History Challenge 

Talking Landmark Documentary 

Submission Due Date: April 17, 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 (W2, W3, W4, W6, W7, SL1, SL5, L1, L3, RH2, RH9)

Range of Activities Local Historical Research Community Interviews Content Organization Character Creation Documentary Video – Pre-production, Production, Post-production 21st Century Skills: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Presentational Skills

The Challenge

Identify a key landmark in your community – one that has an interesting story to tell about the community in which you live. The landmark could be a building, a statue, a gateway, a sign — the choice of landmark is up to the team.

Keep in mind that ‘community’ can be defined very broadly to mean your school, your town, your neighborhood, your county.  Be sure to communicate how your team has chosen to define ‘community’.

Create a three-minute video documentary about that landmark as told from the point of view of that landmark. In other words, personify the landmark: give it a voice and let it tell the viewer its story. This isn’t your story about the landmark: this is the landmark’s story about itself. It’s like a landmark autobiography! The documentary must contain interviews with at least two people from the community.

Deliverables include:

• Landmark Digital Story (this is the only Meridian Stories deliverable)
• Resource Citation Paper (at teacher’s discretion)
• Outline of Key Talking Points (at teacher’s discretion)
• Script Outline and Documentary Shot List (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. 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

During Phase I, student teams will:

• Scan the community for interesting landmarks; select a few landmark options; conduct preliminary research on the landmarks; and based on that research, select a landmark for your team’s project.
• Conduct in-depth research on the landmark, using a variety of sources, and keeping track of all the sources
  • Teacher’s Option: Resource Citation Paper – Teachers may require student teams to create a Resource Citation Paper, that would be included as part of the credit sequence. Be sure to use both primary and secondary sources as part of your research.
• Identify two people who have a connection to the landmark that you can interview for your documentary.
• As you are putting this information together, focus on answering the question: what is the nature of the relationship between this landmark and our community?

During Phase II, student teams will:

• Continue researching the landmark and begin to organize your key talking points into a narrative.
• Teacher’s Option: Outline of Key Talking Points – Teachers may require that teams hand in an outline of the key talking points for their documentary for review and feedback.
• Brainstorm about the voice and character of their landmark. This is where you can get to be inventive and creative. Given what you now know about this landmark, you have to create a character for it. Some questions to consider:
  • Female or male?
  • Do they speak using contemporary language or language from the time in which they were built?
  • Are they funny or serious? Wise or oblivious?
  • What is their perception of the current community in which they live?
• Prepare the interview questions, for teacher review.
• Contact your interviewees and be sure to prep them fully for the interview, to insure their comfort and ease. This includes a clear time and place that you have set up ahead of time – you will want to scout locations – as well preparation of the topic.
• Additionally, in order to record and edit, your participants may need to sign a Release Form giving you permission to record, edit and post this discussion online. Research generic and simple Release Forms online to find the right language for you.
• Continue to outline the key story elements of your documentary.
  • This includes identifying:

1. 1. 1. the story that you want to tell;
      2. the key ideas that comprise the story;
      3. the further development of the character traits and voice you are assigning your landmark; and
      4. the key images – still and video — that you will use to illustrate the story.

• Conduct and shoot the two interviews.
• Create a Documentary Shot list – this is a list of all the shots that you will need to shoot to tell your story. This includes still graphics, your interview shots and other location video that you plan to shoot.
  • This list is designed to be created after your interviews because now your team has a sense of the role and place these interviews will have in your story. With this content clear, you can now fill in the rest of the story in detail.
• Outline your script, in conjunction with your Shot List – like an informal storyboard.
• Teacher’s Option: Script Outline and Documentary Shot List – Teachers may require that teams hand in their Shot list and Script Outline for review and feedback.

During Phase III, student teams will:

• Finalize the script and cast the voice of your landmark.
• Shoot the remainder of your documentary – the visual shots that you will need in addition to the interviews.
• Record the script (voice over).
• Edit the documentary. This includes:
  • Editing the images, footage and interviews together.
  • Adding the voice over.
  • Adding music and sound effects, as needed, keeping in mind the value that music brings to your efforts to tell a story that is engaging and impactful.
• Finalize the Resource Citations, which can be included in the credits.

