Portfolio Assignment: the Scottsboro Boys
Your group will create a portfolio of work demonstrating your combined
understanding of the assigned documents and their historical context. You should
choose your assignments from the list below, and your group's portfolio should
contain the same number of items as there are members in your group. You should
not, however, each complete an assignment individually. Each item in the
portfolio must be the product of at least two members' labor, and each group
member must be able to explain each item in the portfolio. The names of all
contributing members should appear on each item. The portfolio may not contain
more than one of any item (i.e. not five web sites and a letter); also, each
portfolio MUST contain item number eleven, which should be written as a group
according to the process outlined in the description.
Grading
You will receive a grade according to the rubric on the back of this paper.
Please note that your grade will be based on my evaluation of individual and
group components of the portfolio creation process.
Assignment Choices
- Newspaper: Create a newspaper covering the events surrounding the
Scottsboro boys' arrest and trials. You may report the news objectively or
from a particular group's viewpoint. Be sure that you include the name of the
newspaper, its motto, at least three articles, at least one editorial and one
letter to the editor, and one cartoon.
- Closing Statement: Choose any of the original Scottsboro trials. Imagine
that you are the lead attorney for one side. From the perspective of that
side, write your closing statement to the jury. Be sure to explain in clear
language what you have proven in the case, why your witnesses should be
believed, and what you want the jurors to do when they deliberate.
- Political Cartoon: Draw a political cartoon depicting a particular
viewpoint on one of the relevant issues in the Scottsboro trials. Your cartoon
should include a caption, and your perspective on the issue should be clear to
the reader.
- Fundraising Propaganda: Create a pamphlet, radio spot, poster, television
commercial, or web site (creative anachronism is okay in this case) designed
to solicit contributions to a fund supporting one of the individuals or groups
involved in the Scottsboro trials. You may choose to ask for donations to help
one of the Scottsboro boys, to fund their legal defense, to help Victoria
Price and/or Ruby Bates start a new life, etc.
- Poem/Song: Write a poem or song lyrics about the Scottsboro boys. You
should submit a cassette tape of the piece performed (read or sung) as well as
a copy of the poem/lyrics.
- Children's Story: Write a children's book depicting some events or issues
from the Scottsboro boys' lives. Your book should be illustrated and should
convey an opinion on the events as they occurred.
- Saturday Night Live Skit: Choose some aspect of the Scottsboro trials and
write a skit portraying the relevant events. Be sure to include stage
directions as well as dialogue. Of course, SNL generally satirizes its
subjects, and it often does so in irreverent ways. Your skit may take on
controversial topics and/or viewpoints, but appropriate language and respect
for your audience should prevail. You should submit a copy of the script as
well as a videotape of your performance.
- Politically Correct Fairv Tale: Tell the story of the Scottsboro boys in
politically correct language. You may choose to include illustrations, but
that is not necessary.
- Board Game: Create a board game using the events and issues of the
Scottsboro boys. Your board game should be presented from the viewpoint of a
particular individual or group. (For example, you could create Judge Callahan
Monopoly -- where the Scottsboro boys can never get a card other than "go
directly to jail" and the prosecution keeps snapping up victories regardless
of how stupidly it performs.)
- Web Site: Create a web site that presents the Scottsboro boys' trials. You
may opt to make a site that portrays a particular viewpoint (for example, it
could be the official NAACP version of the Scottsboro boys' trials) or one
that presents information objectively (such as a mock newspaper site). Plan to
submit the site in a form that I can view using our school's computer
facilities (either publish it on the Internet or bring it in a form that our
browser will read from your disk.)
- Letter to the Scottsboro Boys: Write a letter to one or all of the
Scottsboro boys explaining your experience in studying their ordeal and in
creating this portfolio. Explain what you learned, how you feel about what you
learned, and any difficulties that you experienced in assembling your
portfolio. Be sure to include some questions that occurred to you as we
studied this topic and that you would like him/them to answer. This is also
your chance to reflect on the positive and negative aspects of your experience
working as a group.
Writing Process
This item should be the last one that your group completes, and everyone
in your group should participate. You should sit in a circle, and everyone
should begin with a piece of notebook paper and something with which to write.
Everyone should agree on each sentence in the letter, and you should pass your
paper one person to the right after each sentence is written. At the end of the
letter-writing process, you should have a copy of the letter for each group
member, and each copy should have everyone's handwriting on it. Submit all
copies of your letter in the portfolio. I will select one at random to grade.
(If a member of your group is absent when you write this letter, please include
a note to that effect and attach it to the front of the set of letters.)
| Scottsboro Boys Portfolio Rubric |
Final Grade:________/100 points |
| Group Portion |
points earned/60 points |
| Was the portfolio complete and submitted on time? |
/10 points |
| Did the items submitted meet the requirements outlined in the
assignment choices, conveys an understanding of the chosen
subject(s), and meet traditional standards of mechanics and style?
|
/50 points
(each item counts equally) |
|
(Before handing in your rubric, please write the title of
each assignment in the following spaces and check the box next to
each item to which you contributed.) |
| Title: Item 1 Letter to the Scottsboro Boys |
points earned |
| Title: Item 2 |
points earned |
| Title: Item 3 |
points earned |
| Title: Item 4 |
points earned |
| Title: Item 5 |
points earned |
| Title: Item 6 |
points earned |
|
| Individual Portion: |
points earned/40 points |
Grade for your items:
(average of percentage grades from all
the items to which you contributed x 15) |
/10 points |
Your written evaluation of one item in your portfolio
(not
an item that you created)
- Addressed the criteria for that item given in the "Assignment
Choices?"
- Offered specific praise for the item's commendable aspect(s)
- Offered specific constructive criticism and suggestions for
improvement(s)
- Conformed to appropriate standards for both mechanics and
etiquette
|
/15 point |
| Grade on the comprehensive quiz over the information presented
|
/15 points
| |
