The School District of Philadelphia
The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts
901 South Broad Street
Avenue of the Arts
Philadelphia, Pa 19147
215-952-2462
Senior Exit Project
Overview:
In order to graduate, each senior must complete a project consisting of three components. The research paper will incorporate formal research, original investigation and thought, and ultimately attempt to answer an essential question.* The essential question is to be formulated by the student and should be the driving force of the paper.
Additionally, an oral presentation must be given which includes a PowerPoint presentation. The presentation should creatively convey the student’s findings and insights. Each student must be prepared to orally defend his or her research by answering questions posed by a panel of adults and peers.
Twenty hours of volunteer services must be completed. These hours must be documented on formal letterhead from the respective agency or service program and handed in to your English teacher.
*Essential Question
This project begins with your interest in learning more about a specific topic. The essential question cannot be answered with a “yes” or “no.” You will be required to take a position and defend it. The question must be answered by reliable sources such as textbooks, articles, and journals.
Examples of Essential Questions:
- How can literacy be improved in urban areas?
- Why do individuals from specific countries migrate to the US?
- How has Broadway evolved in the last decade?
- How has the global perception of the US changed over the past decade?
- How has the Democratic Party changed in the last century?
- What will happen if we allow fracking in the Delaware Water Basin?
- How has Global Warming affected the environment?
- What will be some negative impacts on our environment if we continue to drink bottled water?
- How does the progression of filmmaking technology affect revenue at the box office?
Time Schedule
#1 October 14, 2013 Proposal of your topic. Include your essential question, a thesis statement, a general overview of your argument and its chronology. The answer to your essential question is your thesis.
#2 November 8, 2013
25 preliminary 3 x 5 bibliography cards
#3 December 6, 2013
A minimum of 35 note cards are due.
#4 January 7, 2014 Typed rough draft of paper is due.
#5 February 21, 2014 Final copy of paper is due. All parts of the paper are to be included at this time for the paper to be accepted.
Note: This process is just as important as the final product. Credit will be given for each step of the process. For successful completion of this project, students must adhere to the due dates for each requirement listed above. This project is sequential, meaning you cannot receive credit or go on to the next step without having completed the prior one.
RESEARCH PAPER
Length: 8 full pages minimum, 10 maximum (not including the outline or works cited page)
Parts: The entire paper must be in MLA format. The heading, body of paper with citations, and a works cited page must be included.
No incomplete papers will be accepted.
Sources: 5-10 sources which may include encyclopedias, scholarly journals, books, magazines, etc. No more than two web sites may be used. All sources used must be cited throughout the paper and alphabetized on the works cited page as required in MLA formatting. In-text citation must be used for each specific fact and direct or paraphrased quote.
Format: Times New Roman, size 12 font, double spaced, 1” margins, 8 ½ x 11 paper, and pages numbered in the upper right corner preceded by the senior’s last name (ex: Jones 5)
Content: Writing must demonstrate accumulated knowledge of the writing process and mastery of the rules of standard English (spelling, usage, mechanics, etc.)
PROCESS
1. Pick a topic that interests you, no matter how broad.
2. Ask good questions. What are my focused research questions? What do I already know about this topic? What information will answer my questions? What more will be helpful to find out?
3. Form an essential question from that topic which will be the focus of your research.
4. Select a mentor/resource person to help you with your senior project.
BEGINNING THE RESEARCH
1. Make a preliminary outline (a kind of blueprint of what you want to cover and in what order). State your essential question at the beginning of the outline.
2. Make a bibliography card (3x5) for each source you think you might use in the final paper. Use the MLA format for documenting your information on the card and then give each card a different number in the upper right hand corner. This is a preliminary search for information. 25 bibliography cards will be checked on the given date (see time schedule). Even though you only have to use 7-10 of these sources in your final paper, this is a way for you to see what kind of information is available out there on your topic. No more than 5 web sites for this preliminary 25-card bibliography check.
WRITING THE PAPER
1. Read and take notes from at least 5-10 of your sources (once again using your 3x5 cards). Put one fact on each card. You will have a lot of note cards. The less you have on each card, the easier it will be to arrange your facts the way you want your paper to read.
2. Each note card will have the proper documentation on it so you will know how to cite that fact in your paper. These note cards will make up the body of your paper.
3. The last page of the paper will be the Works Cited. This is an alphabetized list of the 5-10 sources you actually use in the paper with the appropriate MLA documentation.
