Thursday, December 6, 2012

People Posters


They've done it again.  I had an idea for a project to do during our study of The Great Gatsby and after working out the details and bouncing ideas off of my husband, I presented it to my seniors and, admittedly, wasn't sure how it was going to work out.  But I needn't have worried.  The posters were exactly what I envisioned - and then some!

The idea was to have students investigate the history behind some of the biggest multi-millionaires our country has seen, considering the old money and new wealth from Gatsby. Each did a different subject, then had to display their findings on a presentation board. Topics included biography, timeline, assets and fortune, philanthropy, legacy, pictures and a wordle display.

Reflecting on the rubric itself, I will probably make some adjustments considering some posters are embellished with lots of craft materials and others are pretty bare. But there was not lack of effort and interest. It was great to hear students comparing notes, assisting with online work, and sharing materials.

So proud of my kids for being such great guinea pigs.  The slideshow here displays pictures (I apologize for some blurriness!) of the projects and I hope to revisit this next year.









58 comments:

  1. I thought it was a really good idea for a project

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  2. I enjoyed this project. It was fun to do and I learned a lot from doing it.

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  3. This project was cool. Made me learn more about rich people. Made me sad about rich people too.

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  4. The project was interesting and very fun. It was interesting to see how some people started from nothing to becoming big and wealthy in a couple of years.

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  5. During this project I learned a great amount of information on the Hershey Corporation. It is a single entity corporation ran by no single man, but a foundation to keep it's school, for orphaned children, open. Milton Hershey was actually the only person to actually own the company, he was also the founder.
    B.S.

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    1. One of my favorite places to visit! And the fact that the school and company is still viable makes it even more interesting. Glad you learned something.

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  6. I found this to be one of the most interesting and informative projects I have done, if we have more projects in this class I hope that it is like this.

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  7. When we first got this project I thoughht that it was going to be hard. It turned out to be very easy! It was nice learning things about these people that I never knew, and it was nice seeing everyones effort they put into their project.

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    1. I'm glad the work was manageable. And I agree that the students' efforts were fantastic.

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  8. I enjoyed doing this project. The only thing I did not like was not having an example to look off of. It definitely made it a little difficult having to be creative and still have all the information.

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    1. Thanks to your class, now I have some great samples for future students :)

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  9. The project was fun and interesting! At first I was a little skeptical, having had to change my person of choice to another, but after that step, I got my gears rolling and began my project. It turned out colorful, neat and interesting! It's amazing what colored pencils and glitter can do! :)

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  10. I actually learned a lot from this project. I think the project was a pretty good idea, although I don't know if we needed a month to do it.

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    1. Good point. Now I know perhaps 2 weeks would be enough, considering I have some samples to show and a better assignment design.

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  11. I enjoyed researching and putting together my poster for this project. There wasn't a crazy amount of information that we were supposed to get, and we had plenty of time to get it done. I liked this project and definitely think you should continue to assign it.

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    1. I appreciate your honesty and input. I'll definitely keep this in the curriculum.

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  13. I think everyone did a great job with their projects. They all looked good and turned out nice. This project was actually kinda fun to put together, and way easier than I expected.

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  14. This project was fun and interesting i just wish i had a better laptop at the time because it almost went through a wall.

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  15. I thought this was a good way to learn a lot of different information

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  16. i think that the posters were a good idea i think that it was fun and different for once instead of doing a research paper. it let us be creative and have fun and actually enjoy doing something in class. you tend to find out some interesting things about most of the people. i think that you should continue doing this project for the years to come.

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    1. Thanks for the feedback. I'll certainly keep it on the books for future students.

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  17. I learned alot of info. that I didn't from this project. It was really fun and I enjoyed it alot. B.M.

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  18. I had so much fun doing this project. I love doing crafts so this was right up my alley. It was a great idea.

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    1. Thanks. I'm glad it worked and your craftiness was very evident!

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  19. This was my favorite project do do so far. I learned a lot on the person I did and other peoples by reading their posters.

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  20. I like this project a lot because you can see how each one started out with nothing and now they have a huge, popular bussines. It was very interesting to see. The project was a very good idea. I learned a lot.

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  21. I absolutely love projects like this! I like working on things I am actually interested in, this makes working on it a lot easier. It also gives my creative side to come out! I also learned a lot about my millionaire Walt Disney. I found out that he started his productions at age 16 in his garage!

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    1. Disney never ceases to amaze me! And your poster was fantastic so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  22. I really enjoyed this project as well. I liked buying glitter paper and putting a lot of creativity in my poster. I think that 2-3 weeks would be enough. I finished within that time frame and i was so anxious to turn it in.

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  23. I really enjoyed this project. I think that you had a great idea. It helped Me learn more about oprah & so many other rich people. It's crazy to know some of the things that these millionares did to get where they are. I think that this project helped me learn a lot & also makes me want to work even harder to get where i want to go after high school. I think this project was fun & i liked that you gave us time & didn't make us write a paper. please continue to give us fun exciting intersting projects. & i agree they all turned out wonderful. <333

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    1. Thanks for the feedback. And I'm glad your hard work paid off.

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  24. I thought this project was a really good one. I enjoyed it, and thought it was definitely a lot better than writing a paper! It was easy,yet I was able to learn so much. You should keep it for the younger classmen; I believe they would enjoy it as much as we did.

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    1. I have to admit it was also easier to grade these at a glance than reading a heap of papers! Thanks for your honesty.

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  25. I feel like the posters were a wonderful. They were all very nicely done and it was cool seeing all the different ideas that my fellow class mates had! Everyone had beautiful ideas; I just wish I could have done better one my own project.

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    1. You did a fine job and I'm glad it was a worthwhile project.

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  26. had fun with this project and learned alot, having jeremy over my house to work and then we never did until last minute

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  27. I enjoyed looking over all of the projects that your students uplaoded. It is very evident that they put alot of time and effort in to them. All though one stainds out above all the rest to me! The one on DOnald J. Trump. It was very well writen and researched. I think it really struck home with me though because i felt the project portrayed him in a new light. After reading i feel Donald Trump would really enjoy my latest buisness adventure Dating Cards. check out the site. Message us if your interest in getting your own dating cards!

    www.facebook.com/DatingCards

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  28. it was a good project. i learned a lot of stuff i didnt know

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  29. Initially, I was less then excited when we were assigned this project. I quickly was turned around though! Think about it? We didn’t have to write a long paper in APA format, we actually learn about people who are relevant to today and it ties in to our studies! Very good idea by our English teacher Mrs. Phillips! I didn’t get the person I wanted and I still had fun putting it together. I think that the project was educational but fun as well! Way better then a paper!
    Kaitlynn M.

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  30. I really liked the project, it was alot easier than I expected and I learned alot about my topic.

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  31. I really enjoyed working on this project. I learned alot about Oprah and how she grew to become the woman she is today.

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  32. It was a fun project, and easy to do.

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