Famous American Report

*Your written report must include the following information:

1. 
   The person’s birth and death dates and cause of death. (If the person is still living, this must be stated in place of the death information.)
   
2. 
   What the person did that made them famous.
   
3. 
   At least 2 nonfiction stories about the person’s life.
   
4. 
   A bibliography page with at least 3 entries.
   

**Your written report may include the following information:

1. 
   Drawings or pictures from the person’s life. (Photocopies or graphics from electronic resources will not be as valuable as original artwork.)
   
2. 
   Graphs, charts, or maps.
   
3. 
   Anything else to make your report more creative and interesting.
   

There is no length requirement on this report; however, you will want to include lots of good information. Therefore, make your report as interesting as possible. It will be graded on its content and quality.

You may get your information from encyclopedias, CDRoms, the Internet, books, or magazines. Take notes as you research. You may not plagiarize, that is, copy word-for-word from another source. Plagiarism is against the law!

As you do your research, write down any information that you will need for your bibliography. It should include:

• 
  The title of the book, CDRom, website, or magazine (underlined)
  
• 
  The address if the source is a web site (ex. http://www.americaslibrary.gov)
  
• 
  The author’s or webmaster’s name
  
• 
  The copyright date (for Internet, the date you found the information)
  
• 
  The publishing company (address or “burl” of a web site)
  
• 
  The page numbers where you found your information.
  

You will present the oral report in front of the class. It should contain all of the information you must* include in your written report, however you will not stand in front of the class and read your report. You may, though, use notes from your report written on 3x5 or 4x6 index cards. Your oral report will not take more than 5 minutes. Part of the grading of your oral report will be on creativity and presentation. These things will be graded just like the things that may** be included in your written report. Try to think of some ways to make your report more interesting for the class to listen to. Here are some ideas you may use if you can’t think of any others on your own:

• 
  Dress up like your Famous American.
  
• 
  Have a shoebox or bag containing articles relating to your Famous American.
  
• 
  Use maps, charts, or even the overhead projector.
  
• 
  Do a PowerPoint presentation. Please see Mr. Cliffe ahead of time if you choose to do this.
  

The written report will be due on Friday, February 8. Any reports turned in after that date will be considered late and will receive a grade of zero. You may turn in your written report on the day you do your oral report.

This report will count for a great deal of your Social Studies grade for this quarter. Each part of the report will be worth 100 points (Written = 100, Oral = 100). Points will be awarded as follows:

75 points for what must be included in the report. *

25 points for what may be included in the report. **

Points Grade

98 - 100 A+

93 - 97 A

90 - 92 A-

88 - 89 B+

83 - 87 B

80 - 82 B-

78 - 79 C+

73 - 77 C

70 - 72 C-

68 - 69 D+

63 - 67 D

60 - 62 D-

0 - 59 F
These instructions are available on Mr. Cliffe’s website:

http://apu.edu/~pcliffe/

Some very helpful websites for this report are:

• 
  Mr. Cliffe’s website: http://apu.edu/~pcliffe
  
• 
  Grolier Online: http://go.grolier.com (From school your username is cousd and your password is school. From home your username is cousd5 and your password is home.)
  

Any First Lady of the U. S. A. John Charles Fremont

Meriwether Lewis Zebulon Pike

Jedediah Strong Smith Edwin Aldrin

Neil Armstrong John W. Young

Samuel Adams Susan B. Anthony

Benjamin Banneker Daniel Boon

Samuel Clemens Davy Crockett

Benjamin Franklin Patrick Henry

James Marshall William Penn

John Wesley Powell Paul Revere

Elizabeth Cady Stanton Harriet Beecher Stowe

John Glen Anne Mansfield Sullivan

Harriet Tubman Nat Turner

Eli Whitney James Wilson

Martin Luther King Jr. Amelia Earhart

Lucretia Mott Christa McAuliffe

Nathaniel Hawthorne Betsy Ross

(Cut off and return this portion with the required signatures.)

We have read and discussed these report guidelines and will encourage our child to complete its requirements. The report will be about _____________________.