SUBMITTING THE PAPER
In Google Drive share your paper with room316capa@gmail.com
1. Name your document (top left corner of Google Drive)
Senior Exit. First and Last Name. Period (1, 6, or 7).
2. Upload, or work on your paper and then click Share (top right corner)
3. Type in my email room316capa@gmail.com and click Share and Save.
4. After you submit your first couple of pages in November, you will just add your introduction in December and continue adding to this same document. I will be able to see the record of all changes and edits done to your paper, and you will be able to access it from any computer from now on. You can also share with friends for editing. For your final submission I ask that you remove the other people and share only with me.
FIELDWORK/COMMUNITY SERVICE
Throughout this year you should volunteer 20 hours of your time to a community service project. You should log your hours, describe what you have accomplished, and have the program coordinator document this experience on formal letterhead, which is to be turned in to your English teacher before the end of April.
ORAL PRESENTATION
Senior Project Presentations will begin in the fourth quarter. Presentations should be 15 minutes long. You should come dressed professionally like you are interviewing for a job (no sneakers, jeans, short skirts, or t-shirts).
Your presentation should include:
· Establishment of your essential question (the question you set out to explore in your research).
· Supporting evidence/information that will serve to answer your essential question for your audience and teach them about what you have learned through your research.
· A PowerPoint presentation/visual aids to illustrate the key concepts of your research.
PowerPoint is mandatory, but you may also implement:
· Note cards to help guide yourself through your presentation. If you rely on them too heavily, points will be deducted. By the time you step in front of your audience, you should know your presentation as thoroughly as possible short of verbatim memorization.
· Audio/video clips which should not exceed a few minutes long (3-5), and should augment but not replace your oral presentation of your research.
· Posters/presentation boards to provide visual illustrations, graphs, photos, and text that will serve to clarify your essential question/thesis. Make sure all images and text are large enough for people to see from the back of the classroom.
· Flyers/pamphlets/handouts/interactive activities for your audience. You may engage the audience directly in your presentation, providing them with a mini-lesson/survey/exercise that may help them to further understand the concepts that you present.
* You must do a “dry run” ahead of time to make sure you can set up your PowerPoint presentation without a problem. All technological resources must be requested in advance. To view your PowerPoint in school, be sure to save it both as a ppt and as a pptx file, to be safe.
What happens if you miss the day you chose to give your presentation?
· If you miss due to illness, you must give your English teacher at least 24 hours notice. For example, if you will miss your presentation on a Wednesday during 1st period, you must contact the main office before Tuesday, 1st period so another student may be scheduled to take your place. You can leave a message with the Main Office (215.952.2462). In the event that you will miss a Monday presentation, you must inform your teacher on the preceding Friday so as to avoid penalty. You must notify in exactly this way or the notification will not be honored.
· If someone is willing to take your place in your absence, you may be rescheduled for the day following your absence. However, if you miss several days or there is no one willing to take your place, you will have to wait until all other students have presented and go at the end after everyone else.
· If you miss the presentation and have not made prior contact with your teacher in the fashion stated above, there will be a 15% deduction from your overall grade on the oral presentation (ie: an overall score of 100% becomes 85%). A note or call from your parent/guardian does not excuse this. Family emergencies (hospitalization, death in the family, etc.) are the only grounds for an excused absence without prior notice, and the appropriate documentation must be produced to verify the reason for your absence.
· There is limited time to complete all oral presentations. If people routinely miss their chosen presentation dates, the oral presentations will run into conflict with graduation rehearsal and the deadline to submit to the district the names of those who have successfully completed the Senior Project and are eligible to graduate. This is the reason for the stringent consequences for those who do not adhere to their commitments.
What happens if you miss the day you chose because you cannot get your technology component to work and you spend your allotted time trying to get your technology to load properly (i.e. a PowerPoint presentation)
· There will be a 10% penalty if you have to reschedule your oral presentation due to technological difficulties.
· Each student is granted a maximum of 15 minutes to do his or her oral presentation with an additional 2-3 minutes setup time. If you spend ten minutes setting up, this means you only have five minutes to present, which will obviously impact your grade. To avoid this, all students are required to come in ahead of their presentation date to do a “dry run” to make sure that they are capable of setting up in a timely fashion. This can be done during your teacher’s prep period. You and you alone are responsible for setting up your presentation.
