To broaden the student's understanding of the various themes underlying United States history.
Check the calendar in class or on the CPUSH home page for specific dates, however, you will complete three projects per semester spaced approximately three weeks apart.
click here for printable instructions
You will complete three projects per quarter.
You may not choose to complete projects on the class theme.
Each project is due on the day assigned. NO LATE projects will be accepted. All projects will be peer evaluted prior to turn in.
Each quarter you will complete an ART project, a CRAFT project, and a WRITTEN project; you may choose which one you will for each due date.
Your quarter theme project WILL explore one theme for the entire quarter and will focus on topics/time periods taught during that quarter. For a quarter by quarter breakdown of topics/time periods click here.
Class theme in Red
American Diversity--The diversity of the American people and the relationships among different groups. The roles of race, class, ethnicity, and gender in the history of the United States.
Culture--Diverse individual and collective expressions through literature, art, philosophy, music, threatre, and film throughout U.S. history. Popular culture and the dimensions of culutural conflict within American society.
Demographic Changes--Changes in birth, marriage, and death rates, life expectancy, and family patterns; population size and density. The economic, social, and political effects of immigration, internal immigration, and migration networks.
Economic Transformations--Changes in trade, commerce, and technology across time. The effects of capitalist development, labor and unions, and consumerism.
Environment--Ideas about the consumption and conservation of natural resources. The impact of population growth, industrialization, pollution, and urban/suburban expansion.
Globalization--Engagement with the rest of the world from the fifteenth century to the present: colonialism, mercantilism, global hegemony, development of markets, imperialism, cultural exchange.
Politics--Colonial and revolutionary legacies, American political traditions, growth of democracy, and the development of the modern state.
Reform--Diverse movements focusing on a broad range of issues, including anti-slavery, education, labor, temperance, woman's rights, civil rights, war, public health, and government.
Religion--The variety of religious beliefs and practices in America from prehistory to the twenty-first century; influence of religion on politics, economics, and society.
Slavery and Its Legacies--Systems of slave labor and other forms of unfree labor (indentured servitude, contract labor) in American society. The economics of slavery and its racial dimensions. The patterns of resistance and the long-term economic, political, and social effects of slavery.
War and Diplomacy--Armed conflict from the precolonial period to the twenty-first century; impact of war on American foreign policy and on politics, economics, and society.
"A" Project--1. Contains/displays well-developed thesis that examines a specific event/person/law/group/etc. within your chosen theme. 2. Supports the thesis with effective analysis through images/research. 3. Uses multiple images/documents effectively. 4. Brings in outside information often. 5. Is clearly organized/well-written. Teaches the material to an audience that does not have background knowledge.
"B" Project--1. Contains/displays a thesis that examines a specific event/person/law/group/etc. within your chosen theme. 2. Limited analysis of thesis through images/research. 3. Has limited images/documents and uses them effectively. 4. Little relevant outside information. 5. Can be seen that some effort was made to organize the material, but limited effort on clarity.
"C" Project--1. Contains/displays a limited grasp of the content/theme in the thesis. 2. Generalizes the content/images. 3. Little outside information, mostly off topic/irrelevant. 4. Poorly organized/written.
Let's not discuss below a "C", okay?
Peer editing and grading in class will be done based on the candy rubric designed in class.