions, a democratic ideal whereby everyone strives for society’s improvement through self-improvement and individual effort. For the 30th Anniversary Edition of this book, students are asked to consider the relevancy of Franklin’s message for a generation that is super-engaged in social media and technology, and are challenged to create a marketing proposal and a product demonstration for making the book relevant to modern teenagers.
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Prior to beginning this project, the students read and study The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, which serves as as a primary resource for the project. Additionally, students investigate a variety of Internet sources that provide diverse views on the proper uses and unfortunate abuses of online social media sources. While planning their project, students are prompted to investigate “broadsides,” which were an early form of colonial American mass and social media. This scaffolding allows some of the struggling students to think about the connections between historical forms of mass media and expression in contrast with those used today. For additional inspiration, students are also encouraged to reference Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac for the proverbs or aphorisms that were often widely distributed examples of his moral virtues. During the students’ research, however, the teacher only steers students toward these additional resources if they seem to need additional scaffolding to reach targets. To complete this project, students must locate, synthesize and organize information from a variatey of additional sources, which they must first evaluate for accuracy and credibility.
The nature of this project fosters strong communication and collaboration among students. Initially, students must self-select the groups with whom they will work and collaboratively complete the project planning form through which they establish group norms, reflect on their individual strengths and weaknesses, assign roles, and lay the groundwork upon which their project is created. Through the creation of the project, students identify the most appropriate digital tools for communicating and collaborating with their partners. Each group’s means of communication is unique to the group based on the type of product they choose to create; however, a common thread that emerges during the creation of these projects is the use of shared Google documents. For example, groups creating videos use shared Google documents to brainstorm, and compose and edit scripts, while groups creating websites use shared Google documents to brainstorm and aggregate the information they plan to use on the website. Self-reflection is integral throughout this project, as students continuously evaluate the decisions made as the group’s work takes place and the project takes on its desired shape.
With very limited parameters established by the teacher, groups were left with the task of not only choosing the specific content for their project; but, were also challenged to determine the shape their project would take on. All students had to go on was the directive of making The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin relevant and appealing to their contemporaries. As the project requirements are left open ended and the possibilities seemingly endless, each group must evaluate the variety of digital tools with which they can create their product and select the digital tools that will be most appropriate in helping them reach the goals they set. Self-reflection is integral throughout this project, as students continuously evaluate the decisions made as the group’s work takes place and the project takes on its desired shape.
Because the project parameters are very open-ended, students have nearly complete freedom to choose what type of product they want to create and which digital tools they will use to create the product they envision. The open-ended nature of this project gives students the opportunity to try new things as well as draw upon their established strengths. Consequently, students are prompted to take risks and continuously reflect on their choices as they develop products that match their creative vision. Through the original Google form that initiated the project, students are prompted to discuss creativity and innovation goals for the project by identifying what aspects of their final product will require “thinking outside the box”. Students are encouraged to brainstorm and plan ahead, ultimately choosing the best of their group’s collaborative thinking. Additionally, as students reflect on their individual strengths and weaknesses, they are more apt to seek out help from each other as needs arise.
