Thomas Jefferson:
21st Century Man

A WebQuest for fifth grade

Kathy Heidler © 2006

Last updated June 27, 2006

This print is a reproduction of the 1805 Rembrandt Peale painting of Thomas Jefferson held by the New-York Historical Society. Library of Congress Reproduction Number: LC-USZC4-2474

#7 Introduction for Teachers

Designed by Kathy Heidler.
Last updated June 27, 2006.

This lesson was developed as part of An Adventure of the American Mind at Waynesburg College, a federally funded professional development program to assist educators in using Library of Congress primary resources to support student learning.

The purpose of this WebQuest and Curricular Fit:

The purpose of this WebQuest is to provide an extracurricular activity for the gifted students that will expand their knowledge of history, campaign platforms, and technology. The students will research the role religion had on the founding of the American Republic, Thomas Jefferson's stand on church and state, Library of Congress original documents, and past and current bills. The students will also develop a campaign for Thomas Jefferson as a candidate for President in the 21st century. The students will use the computer to search the Internet and the Library of Congress. They will also use audio/visual equipment in their final project. Because this is an extracurricular activity the students will have a full nine week period to complete it.

This WebQuest was written to align with the curricular objectives as they pertain to the following textbooks.

• Old World History & Geography in Christian Perspective, Laurel Elizabeth Hicks, A Beka Book, Pensacola, FL, 2000.
• Saxton Math, Harcourt, 2001

School District and State: Central Christian Academy, Pennsylvania

This WebQuest was disigned for gifted 5th grade students in connection to social studies, math, language arts, fine arts, and technology. It could be adapted to middle school by having several teams.

Before students start this WebQuest they need to have some mastery of the following knowledge and technology skills:

1. Knowledge: A basic understanding of the post Revolutionary War era in America including the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. How presidential elections and voting are conducted.
2. Technology: How to transfer images from the Internet to a Word document. How to use a video camera. How to set up a voting booth.

This WebQuest is specifically designed for a gifted cooperative learning team who would need to work on this project independently when regular class work was completed. Special time would need to be alloted to them each week to answer questions, give guidence, or provide for discussion between the members. The concluding project would then involve the whole class with different tasks would could be completed by differing levels of abilities and learning styles.

#9 Pennsylvania Academic Standards

History
The student will:

1. Explain and analyze historical sources and the fundamentals of historical interpretation. (8.1)
2. Identify and explain the political and cultural contributions of individuals and groups to United States history from Beginnings to 1824. (8.3)
3. Identify and explain primary documents, material artifacts and historic sites important in United States history from Beginnings to 1824. (8.3)
4. Explain how continuity and change has influenced United States history from Beginnings to 1824.(8.3)

Civics and Government
The student will:

1. Explain the importance of the rule of law for the protection of individual rights and the common good in the
   community, state, nation and world. (5.1)
2. Explain the basic principles and ideals within documents of United States government. (5.1)
3. Describe the importance of political leadership and public service. (5.2)
4. Describe how the government protects individual rights. (5.3)
5. Describe the influence of media in reporting issues. (5.3)

Math
The student will:

1. Use statistics to quantify issues. (2.4)
2. Develop a plan to analyze a problem, identify the information needed to solve the problem, carry out the plan, check whether an answer makes sense and explain how the problem was solved. (2.5)
3. Organize and display data using pictures, tallies, tables, charts, bar graphs and circle graphs. (2.6)

Reading/Writing/Speaking
The student will:

1. Write persuasive pieces with a clearly stated position or opinion and supporting detail, citing sources when
   needed. (1.4)
2. Speak using skills appropriate to formal speech situations. (1.6)
3. Participate in small and large group discussions and presentations. (1.6)
4. Organize and present the main ideas from research. (1.8)

Technology
The student will:

1. Explain and demonstrate basic computer operations and concepts. (3.7)
2. Explain basic computer communications systems. (3.7)

Key Vocabulary: Thomas Jefferson, Articles of Confederation, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, campaign platform, ballot, propaganda

#10 Process for Teachers

Our American government was established upon religious beliefs. Today, the government has separated church and state. Your task is to imagine that Thomas Jefferson is alive today and running for President of the United States . Your team will develop a campaign platform that will convince the American public to vote for him.

