Students of Mr. Cassutto's 9th grade US Government classes have developed projects relating to the history of African-Americans as well as the Civil Rights Movement. To navigate through the project types and topics, use the menu in the left frame to select which project you would like to investigate. Please send us your comments at georgecassutto@hotmail.com and be sure to put your topic or the authors' names in the subject line. Thanks for visiting.

The Civil Rights Movement: Web Page Design Project

The following is a list of forms that a given project may take.

A Photo essay: Take pictures on a theme dealing with civil rights with a 35 mm camera and write captions or an essay that describe your photos. Take as many pictures as possible, but use no more than 7 in your project.

Interactive Trivia Game: While history and government are not trivial, a game with fact questions and information can be set up to teach as well as to have fun.

Interview with witness: Find an adult who was alive during the 1960s. develop at least 10 discussion questions and tape the interview. Then write out the interview on computer. Take or draw picture of your subject, or find a picture and have it scanned.

Sketch timeline: Choose a series of events and develop a timeline of those events or of a person's life. Draw pictures based on your imagination or photographs highlighting those events. The timeline would be written and drawn. Formal essay: Using the 5 paragraph form, write an essay on a topic dealing with civil rights. Be sure to include resources from the library and internet and show where you received those sources. On-line Newspaper: Write two or more articles dealing with historical or current day issues on civil rights. Create computer graphics to give your articles some color. Your newspaper can include national and local pages, and can include your summaries of stories found in your own local paper. Include an opinion section where you can include letters to the editor and your own editorials. Poetry Analysis or Poetry With illustrations: Write or read one or more poems on the civil rights movement or people of that time. Draw, find or take pictures to illustrate your poem. Include a short interpretation of your symbols and language. Maps of Historical Events: Locate a map and recreate the map using your own materials. Write a short description of the map and how it fits into history. Letter to lawmaker: Write the president, vice-president, senator, or congressman about civil rights issues. You must follow correct format, and others will be able to read your letter and respond.

Review of web links: Surf the web before or after school, collect web site addresses, and write a short paragraph telling the contents and usefulness of each. This project should be done by those who have internet access at home.

Biographical sketch: Write a detailed biography of a famous American who belongs to a minority group. Include an opinion section stating why we should respect that person as a fighter for equality. Include a drawing or photograph of the individual you chose. Fictional short story: Write a two-to-three page story of a fictional person living through an historical event. Illustrate your story with sketches of historical documents such as photos, bills, etc. On-line Debate: Develop a discussion of a civil rights topic between two opposing sides. Have each side outline its point in a debate format. Movie Review: Watch a movie dealing with Black History, civil rights, or issues of equality in America or other cultures. Compare the Hollywood version with the historical reality of your topic base on your research. Multimedia
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Here is a list of topics offered to the students at the start of the project. Not all of these were chosen by our classes. If you or your students have a contribution to make to our website, let us know, and we'll set up a link on our site.

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African origins of African Americans.
South Africa today: From Apartheid to Democracy
The Experience of The Slave Ship: On The Middle Passage
The Slaves of Thomas Jefferson: Freedom vs. Loyalty
Life In Today's Inner City: The Guide To Survival
Black Men: An Endangered Species?
Contributions of Black Scientists/Politicians/Lawyers
The Civil Rights Movement: A Time line
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Landmark legislation
Brown vs. Board of Education: Its Importance Today Martin Luther King: The Roots of His Philosophy of Non-Violent Protest
Martin Luther King: Why Non-Violence Is Important Today
The Native American: A History of Injustice
A Black President: Who Will It Be?
Martin Luther King: Why He Would Have been A Great President
The Freedom Riders: Taking Risks For Justice
Being Black In the South: The American Holocaust
The Civil Rights Amendments: How They Came About and their Importance Today
Racial Segregation: Why Do We Still Do It?
The Speeches of Martin Luther King: Their Meaning For Us Today
Discrimination: How Can We Avoid It?
Clinton: His Record On Civil Rights
Popular Music: Lyrics as poetry: Analyze and Discuss
Movie review of movie dealing with race or equality
Write a play with characters from history

A NoteHere is a Note from the teacher on the nature of this project.

1998A critique of this project was submitted by Paul Schulte. Please read his comments.

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