QUESTS!“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
WHO:
You are on a quest!
A quest for more knowledge and deeper understanding!
WHEN: At the end of every unit, you will have an opportunity
to show what you know about the important people, events, and topics of the
unit, by choosing a quest that best fits your creative style.
HOW: Choose any quest in the table below, or in your QUEST packet. Some are all writing,
some are mostly artistic, some tap into your musical or construction talents! (note:
All QUESTS have a writing component, but the amount, complexity, and style of
the writing varies depending on the quest that you choose.) You may only choose a quest ONCE.
WHY: You will
undertake your quest to gain a deeper understanding of the topic you choose and
to share your learning with others in our class.
QUESTS are divided into 3 categories based on the skills you will use to complete them.
Click on any individual assignment links in the table to get instructions and grading criteria.
(All Quests are in .pdf format and will require the use of Adobe Acrobat to open)
 | Detective:
A detective closely examines historical facts and puts them together in
many forms. They work with charts to present information clearly and
logically. They enjoy answering questions and finding details. |
 | Artist:
An artist focuses on pictures to learn about the past. They produce
drawings to present information to others in unique ways. They enjoy
creating work that shows off their skill and talent. |
 | Profiler:
A profiler is mostly interested in people and how they think. They like
to imagine themselves in historical situations and write about how they
would have reacted. They usually present their information through
short writings. |
|
|
Where will your quest take you?
|
| | Choose an
important term, location, event, or historical figure we have studied this
unit. Use your notes and textbook to
create an acrostic poem.
|
Example 1
Example 2
| Acrostic
poem |
|
Draw an
illustration of a historical figure, item or event. Annotate (label) this illustration with
descriptions of the key points in the picture.
| Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
| Annotated Illustration |
|
Write a
personal response as if you were a specific object in history from the current
unit. Your response should include both emotional and physical feelings of the
object. Imagine you are the thing!
| Example
| Be the Thing |
|
Choose a
person we have studied this unit. Use
your notes and the textbook to answer the prompts and then compose a bio-poem.
| Example
| Bio-Poem |
|
Create 2
bumper-sticker statements based on events or people in the unit we’ve been
studying in this unit.
| | Bumper Sticker |
|
Create a
picture that represents an important event, idea, or person from the unit using
all the pieces in the drawing.
| Example | Creative Line Art |
|
Imagine you
were a person living during this unit of study.
You may choose to be a famous person, or an average person. You will
create a day planner that details what you will be doing each hour of the day.
| | Day Planner |
|
Create an epitaph/gravestone
for a person from this unit.
| Example | Epitaph-Gravestone |
|
Create the
layout of a Facebook profile page for a historical figure.
| Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
| Facebook historical
figure |
|
Create an
advertisement for a technological advancement or major event in history.
|
| Historical Advertisement |
|
Write out
an instant message (IM) conversation between two historical figures in this
unit about a topic.
| Example | History
Instant Messages |
|
Create a
model of an important historical object in this unit using any materials.
|  | History Model |
|
Create a
visual map that shows how your brain connects the important ideas/topics for
this unit. Your end result will be
something like a web.
| Example | Mind Map |
|
Choose a
picture from the textbook or another source that represents an event that
occurred in this unit.
| | Picture Analysis |
|
Complete a
picture frame for a historical person from this unit.
| Example 1
Example 2
| Picture Frame |
|
Create a
postcard that you would send home to tell your family about an event, object,
or a person we are studying in this unit.
| Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
| Postcard from the Past |
|
Take a
simple song that everyone knows and rewrite the words so that it’s about a
historical event or a person that we studied in this unit.
| Example 1
Example 2
| Song Rewrite |
|
Imagine
you’re sending a summary of a historical event from this unit to a friend via
text message; write up the summary in text messaging language.
| Example
| TXT MSG SUMRE |
|
Complete a
Venn Diagram exploring the similarities and differences between two important
events or people from this unit.
| | Venn Diagram |
|
Create a
Wanted/Hero poster for a figure this unit.
| Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
| Wanted/Hero Poster |
|
Write diary
entries as if you were a person living through a historical event.
| Example | You Are There Diary |
|
Write a
personal letter to someone in this history unit, giving them advice on how to
deal with a historical situation.
| Example | You Are There Letter |