- Suggested categories for group assignments are as follows:
- Technology & Science (discoveries, innovations, methods of production, scientists, engineers, communication systems, transportation systems)
- Culture (art, literature, popular culture, fashion, cultural institutions, authors, composers, cultural movements, architectural styles)
- Population/Movement (immigration, population growth, statehood, urbanization, growth of suburbs, population shifts between regions)
- Society & Politics (wars, ethnic and racial conflict, civil rights, women's rights, political parties, elections, laws, court decisions, government programs)
- Economy (labor unions and strikes, economic growth, depressions and recessions, federal economic policies)
- During the discussion of the five categories, it may be helpful to build lists of the types of information that fit into each category.
- In the initial discussion that launches this project, you may want to include an explicit focus on some of the "big ideas" in twentieth-century American history (see Background Information). These big ideas can give students a context for understanding individual events in history.
- During this phase, groups are building databases more than they are constructing timelines (even though the information they are collecting can always be displayed in timeline form). These databases will necessarily contain more information than the timelines created from them in the next phase.
- Students should be given at least two class sessions to complete this phase.
|