History Challenge 

Presidential Campaign Spot 

Submission Due Date: March 27, 2020 

Designed for Middle and High School Students

 

Table of Contents The Challenge Assumptions and Logistics Process Presentation of Learning Media Support Resources Evaluation Rubric Essential Questions Student Proficiencies Common Core Curricular Correlations (W1, W4, W5, W8, SL1, SL5, L1, L3, RH2, RH8, RH9)

Range of Activities Analysis of Current Events and Politics Primary and Secondary Source Research Scriptwriting to Persuade Digital Literacy Skills – Video – Pre-production, Production and Post-production 21st Century Skills: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Presentational Skills

The Challenge

Choose one of the Presidential candidates from the Democratic or Republican party, or the incumbent, President Trump.  Using both primary and secondary sources, create a sixty second spot for your candidate around two signature issues that help to define the candidate. Your target audience: your peers. 

Deliverables include:

• PSA (this is the only Meridian Stories deliverable)
• Issue Breakdown and Citations (at teacher’s discretion)
• Storyboard (at teacher’s discretion)

Assumptions and Logistics

• Time Frame– We recommend that this Meridian Stories Competition takes place inside of a three to four-week time frame.
• Length– All Meridian Stories submissions should be under 4 minutes in length, unless otherwise specified.
• Slate– All media work must begin with a slate that provides:

1. 1. the title of the piece;
   2. the name of the school submitting;
   3. the wording ‘Permission Granted’ which gives Meridian Stories the right to a) publicly display the submission in question on, as linked from, related to or in support of Meridian Stories digital media; and b) use or reference it for educational purposes only in any all media; and
   4. We strongly recommend that students do not put their last names on the piece either at the start or finish, during the credits.

• Submissions– Keep in mind that each school can only submit three submissions per Competition (so while the entire class can participate in the Challenge, only three can be submitted to Meridian Stories for Mentor review and scoring).
• Teacher Reviews– All reviews by the teacher are at the discretion of the teacher and all suggested paper deliverables are due only to the teacher. The only deliverable to Meridian Stories is the media work.
• Teacher’s Role and Technology Integrator– While it is helpful to have a Technology Integrator involved, they are not usually necessary: the students already know how to produce the media. And if they don’t, part of their challenge is to figure it out. They will! The teacher’s primary function in these Challenges is to guide the students as they engage with the content.  You don’t need to know editing, sound design, shooting or storyboarding: you just need to know your content area, while assisting them with time management issues. 
• Digital Rules/Literacy– We strongly recommend that all students follow the rules of Digital Citizenry in their proper usage and/or citation of images, music and text taken from other sources. This recommendation includes producing a citations page at the end of your entry, if applicable. See the Digital Rules area in the Meridian Resources Center section of the site for guidance.
• Location– Try not to shoot in a classroom at your school. The classroom, no matter how you dress it up, looks like a classroom and can negatively impact the story you are trying to tell.
• Collaboration– We strongly recommend that students work in teams of 3-4: part of the educational value is around building collaborative skill sets. But students may work individually.

Process

Below is a suggested breakdown for the students’ work.

During Phase I, student teams will:

• Select your candidate.
  • This selection can be based on class discussions about all the existing candidates or can be researched individually by the teams themselves.
  • As a team you may want to choose a candidate with whom you don’t agree politically. Having to research and defend the opposing position can be an exponentially more valuable experience.
  • It does not matter if the select candidate drops out of the race after the team starts their work. (By the time this Challenge is due, there are still Primaries to come in major states like NY, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Oregon.)
• Using a mix of primary and secondary resources, the teams research their candidate and settle on the two positions that they will feature in their spot.
• Break down each position into three component parts – three separate points you want to make about this position of your select candidate.
• Armed with this information, research the position of the opposition candidate concerning these same two issues.
  • While you may not use that information in your spots, knowing how these positions stand in contrast to the opposing view is valuable information to have; can help add impact to your messaging.
  • Teacher’s Option: Issue Breakdown and Citations – Teachers may require student teams to hand in a summary of their candidate’s position on two important issues, along with a) a three-part breakdown of this position, and b) a summary of the opposition’s stance. The summary paper should include all primary and secondary source citations.
• By the end of the first phase, your team should have a clear sense of the specific information that you want to communicate to your public; to your peers.

