Date: Students choose the topics they want to work on in October. Students from the various participating schools will email each other concerning the questions they will ask their interviewees. Students will interview their subjects and will email their findings to the students in other schools. Then students will present their final report on their investigation.
Purpose: Students will learn how to ask probing questions concerning a legal value conflict. They will also learn to summarize their findings (and those of their fellow students in other schools) and create a final “report” which discusses the conflicting sides’ to their case.
Subjects: Besides the social studies aspects of this project students will also need to do background work in History, home their writing skills in English, and develop their interpersonal skills that would help in their speech or acting courses.
Grade level: Three different grade levels would participate in this project. An elementary level (grade 5), a middle school level (grade 8) and an upper level high school (grade 11).
Summary: This project consists of six parts. Part 1 is to choose a topic and develop questions to ask the subject. Part 2 is for students to coordinate with fellow students in other schools who will be doing the same topic. In Part 3 students go out and interview their subjects concerning their chosen topic. In Part 4 students will again collaborate with their fellow students in other schools to review the data each side collected. In Part 5 the students will synthesize the data and create a report which will summarize the conflicting sides to their topic and the values that they represent. Part 6 will consist of a presentation of the report to the classes in each school. In Part 7 the students will make their report available over the internet.
Number of participants: The minimal number of classrooms that would participate in this project would be two. The maximum would be four. The classrooms would be in different schools. On each topic at 2 to 6 students from each class would collaborate in acquiring the data and creating the final report.
Project Coordinator: Jim Carroll
How to register: See Below
Requirements: You must have access to an email account. Teachers will prepare students for the project by going over the
deadlines, procedures, etc...
James J. Carroll
Director, Project LEGAL
513 Eggers Hall
Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY 13244
(315)443-4720
1-888-443-4720
email: plegal@maxwell.syr.edu