The Moving Voices Project

The Upper House First Semester Project

The Family Story of America on the Move

American history is the story of people on the move, and those people are us. This project reminds us that the history of this country is not merely what happened to presidents; it’s what happened to our parents, grandparents, and great-great-great grandparents. And that story is not found in textbooks; it’s found in attic boxes, old black-and-white photos, and that crazy story your grandma tells you about her grandma.

Just about everyone in America comes from somewhere else. Where do you come from?

The major products that you will create over this project are:

  1. Moving Voices Narrative – a historical fictional account from the point of view of one of your relatives
  2. Independent Research Paper, or IRP – on a slice of American history that illuminates the context of your narrative
  3. Dramatic Monologue – enacting your narrative for exhibition night in December
  4. Project Web Site – the final publishing place for everything that you have discovered and created

Benchmarks

  1. Artifacts & Interviews : due 9/24
  2. Narrative and IRP Proposal : due 9/27–28
  3. Annotated Bibliography : due 10/9–10
  4. First Draft of Moving Voices Narrative : due 10/23–24
  5. Research Notecards : due 10/25–26
  6. Complete Draft of Moving Voices Narrative : due 11/29–30
  7. Scene Group Script : due 11/1–2
  8. Thesis Statement and Outline : due 11/13–14
  9. Moving Voices Exhibition : due 12/5–7
  10. Independent Research Paper: First Draft : due 12/10
  11. Independent Research Paper: Final Draft : due 1/14
  12. Project Website : due 1/22
  13. IRP Lecture Presentation : due 1/23–25

Reference Documents

Moving Voices Scene Groups

A list of Moving Voices scene groups for each block

Moving Voices Exhibition

On Metro’s big stage, students perform their family-history-based narratives as dramatic monologues, woven together into thematic strands. The extended Metro and Envision community is encouraged to attend.

B Block Wed. 12/5 7 pm
C Block Thur. 12/6 6 pm
D Block Thur. 12/6 8 pm
A Block Fri. 12/7 6 pm
E Block Fri. 12/7 8 pm