Funding sponsored by:

www.qad.com

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Project Description: In conjunction with our reading of Uncle Tom's Cabin, student research teams explore modern-day slavery across the globe by producing infomercials or websites (based on their research papers), and planning and executing a fundraising event to benefit an organization that combats human trafficking in "their" region.

How it works: Over 35 hours, 40 students are divided into teams representing 8 global regions, to research the economic influences of modern-day slavery. Each student is individually responsible for producing a research paper (using credible sources, with MLA citations, and in correct essay form) from which the team collaborates to create a video infomercial or website. Each team-member occupies a specific role in the collaboration (director, producer, script writer, special-effects master, videographer/editor) which is investigated using the National Bureau of Labor Statistics website. While students are creating their infomercials at home, community members involved in global service work give in-class presentations showing their organization's infomercial, which students later critique based on designated criteria. The teacher presents a hunger banquet to the class to illustrate the relationship between poverty and slavery. As a culminating activity, students present their infomercials and critique one another. To extend, students design a fund-raiser for a reputable anti-slavery organization they have researched, and they send proceeds to the organizations. The infomercial is a summative assessment, graded collectively. The final essay on Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel, Uncle Tom s Cabin, is also a summative assessment, graded individually, with enriched student commentary gained from the entire unit.

Assessment:

• Two word sorts: website domains and essay structure
• Two rubrics: credible sources and video critique
• Chapter quizzes on Uncle Tom's Cabin
• Socratic discussion relating text to modern trafficking
• Collaborative team evaluation (peer-to-peer)
• Research report using credible sources and in correct MLA citation form
  
• Infomercial, based on designated criteria
  
• Essay on Uncle Tom's Cabin
  
• Execution of a fund-raiser (amount raised irrelelvant)
  
• All class de-brief on challenges and break-throughs.

Standards: 9th and 10th grade English language arts, organized by lesson

Unit 1: Media Professionals

Reading/Reading Comprehension (Informational Materials)

• 2.1=Analyze the structure and format of functional workplace documents, including graphics and headers, and explain how authors use the features to achieve their purposes.
  

Unit 2: Credible Sources

Reading/Reading Comprehension (Informational Materials):

• 2.2= Prepare a bibliography of reference materials for a report using a variety of consumer, workplace, and public documents.
• 2.3=Generate relevant questions about readings on issues that can be researched.
• 2.4=Synthesize the content from several sources or works by a single author dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension.

Writing/Writing Strategies/Research and Technology:

• 1.3=Use clear research questions and suitable research methods to elicit and present evidence from primary and secondary sources.
• 1.4=Develop the main ideas within the body of the composition through supporting evidence.
• 1.5=Synthesize information from multiple sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium.
• 1.7=Use appropriate conventions for documentation in the text, notes, and bibliographies adhering to those in style manual.

Unit 3: Organizing Info. for an Audience

Writing: Writing Strategies/Organization and Focus:

• 1.1= Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear and distinctive perspective on the subject and maintain a consistent tone and focus throughout the piece of writing. Research and technology:
• 1.4=Develop the main ideas within the body of the composition through supporting evidence.
• 1.5=Synthesize information from multiple sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium.
• 1.6=Integrate quotations and citations into a written text while maintaining the flow of ideas.
• 1.8=Design and publish documents by using advanced publishing software and graphic programs.

Writing Applications:

• 2.3=Write [Videotape] persuasive compositions: a) Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained and logical fashion. b) Use specific rhetorical devices to support assertions. c) Clarify and defend positions with precise and relevant evidence, including facts, expert opinions, expert quotations, and expressions of commonly accepted beliefs and logical reasoning.

Unit 4: Media Critics

Reading/Reading Comprehension Expository Critique:

• 2.7=Critique logic of functional documents by examining the sequence of information and procedures in anticipation of possible reader misunderstandings.
• 2.8=Evaluate the credibility of an author s argument or defense of a claim by critiquing the relationship between generalizations and evidence, the comprehensiveness of evidence, and the way in which the author s intent affects the structure and tone of the text.
  

Unit 5: The Freedom Festival

Reading/ Comprehension and Analysis of Grade-Level Appropriate Text:

• 2.4=Synthesize the content from several sources or works by a single author dealing with a single issue; paraphrase the ideas and connect them to other sources and related topics to demonstrate comprehension..
• 4.5=Extend ideas presented in primary and secondary sources through original analysis, evaluation, and comprehension.

Listening and Speaking: Comprehension:

• 1.1= Formulate judgments about the ideas under discussion and support those judgments with convincing evidence. Organization and Delivery
• 1.5 Recognize and use elements of classical speech forms in formulating rational arguments and applying the art of persuasion and debate.

Estimated Number of Class Periods for Students To Complete Unit: 10 Class Periods or more.

What you need: Internet access; projection equipment; media playing device (CD, jump drive, networked school folder). The students provide the software (Garageband or Hamster)and hardware (videocamera and editing equipment) to produce the infomercial or website at home; therefore, each group must have a reliable tech person.

Keywords: Uncle Tom's Cabin; Modern-day slavery; Human trafficking; Media critique; Media assessment;Student documentary; Student infomercial; Poverty banquet;Hunger feast;Essay structure in digital media; Uncle Tom in the 21st Century; Literature and poverty;Literature and service work; Global poverty;Literature and Economic Equity;Uncle Tom in multi-media;Human trafficking;

The Students: This unit was designed to manage a very large honor's level 9th grade class. Because so much of the work occurs outside of the classroom, students must be highly motivated. Additionally, students must have access to their own technology and transportation to meet and film. This unit is especially appealing to techno-types (who may be tepid about English) because they become the team's rock star.

Overall Value: This unit provides an effective way to manage a large class, empower different learning modalities, and encourage collaboration while maintaining a high performance standard. It also helps broaden a teen's world view. The framework of this unit is adaptable to a variety of disciplines. For example, science students studying viruses might do a video on AIDS. There is also the potential for a math/accounting segment to track funds from the fundraisers. Cognitively, many students gained a deeper understanding of the logic behind essay structure, and many made sophisticated connections to underlying themes in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Moreover, many students commented that they liked knowing how to assess a reputable service organization, how to broadcast their information digitally, and how to stage a fund-raiser. They clearly took pride in their infomercials and enjoyed thinking of themselves as well-paid, competent, industry professionals.

Subject Area: English/Social Studies

Grade Levels: Grades 9 - 12

Tips for the Teacher: Each collaborative team must have a technology enthusiast. Students must be given in-class collaborative time to learn from one another about technical challenges. Teacher learns, too.