During Phase II, student teams will:

• Brainstorm and articulate how you want to communicate a) a clear statement of each position; and b) a clear reason for the viewers to support this statement (i.e., the three supporting points). This will form the basis for your script.
• Brainstorm and articulate how you want to communicate to your audience about the candidate her/himself. People vote for people probably more than they vote for issues. What about this person do you want to communicate?
  • Keep in mind that this is a 60 second spot you are creating.
• Brainstorm and articulate your creative approach to communicating the information above, keeping in mind that the target audience for your commercial is your peers: what is going to help convince your best friend to consider this candidate? As you are doing this, questions to consider include:
  • Voice – Who is the voice of this campaign spot? Or isn’t there one: will the images just speak for themselves?
  • Imagery – What are the most powerful images you can use to make your case, to make the words of your script come alive?
  • Tone – This may be the most important consideration: will you use humor, threat, calm dignity, or the hard sell to persuade your audience that your candidate is the best one. Those aren’t the only choices, but they will get the conversation started.
  • Words – In political campaigns, there are buzz words: certain words that carry meaning that seems to echo societally. Be aware of these and use them judiciously.
  • The Candidate – How will you use footage of the candidate in your spot? Your spot can make use of up to 15 seconds of existing footage of the candidate in question.
  • Local Interviews – Might talking to your community members and peers assist in getting your message across? If so, how?
• Keep in mind that often the best way to make these decisions above about your creative approach is to spend a week watching all the existing campaign ads that are flooding the media. Ask yourselves which work and which definitely don’t work for you and your friends …and why. Then pick and choose the most successful strategies that you have identified and apply them to your spot.
• Create a script and storyboard for the commercial.
  • A storyboard is ‘picture writing’. Set in a sequence of rectangular shapes, or ‘panels’, a storyboard places actions in a logically sequenced order. Each panel is a place for the writer to put pictures, symbols, or text. (See Meridian Resources for more information about Storyboarding.)
• Teacher’s Option: Storyboard – Teachers may require student teams to hand in a storyboard of their key images and full text for review and feedback.

During Phase III, student teams will:

• Pre-produce the scene:
  • Scout locations for shooting (if this is being shot on location);
  • Create costumes, props and other set pieces, as needed;
  • Prepare the logistics for the actual shooting of the scene; and
  • Rehearse the scene.
• Shoot the video.
• Edit the video, adding stills and graphics as desired.
• Post-produce the video, adding music and sound effects as desired.

Presentation of Learning

Meridian Stories is a proud partner of the non-profit Share Your Learning, which is spearheading the movement of over five million students to publicly share their work as a meaningful part of their educational experience.

The workforce considers Presentational Skills to be a key asset and we encourage you to allow students to practice this skill set as often as possible. These short digital stories provide a great opportunity for kids to practice their public presentational skills.

According to Share Your Learning, Presentations of Learning (POL) promote…

• Student Ownership, Responsibility & Engagement. POLs can serve as a powerful rite of passage at the end of [a project]. By reflecting on their growth over time in relation to academic and character goals, grounded in evidence from their work, students are encouraged to take ownership of their learning. Just as an artist wants their portfolio to represent their best work, POLs encourage students to care deeply about the work they will share.
• Community Pride & Involvement. When peers, teachers and community members come together to engage with student work and provide authentic feedback, they become invested in students’ growth and serve as active contributors to the school community.
• Equity. POLs ensure that all students are seen and provide insight into what learning experiences students find most meaningful and relevant to their lives.

Meridian Stories’ own research indicates this to be a really useful exercise for one additional reason:  Students actually learn from their peers’ presentations – it is useful to hear a perspective that is not just the teacher’s.

It is with this in mind that we you encourage you to plan an event – it could be just an end-of-the-week class or an event where parents, teachers and student peers are invited – to allow the students to showcase their Meridian Stories projects. For more free resources that will support this planning, visit shareyourlearning.org.

Meridian Support Resources

Meridian Stories provides two forms of support for the student teams: 1.    Meridian Innovators and Artists – This is a series of three to four minute videos featuring artists and innovative professionals who offer important advice, specifically for Meridian Stories, in the areas of creativity and production. 2.    Media Resource Collection – These are short documents that offer student teams key tips in the areas of creativity, production, game design and digital citizenry. Recommended review, as a team, for this Competition include:
Meridian Innovators and Artists	Media Resource Collection
On Non-Fiction – Margaret Heffernan On Producing – Tom Pierce On Editing– Tom Pierce On Sound Design – Chris Watkinson	“Creating a Commercial” “On the Doctrine of Fair Use” “Conducting an Interview” “Producing: Time Management”

 Evaluation Rubric – Presidential Campaign Spot

CONTENT COMMAND
Criteria	1-10
The Candidate’s Positions	The communication of the candidate’s positions is thoroughly developed, concise and expressive
The Supporting Content	The content to support the political positions is substantive
The Candidate	The candidate as a compelling political force is well presented
STORYTELLING COMMAND
Criteria	1-10
Script	The narrative is presented clearly and the scripting is engaging and effective
Creative Approach	The creative approach services the content effectively and imaginatively
Persuasion	The commercial is persuasive and thought-provoking and appropriately geared to your peer group
MEDIA COMMAND
Criteria	1-10
Visual Shot Selection	The combination of still and video shots effectively and engagingly communicates the content
Editing and Pacing	The piece is edited cleanly and the pacing is effective
Music	The selective use of music enhances the content and the overall viewing experience
21ST CENTURY SKILLS COMMAND (teachers only)
Criteria	1-10
Collaborative Thinking	The group demonstrated flexibility in making compromises and valued the contributions of each group member
Creativity and Innovation	The group brainstormed many inventive ideas and was able to evaluate, refine and implement them effectively
Initiative and Self-Direction	The group set attainable goals, worked independently and managed their time effectively, demonstrating a disciplined commitment to the project