Your team consists of 6 members with individual or group roles. Each member will research his or her aspect of a political campaign then work together to present a platform for your candidate. (Be sure students are adept at Web browsing. Cooperation between team members is necessary for a successful final project.)

You will have a full nine week period to work on this project as it is an extracurricular, multidisciplinary activity. Your regular class work must be completed before working on this project. You will be given time each week to meet with the teacher and teammates. (The length may vary on this depending on the class and the time available. Have students keep a journal where they can record questions to be discuss at the weekly meeting .)

Choose your role.

ROLE GOAL

1. Candidate: Convince citizens to vote for you (Encourage the student who shows signs of public speaking to choose this role.)

2. Historian: Research data on past and current laws (To separate roles, the historian was given the specific task of researching laws past and present. He will need to meet regularly with the candidate and speech writer to discuss information gathered.)

3.Public Relations Team: Develop all campaign propaganda (This task is good for the artistic and/or manipulative student)

4. Campaign Fund Manager: Determine funds needed to run campaign (This task is good for the math student)

5. Speech Writer: Prepare final speech for candidate (This student with work with the candidate to research Thomas Jefferson and his stands. They may decide to concentrate on different areas and then compare notes and discuss information gathered.)

Now that you have chosen your role, click on your envelope to discover the specific instructions to perform your task.

Variations

This WebQuest could be adapted to a whole class activity by dividing the class into several teams of 5 to 6 members. Each team would select a different candidate for president from the same time period and then develop their campaign. Final projects could be presented to another class who would then vote for the candidate with the best platform.

#11 Resources for Teachers

• Religion and Founding of American Republic
  Library of Congress - Thomas
  Congressional Documents and Debates
  Role of Religion
  George W. Bush’s Campaign Funds Banners
  Slogans
  Wall Paper
  Campaign buttons and more
• Additional resources needed:
  Google
• Equipment needed:
  computers with Internet access
  video recorder
  VCR

#12 Evaluation for Teachers

Each member of the campaign staff will be evaluated on his/her individual project. Then the whole staff will have a group evaluation on their ability to work together and the final outcome.

Rubrics

#13 Conclusion for Teachers

The following paragraphs appear on the Student Page. Have the campaign staff present their findings to the whole class. Assign classmates to the staff members to complete the project.

Through this WebQuest you have researched primary source documents, the beliefs that Thomas Jefferson held in relation to church and state, and how a political platform is created. You have explored American government and what makes it a democracy.

Using what you have learned, how would you answer these questions?

• What right would you refuse to compromise in your life?
• Should the federal government have more control on the American citizen's daily living?

As the platform staff you will organize the whole class in a project that consist of creating a ballot listing 6 rights chosen from the Bills of Rights, developing a leaflet that describes in brief each right you have chosen to pass out to the voters, hold an election of the middle school students (using voting booths they create) on the right they would chose as most sacred, and display tallied votes on a graph of your choosing to be displayed in the middle school hall. Staff members will need to divide the class into four groups to perform the four tasks listed. Two staff members will work with developing the leaflets, two with the voting booths, and one each on the choosing of rights and graph of results.

#14 Credits and References

Designed by Kathy Heidler, © 2006, in partnership with An Adventure of the American Mind at Waynesburg College. Last updated June 27, 2006.

Template created April 2006 by Amy Martin, An Adventure of the American Mind at Waynesburg based on a template designed by Lisa Bradshaw, An Adventure of the American Mind - Colorado.

Many ideas for webquest content and worksheets were adapted by permission from An Adventure of the American Mind - Northern Virginia Partnership, Dr. Rhonda Clevenson, Director.