This is a difficult task for many students. Students know and often understand facts, but do not always know how to use them to support a point of view. The students, through this process, learn the higher-order thinking skills needed to complete the task. In order to support this part of the learning process, small group and individual student instruction is provided in the library. Another reason was to show students that communication with an audience is important.
Students understand that their product is going to be seen by a large number of people.
Knowing that their work will be seen by their peers within the school, via Major News, or made available to the world, via the Internet, excites and motivates the students. Their work seems to take on a much greater importance than just completing a research paper for the teacher. During the 1994-95 school year, two Major Views projects were completed by students enrolled in our American History classes. The first dealt with the U.S. occupation of Haiti. The second concerned the Contract with America.