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 videos 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.

Media 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 a few 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 Interviewing Techniques – Tom Pierce On Non-Fiction – Margaret Heffernan On Documentary Films – Sarah Childress On the Importance of Characters in Storytelling – Scott Nash	“Creating a Short Documentary” “Conducting an Interview” “Building Characters” “Royalty Free Music”

 

Evaluation Rubric – Talking Landmark Documentary

CONTENT COMMAND
Criteria	1-10
Clarity of Content	The historical content is presented clearly and compellingly
Clarity of Relationship to the Community	The relationship between the landmark and community is communicated clearly and insightfully
STORYTELLING COMMAND
Criteria	1-10
Overall Narrative Clarity (with a focus on the use of Voice Over to tie the piece together)	The narrative is presented clearly, creatively and thoughtfully
Character	The landmark’s ‘character’ is engaging, entertaining and appropriate given its historical background
Interviews	The interviews enhance the informational and entertainment value of the documentary
MEDIA COMMAND
Criteria	1-10
Visual Shot Selection	The combination of still and video shots effectively and engagingly communicates the historical narrative
Editing	The documentary is edited cleanly and effectively, resulting in an engaging video experience
Music	The selective use of music enhances our engagement with the topic
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. What is the nature of the relationship between a symbol and the larger community to which it refers? Specifically, how does the landmark that your team has chosen add meaning to your community and to your understanding of that community?
2. How has information gathered from primary sources – your interviews – enhanced your understanding of the landmark? How is the information from these sources different from the information gathered from secondary sources?
3. How does one research, select and organize content from a variety of sources in order to present a compelling, cohesive and historically accurate narrative?
4. In creating a character voice for your landmark on the page and on the screen, what are the most important choices you made and how are they reflective of the historical research your team conducted?
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 Proficiencies

1. The student will understand more about the history and character of the select community in which they have chosen to investigate.
   1. The student will understand the significant relationship that can exist between a symbol and the community to which it refers.
2. The student will understand how combining primary and secondary sources can help one to reach a more complex and nuanced understanding of history.
   1. The student will practice proper citation of source material.
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 way that yields narrative cohesion and historical accuracy.
4. The student will understand the critical elements that go into creating character and the narrative power of character.
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 content into a story.
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 Talking Landmark Documentary 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 History/Social Studies
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 & History/Social Studies

Standard	8th	9th/10th	11th/12th
W2   WRITING   Text Types and Purposes	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content.	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.	Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
W3   WRITING   Text Types and Purposes	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.	Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
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.
W6   WRITING   Production and Distribution of Writing	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and present the relationships between information and ideas efficiently as well as to interact and collaborate with others.	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.	Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products in response to ongoing feedback, including new arguments or information.
W7   WRITING   Research to Build and Present Knowledge	Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.	Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.	Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
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 Ideas	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.
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 – Time, Continuity and Change

Studying the past makes it possible for us to understand the human story across time.   Knowledge and understanding of the past enable us to analyze the causes and consequences of events and developments, and to place these in the context of the institutions, values and beliefs of the periods in which they took place.   Knowing how to read, reconstruct and interpret the past allows us to answer questions such as: How do we learn about the past? How can we evaluate the usefulness and degree of reliability of different historical sources? What are the roots of our social, political and economic systems? What are our personal roots and how can they be viewed as part of human history? Why is the past important to us today? How has the world changed and how might it change in future? How do perspectives about the past differ, and to what extent do these differences inform contemporary ideas and actions?

Theme – Individuals, Groups and Institutions

Institutions are the formal and informal political, economic, and social organizations that help us carry out, organize, and manage our daily affairs. Students identify those institutions that they encounter.They analyze how the institutions operate and find ways that will help them participate more effectively in their relationships with these institutions. Finally, students examine the foundations of the institutions that affect their lives, and determine how they can contribute to the shared goals and desires of society.