 Essential Questions

1. Who are the current Presidential candidates and what do they stand for?
2. In a political environment, what is the relationship between an idea, the personality presenting the idea and the ideology informing the idea?
   1. When working with content that is shaped by ideology and personality, how does you use sources to help separate fact from fiction?
3. How does one research, select and organize content from primary and secondary sources in order to present a compelling, convincing and persuasive narrative?
4. What’s the difference between creating media to communicate and creating media to persuade?
   1. What needs to be done to the core content in order to successfully ‘re-package’ it for a niche audience (i.e., youth 12 – 18)
5. How has immersion in the creation of original content and the production of digital media – exercising one’s creativity, critical thinking and digital literacy skills – deepened the overall educational experience?
6. How has working on a team – practicing one’s collaborative skills – changed the learning experience?

Student Outcomes

1. The student will gain an understanding of the current presidential candidates and what they stand for.
2. The student will gain a deeper awareness of the complexities of political campaigns through an exploration of the relationship between an idea, the personality presenting the idea and the ideology informing the idea.
3. The student will understand the processes involved in researching content from a variety of sources; selecting relevant information from those sources; and organizing this information in a persuasive and cohesive narrative.
4. The student will understand the difference between creating media to communicate and creating media to persuade.
5. The student will utilize key 21^stcentury skills, with a focus on creativity, critical thinking and digital literacy, in their process of translating historical/contemporary political content into a new narrative format.
6. The student will have an increased awareness of the challenges and rewards of team collaboration. Collaboration – the ability to work with others – is considered one of the most important 21^stcentury skills to develop in students as they prepare for life after secondary school.

Common Core Curricular Correlations

The Presidential Campaign Spot Challenge addresses a range of curricular objectives that have been articulated by two nationally recognized sources:

1. The Common Core Curricular Standards – English Language Arts; and
2. The Themes of Social Studies, as outlined by National Council of Social Studies (NCSS).

 Below please find the standards that are addressed.

Common Core Curricular Standards – English Language Arts Standards

The Standards	8th	9th/10th	11th/12th
W1   WRITING   Text types and Purposes	Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence.	Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.	Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.
W4   WRITING   Production and Distribution	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.	Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
W5   WRITING   Production and Distribution	With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well purpose and audience have been addressed.	Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.	Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience.
W8     WRITING     Research to Build and Present Knowledge	Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.	Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the usefulness of each source in answering the research question; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.	Gather relevant information from multiple authoritative print and digital sources, using advanced searches effectively; assess the strengths and limitations of each source in terms of the task, purpose, and audience; integrate information into the text selectively to maintain the flow of ideas, avoiding plagiarism and overreliance on any one source and following a standard format for citation.
SL1   SPEAKING AND LISTENING   Comprehension and Collaboration	Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher- led) with diverse partners on grade 8 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.	Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.	Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one- on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11–12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
SL5   SPEAKING AND LISTENING   Presentation of Knowledge and Skills	Integrate multimedia and visual displays into presentations to clarify information, strengthen claims and evidence, and add interest.	Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.	Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
L1   LANGUAGE   Conventions of Standard English	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.	Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
L3   LANGUAGE   Knowledge of Language	Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.	Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.	Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
RH2   HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES   Key Ideas and Details	Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.	Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.	Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
RH8   HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES     Integration of Knowledge and Ideas	Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text.	N/A	Evaluate an author’s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other information.
RH9   HISTORY/SOCIAL STUDIES     Integration of Knowledge and Ideas	Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.	Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.	Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.

 

Goals – NCSS – The Themes of Social Studies

Theme – Power, Authority and Governance

The development of civic competence requires an understanding of the foundations of political thought, and the historical development of various structures of power, authority, and governance. It also requires knowledge of the evolving functions of these structures in contemporary U.S. society, as well as in other parts of the world. Learning the basic ideals and values of a constitutional democracy is crucial to understanding our system of government. By examining the purposes and characteristics of various governance systems, learners develop an understanding of how different groups and nations attempt to resolve conflicts and seek to establish order and security.

Theme – Civic Ideals and Practices

An understanding of civic ideals and practices is critical to full participation in society and is an essential component of education for citizenship, which is the central purpose of social studies. All people have a stake in examining civic ideals and practices across time and in different societies. Through an understanding of both ideals and practices, it becomes possible to identify gaps between them, and study efforts to close the gaps in our democratic republic and worldwide.