Current Projects
	Ancient Rome MultiMedia Project: Connecting Literature to History

	Ancient Rome Project
	Imagine you could travel back to ancient Rome and “visit” structures that were built thousands of years ago. This year’s project for Computers/Library will focus on daily life during the Roman Empire. Students will be assigned roles of members of the different social classes and will explore what daily life was like. Using a file that will open in Google Earth, students will explore ancient places and will select 3 locations that would have been visited by their person. The video below will give you an approximation of how this file will look in Google Earth, but you will need to access the actual link to this file on our blog Travel Back to Rome. Students will research using reputable sources (a minimum of 3, with one in print) and will collect facts to write a 5-paragraph essay including a bibliography. Then using our class blog, Travel Back to Rome, students will write posts and comments online about their person and 3 locations, while following the rules for blogging. Books for this project will be on reserve in the library, and students are also encouraged to use our online databases, which may be accessed from any computer browser. If you are working off campus, you will need to use passwords for these databases: Student Resource Center  Grolier RECOMMENDED WEB SITES FOR THIS PROJECT Ancient Rome-The Roman Empire for Kids! BBC-Primary History-Romans Clickable Map of the Roman Forum Odyssey/Rome PBS: The Roman Empire-In the First Century ** good place to start Roman Architecture-Ancient Rome for Kids Roman Emperors-The Imperial Index Roman World Web Links Rome: Republic to Empire Roman Names   Basic Guide to Essay Writing At this site, written by a former English teacher, you will be guided through all of the steps of the writing process. Citing Sources in a Bibliography-East Woods Research Guide Here's everything you need to know about citing all of your sources in the correct format. Ancient Rome Project.doc (includes checkpoint dates)

	MultiMedia Project: Connecting Literature to History
	The MultiMedia project for this year is tied in to the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The books you have read focus on conflicts through the decades, but the underlying theme for the project is striving for peace and trying to make the world a better place. The research for this year's MultiMedia Project will focus on 3 parts: The historical time period connected to the book Literature analysis (themes, characters, etc.)  Author information Students will write 3 essential questions, one for each of the above topics, and these questions will form the framework for the written papers and PowerPoint Presentations.  Click here for Sample Question Format (this opens a Word Document). Students must use at least 4 resources, and one of the 4 must be a book or a database article.  You may want to print out this form as a checklist before the materials checkpoint. Books on the time periods will be on reserve in the library.  Our online databases will provide overview articles, primary documents & multimedia (such as images, diagrams and video clips). If you are using these databases at home, you must use passwords. Student Resource Center  Grolier Click here for an online calendar for this project, including all assignments. Use the following calendar ID# 267539 RECOMMENDED WEB SITES FOR HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS American Cultural History--The Twentieth Century For each decade, categories include art & architecture, music, technology, education, books & literature, fads & fashion, and historical happenings.   Annenberg Media: Biography of America For each era, there is a listing of key events in timeline order with corresponding video or video transcripts.   WWW-Virtual Library History: United States On the right side of the page, choose the relevant decade listed under USA 20th Century History.    WGBH American Experience This site supports the long-running TV documentary series and features many overview articles, timelines and photo galleries. Use the Search box on the top right side of the page. RECOMMENDED WEB SITES FOR LITERATURE ANALYSIS Common Themes in Literature How to Identify Literary Themes **Literary Elements** Literary Themes--PowerPoint AUTHOR INFORMATION Start with the basics: the authors’ web sites and any autobiographical material, interviews, and speeches. From there, look at a wide variety of resources, including online databases, books about children's authors and encyclopedias as well as some of the web sites below. AdLit: Adolescent Literacy Author Video Interviews Kidsreads: Authors Scholastic: Author and Illustrator Index  IMAGE TYPES FOR YOUR POWERPOINT PRESENTATIONS & OTHER IMAGE SITES Remember that you are not limited to photographs. Here's a list of other images that you can search for and save. American Memory from the Library of Congress "American Memory provides free and open access to ... words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience." A good place to start is the War, Military Category which has 30 collections including Japanese internment camps, Civil War music and WWII maps. Digital History American historical images in several collections including, slavery, wars, and trials and court cases. Creating Your Works Cited List (Bibliography) Citing Sources in a Bibliography-East Woods Research Guide Here's everything you need to know about citing all of the sources you use.  Remember that you will be crediting your music and video files at the end of your PowerPoint presentations, so save all of the relevant information. Vaughan Memorial Library-Tutorial-Plagiarism This was created by a college library in Canada, but is very clear and shows real examples of plagiarism and how to avoid making mistakes. Think only students get caught plagiarizing? Think again!    MUSIC LISTS These collections are not linked to the actual songs, but you will have names of songs and artists with which to search American Popular Music Before 1900-LSC-Kingwood American Popular Music 1900 to 1950-LSC-Kingwood American Popular Music 1950 to 2000-LSC-Kingwood IMPORTANT REMINDER Download & save all pictures, audio and video clips in your own network folder. Make sure you have used the correct username and password to access your folder and log off after each use.