SEMESTER ONE FINAL

Final menu options

Peterson | US GOVERNMENT

Due: Thurs. 1/15 (A), Fri. 1/16 (B)

Each of the items on the menu is worth a number of points. Your work will be graded on quality, not quantity,
but you must choose at least 6 points worth of options for a passing grade, and 10 points worth of work for an
A grade. Each item you choose must be tied to a specific concept, topic or issue related to the US government.
It could involve any of the topics that have come up in our units, or you could branch out to other areas of
interest to you. If you choose an option with a range of points possible, consult with your teacher to
determine the requirements for point values.
You will present your final projects to the class on Tuesday, 1/20 (A) and Wednesday, 1/21 (B).
Make a well-designed timeline with 20 key events and annotate (put comments about why you chose that one
or what was important about that event) your choices. 2 points.
Write five tweets from the perspective of someone from different periods of the history of the US government.
A tweet is a 140-character message posted through Twitter. 140-characters is similar to one long sentence or two
shorter sentences. Having a limit like that inspires a condensed use of words used well. Theres also the option to
use hashtags (#), which usually designates a category that the tweet belongs in and at symbols (@), which point
the tweet at a specific other user. Think of a tweet as just being a condensed opinion from the perspective of
someone who was involved. 1 point.
Graphic novel - make a graphic novel of important scenes or concepts of the US government. Or simply tell the
story of the US government in comic strip panels (Id suggest that you do at least 12 panels or about six per page),
combining text and pictures, depending on the level of detail you go into. Twelve stick figures who say one word is
not going to cut it. If you do a really detailed, thoughtful job on this one the number of points can be adjusted. 2
points (with the possibility of going all the way up to 5 points).
Write a one-page open letter either to or from critical figures in the US government. Empathize with them. See
McSweeneys Open Letters To People Or Entities Who Are Unlikely To Respond for tone and format ideas.
[http://www.mcsweeneys.net/ columns/open-letters-to-people-or-entities-who-are-unlikely-to-respond]. 2
points.
Study Guide - Make a one-page, visually-appealing, jam-packed study guide that a student in this class could use
for an upcoming quiz-like activity. 2 points.
Draw and annotate whats going on inside the historical head of a critical figure in the history of the US
government. Think of it like a collage of a persons thoughts of the major events of that time period. Make sure to
include terms and details from what weve studied. 2 points.
Come up with three big questions relating to government and write a paragraph response to each. 2 points.
Make flash cards / trading cards / vocabulary cards for twenty key terms. 2 points. You could also do ten flash
cards for one point.
Make a government book for first graders that explains the functions and processes of US government
(example: the three branches). You should probably include some picture since first graders love pictures. Also,
make sure you explain what happens in language that a first grader could understand. 2 points.
Art work. You could make an original piece of artwork like a painting, sculpture, collage, or sketches the art
piece should relate in either real or abstract form to the time period and include a written description of your
intent/message as an artist. Simply tracing an airplane or making a clay tank does not really work for what were
looking for in this project. 2 - 5 points, depending on time invested. Again, the points on this can be adjusted
significantly depending on the project.
Letters/diary. imagine you lived through some of the major events in the history of the US government and are
writing to a friend who lives elsewhere about your experience. Or you could choose to write these as a series of
diary entries. These four or five letters should appear authentic and describe the real experience of the time
period. Be intentional in including facts and details that show your knowledge of that time period. The points for
this one are very adjustable depending on the number of letters/entries and their quality. 2 - 5 points.

SEMESTER ONE FINAL

Peterson | US GOVERNMENT

Make an Oatmeal-style poster explaining a major concept of the US government. See

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling for an example. 2 points.
Internet storytelling - Imagine one of the people from a specific time period of the US government had a
YouTube channel, blog, Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter and tell the story of his or her experience of the time
period in one (or more) of those mediums. This can be done on paper or digitally, but think through how you will
share the project with me. The points for this one are very adjustable depending on the amount and quality of the
content. 2 - 5 points.
Make a board game that demonstrates a significant government-related event or process. The game should
include written instructions and include a board or some other game piece that is visually appealing and usable.
2-5 points
Make a vlogbrothers /wheezywaiter / every-vlog-on-the-internet style video. The points for this one are very
adjustable depending on the amount and quality of the content. 2 - 5 points.
Commonplace book: create a digital or paper collection of quotes, pictures, diagrams, clippings, etc. that collect
significant ideas. The points for this one are very adjustable depending on the amount and quality of the content. 2
- 5 points.
Make an infographic or graphical representation: you could create some sort of graphical representation of
some aspect or aspects of the time period. The points for this one are very adjustable depending on the amount
and quality of the content. 2 - 5 points.
Any other ideas? Please ask. Other ideas for artwork, essays, illustrations, videos, songs, poems, skits, dioramas,
collages, storybooks, or whatever else you have in mind, are encouraged but should be discussed with the teacher.
You are expected to put at least 5 hours of actual on task time into developing and creating your menu option
projects. You will be given at least this much time in class, so please do not work on this project for much more
than the allotted time you do have other schoolwork to attend to and lives to be lived. Make sure you choose
menu options that will take you between 5 and 10 hours and not much more than that.