Choose Your Own Adventure: The 19th Century

Choose Your Own Adventure: The 19th Century

Objective: Students will explore a specific topic from the 19th century and identify two possible scenarios. Each scenario will be researched and students will create possible outcomes. Students will create a movie that walks the other students in the class through the possible scenarios and events as the class “chooses” how they handle the problems presented to them.
(e.g. The Native Americans and Westward Expansion – students could choose between resisting the Americans or adapting to American culture as a way to cope with westward movement. Students would study tribes that represented each scenario and create a presentation to teach the class about the outcomes of each scenario. The presentation would be a video that was created by a small group of 2 to 4 students. Students would have to creatively present their findings and make the experience engaging. During the presentation the class would have to choose which direction to take in order to succeed in the 19th century.

Directions:

1. Students break up into small groups and choose topic. Topics could include Slavery, Abolition, Women’s Rights, child labor, Industrial Revolution, Asian Americans, Texas Annexation, Cowboys, etc.
2. Students begin research to identify two scenarios for the topic. Then students infer possible outcomes.
3. Students plan and create a video that shares the two scenarios and possible outcomes.
4. Students present the project to the class and walk the class through the presentation.
5. Students reflex on the outcomes of the different topics.

Time Line:

Approximately two weeks for work completion and three days to present