As a culminating project for the unit, students will create a piece of written work based on the unit theme of the Media and Social Justice. Projects need to include both a written and a visual component and may include essays, poems, collages, songs, polls, or other types of creative writing. The project must also include an Introduction consisting of a one paragraph summary describing how their project relates to the theme of the Media and Social justice. It must be clear how the contribution fits into the media and social justice theme.

The focus for the project is on writing and literacy so the written portion should make up the majority of the project with visuals added for emphasis and to reinforce ideas in the text. Projects will incorporate and highlight the knowledge gained from themes and lessons in at least two different disciplines, although students cannot combine only English and History. Organizational skills, creativity, and research will be stressed, as well as the incorporation of new knowledge into the contribution. Students must cite any references used in their articles.

The culminating projects will be due at the end of the unit. Students will turn in their project along with a copy of their project formatted in Microsoft Word for PC on a disk. The teachers from each of the four disciplines will compile the essays, divide them up, and complete a preliminary assessment to make sure all writing is acceptable and follows the theme and mission of the project. As a group, teachers will come together to report on the projects and to tackle any last minute editing necessary. Students will also decide on a suitable name for the journal.

One teacher will take all of the disks and transfer the files to a computer, make any necessary changes, and proceed with the final layout design. Once the layout design process is complete the journal will be sent to a local printer to be bound and published into a 'zine. The printer will make 300 copies of the journal and will ship the journal to the school. Students from the four classes will then volunteer to distribute the journals to their classmates and campus community during lunch and afterschool. Journals will cost $2.50 each in order to cover printing costs.

Assessment:

Contributions to the 'zine will be assessed according to the following criteria:

1. Contributions must combine at least 2 disciplines: math and English/History or Science and English/History (NOTE: contributions cannot combine English and History only).

2. Introduction: Contributions must include a short introduction consisting of a one paragraph summary on how their piece relates to the social justice and media theme and what disciplines they utilized in order to present a valid argument.

3. Effort: Projects must be one page, front and back. and students should try to layout contribution like a newspaper or a magazine.

4. Creativity: All contributions must use images such as graphs or artwork to reinforce ideas in the written portion.

5. Literacy: Contributions must exhibit the ability to incorporate literacies from the various subject areas into the final project. New vocabulary and discussion of new concepts from all subject areas is strongly encouraged in the students' articles.