New Orleans:

The assigned task is to gather information about New Orleans for publication in a city brochure. Students will be focusing both on the entertaining aspects of the city, such as the different sites & events of attraction, history & cultural heritage, and music & arts, as well as more sobering facts & statistics and volunteer opportunities pertaining to post-Katrina New Orleans. Their ultimate goal is to create a city brochure that presents both the positive and negative aspects of New Orleans, providing both information and highlighting different ways to partake in rebuilding the city.

Students will be grouped by fives and work in the computer lab for this assignment. The entire group will conduct research, but each group member will choose one aspect of the city for which to act as Research Leader. Research Leaders are responsible for gathering together all the information the group has found about their chosen topic, making executive decisions about which information to include and exclude, and doing the final write-up about that topic for the brochure.

Links and suggested subtopics are provided to help students begin their research, but students are encouraged to extend beyond these parameters, including non-internet sources, to supplement their research.

Brochures will be evaluated for the quality of content, organization, presentation, and creativity, and will be put on display in the classroom for the remainder of the unit. Format is not not specified; a traditional brochure, a tri-fold board, a poster, a multimedia PowerPoint presentation, etc. is acceptable so long as it properly presents the gathered information. Students will also have the opportunity to evaluate one another's work through anonymous assessments.

This lesson plan is written for three 50-minute class periods but could be extended to five class periods if desired.