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Project Description
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This project fit into a unit on the European Renaissance. It gave students an opportunity to dig deeper into the life of one person they found interesting. Because there are so many authors, artists, philosophers, and statesmen from the Renaissance, each student was asked to search in their book, online, and in other books to make a list of famous people from this era and his/her contribution to society. Following an in-class discussion of students' lists (and adding to them), each student selected one historical figure that they wanted to learn more about. Then students were instructed to conduct in-class and out-of-class research to answer the 5 W's and H related to their figure. They each wrote an essay and presented their findings to the class. Students made their presentation in costume and had a visual of their historical figure. Students were given three to four days in class and at home to pull their project together.
The presentations (28 total) enabled students to learn about many other historical figures. Taken altogether, this assignment exposed students to approximately 15 important contributors from the Renaissance. Because some students reported on the same figure, there was the chance to compare information and ask questions about the sources consulted. In addition to learning about Copernicus, Gutenberg, Joan of Arc, Michelangelo, Donatello, Da Vinci, and Raphael, students practiced their research, writing, presentation, listening, and questioning skills.
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Rubric Information
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| Rubric Title | Renaissance Historical Figure |
| Rubric ID | 193222 |
| Teacher Name | Lynn Herink |
| School | St. Bernadette |
| Subject | Social Science |
| Grade | 7 |
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Project Includes
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| Links | |
| Standards | NSS-WH.5-12.5: Intensified Hemispheric Interactions
NSS-USH.5-12.1 Era 1: Three Worlds Meet (Beginnings to 1620)
NSS-G.K-12.1 The World in Spatial Terms
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| Teacher Tips | Next year I intend to place the project more strategically into my curriculum. I assigned this project a few weeks before our school's academic fair and right after an intense Middle Ages simulation, so I think my students were burned out from doing so many projects. Also, I would change my instructions slightly. The 5 W's and H is an okay way for students to begin learning about an historical figure, but students had a lot of questions for me regarding the "why" and "how" questions. I would re-frame my assignment to ask, "What were/was the major contribution to society that your historical figure made? Why? Explain its impact and support your choice with evidence." I think this would lead students to creating a better product. As I framed it originally, students tended to be very concrete and most concerned about the dates of birth and death! That was frustrating, but I recognized it as my own framing of the assignment. Also, next time I will consider modeling my expectations by dressing up like Da Vinci and bringing in my own version of his work. I think this would motivate my students and give them an idea of what I mean when I say "in costume."
I know that rubrics make assignment expectations clear for both students and teachers, but I have this idea in my mind that they are time-consuming to create. RubiStar helps me to create easy-to-edit rubrics quickly - and doing things quickly seems to be important in this profession! This simple rubric made grading the presentations very easy. Although it didn't have every detail I was looking for, it provided enough of a framework for me. I took additional notes in the margins, and graded the essay separately. In the future, I will probably create a rubric for the essay as well.
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