Senate Confirmation of a Supreme Court Nominee: An Online Deliberation

 

Partners

This project is designed for 12th grade AP U.S. History classes in the United States.  Students participating in this project will benefit from collaborating with classes from other geographical regions in the country.   This way the discussion among students can explore regional viewpoints of the essential questions.  

To find classes to partner with use the ePals website.  Begin by registering, if needed, for a free account.  Then search the list of participating classrooms in the United States to identify classes that would be a good fit to collaborate with.  Be sure to take into account geographical region (of the United Staes), time-zone differences, and school schedules, when searching for partners.

Here is a letter template to use to invite other classes to join the debate:

Dear (teacher's name),
     I teach (subject) to (grade level) grade students at (name of school) in (city, state).  I am looking for classes to collaborate with in an online problem-based learning activity about the Supreme Court Confirmation Process in the United States Senate. 
     Students will begin by participating in a discussion using VoiceThread, then researching the important questions/issues brought up during the discussion, and finally debating the answers to those questions in a live video conference using Skype.
     Your class' participation in this project would add to the diversity of viewpoints and enhance the discussion, resulting in meaningful learning for our students.  If you are interested in being a part of this exciting project, please contact me so we can start planning together.

                                                                                                                                       Thank you,
                                                                                                                                       (your name)
                                                                                                                                       (address)
                                                                                                                                       (phone number)
                                                                                                                                       (email)