[Final Assessment Sheet]

Over the course of this unit, you have been exploring many different issues and social justice
movements that you are interested in. This assignment will be divided into four parts and will be
completed over the next few weeks so no need to worry about doing everything right away. See
below for details about the assignment.
Part one: choose an issue that is important to you that you have noticed throughout your
observations, expository research, narrative writing, etc. Please make sure that this issue is
focused on something related (or loosely related) to the ideas of Transcendentalism. Some
examples include animal rights, environmental justice, climate change, food insecurity,
sustainable housing, lack of recycling facilities, sustainability in schools, etc. If you have another
idea please come talk to me about it.
Write your idea and a few sentences explaining why it interests you here:

Part two: After doing some preliminary research, you will need to write a rationale for your topic
of interest. The rationale should be 1-2 pages in length and briefly explain why you are
interested in the topic, what you hope to gain from this research, what you think you could do
with the research, what misconceptions you may have, what you’re concerned about and also
include a list of questions you’d like to answer within your research.
Draft ideas for your rationale and questions you’d like to include here:

Part three: This is your research paper. See handout that explains the research paper
requirements more in-depth.

Part four: After you have done all of your research and are an expert on your topic, you will be
tasked with writing a letter to either a Representative, School Board Member, City
Councilman/Woman, or anyone in power who you’d like to inform about your issue. This letter
will be formal and will build off what we learned about knowing your audience and writing
persuasive writing. You will have the choice of mailing your letter once I look over it. Keep in
mind, you are representing your school, class, teacher, and yourself when you write this letter. I
want you to be yourself, but also remember to be professional!

Part five: presentations! After all this work you will get the opportunity to show what you’ve
learned and share your findings with your classmates and members of the community. These
are some ideas of what your presentation could look like (see below). Just remember that you’ll
need to explain your findings along with your presentation component.
 ● Multimedia (PowerPoint/google slides)
● Speech
● Podcast
● Movie or filmed skit
● poetry reading
● Performing a song or a skit
● Writing a book chapter
● Drawing a picture
● Teaching a lesson
● Any other ideas, please talk to me!

I want this assignment to be fun for you, and I want you to really dig into something you maybe
haven’t gotten the chance to dig into before. If you’re struggling with your topic please come talk
to me. This is supposed to give you a chance to explore all the ideas that you’ve been thinking
about through our readings, your observation journal, and anything else you find interesting.

Breakdown of assignment grade:

This assignment is worth 150 points. You will turn in each piece in a packet before
presentations.
Rationale - 20 points
Letter to someone of your choosing - 40 points
Research Paper - 70 points
Presentation - 10 points