Counterfactual Due Dates

The Counterfactual Project timelines and PowerPoints are due on 12 May 2009. You will present in class.

Counterfactual Rubrics

The Counterfactual Powerpoint Rubric
http://www.paulblankenship.com/CounterfactualPowerPointRubric.pdf

The Counterfactual Timeline Rubric
http://www.paulblankenship.com/CounterfactualTimelineRubric.pdf

The Counterfactuals Project

Working in small groups (2 to 3 students), students will select a turning point in history, change the outcome, and project a counterfactual series of cause and effect events based on the altered turning point. A "turning point" is some event that made a difference in history, such as Bienville bluffing the English captain into leaving the Mississippi River. The events will be presented in a timeline and PowerPoint. I have reserved library time on 30 April & 1 May for research time and group work on this project. The counterfactual history must be logical, realistic, and probable. Omit references to mythological figures or anything that would be impossible in the real world (such as unicorns, dragons, or magic). Also exclude anything not known to exist, such as space aliens. Even in the counterfactual history all the rules of physics still apply. Rubrics have been provided.

GLE #62 Timeline: Partial Example

I made a partial example of the GLE #62 timeline. Follow the instructions I provided in class. Your timeline covers the 1600s.

Reminders: Upcoming Due Dates

About four weeks ago I assigned my students to complete a timeline on the 1600s and a take-home test. The take-home test may be completed in a cooperative manner but each student is responsible for the answers marked on his or her test.

The take-home test involves interpreting a set of timelines. These are available here:
http://delicious.com/louisianastudies/takehometestgle63

The timeline is a simple assignment. You only need FIVE events EACH from the English colonies that would later become the United States and Louisiana. Since very little recorded history happened in what would later become Louisiana you may include events in French Canada, such as exploration of the Mississippi River and the establishment of the fur trade in French Canada as events that lead to the colonization of Louisiana. You do not have to give a detailed explanation of the events -- just list them next to the correct year on the timeline. You do NOT have to do the timelines for the 18th, 19th, or 20th centuries yet, though you are welcome to work ahead. Don't make the assignment more complicated than it is. Keep it simple!

If you lost your copies please download them from the iDisk. Instructions on iDisk use have been given in class and posted on this blog.

Changes to Our Usual Schedule and Due Dates

No test on Tuesday. Ms. Pomeroy's two-day field trip and the Explore Test on Thursday make a test impractical until the end of the week. I will provide your review on Monday because it is the only other day I will see all of you. Study your notes on the review game between Monday and Friday. I still plan to give you a quiz on the bellringers on Friday. The due date for the 1600s timeline and the take-home test is now Tuesday, 14 October 2008 (that gives you an extra weekend to finish the assignments). Since these are major assignments I will accept each late at a 50% per day deduction of points.

1600s Timeline Note

You may include other expeditions on the Mississippi River that led to the French colonization of Louisiana.

Reminder: Upcoming Due Dates

Just a reminder, these assignments, given some time ago, are coming due before the end of this grading period:

The Art Map of Louisiana Project -- 02 October 2008
The GLE #62 Timeline of the 1600s -- 08 October 2008
The GLE #63 Take-Home Test -- 09 October 2008

If you lost your instructions please print another copy from the iDisk -- see the links to the right.

I am concerned about the students who have not taken their art maps home to finish them. Time is running out!