“You are the Source”

Djénné- Eternal City of West Africa

 

Name ____________________________ Date __________ Period ___________

 

When people research topics they generally have to gather information from many different sources. Often, the most important source is the first one, called a primary source. Primary sources are the first record of an activity that can be found. For this activity you will be creating a primary source that would support or supplement the research and information that was found in the article you just read about Djénné.

 

Choose one of the following documents to create that could have been used by the researcher to add details to his article on Djénné:

¨      Poster describing new laws from Djénné’s corrupt dictator of the 1980s;

¨      Manual from the French engineers describing why rectangular bricks would be better than cylindrical (round) bricks, trying to convince the reader that rectangular bricks are better;

¨      Medical report from the colonial clinic (1800s) that the archeologists found;

¨      Map of Djénné comparing the wet and the dry seasons;

¨      Journal from a pre-Islamic mason;

¨      Map showing Bani and Niger River along with key physical and political features;

¨      Report from a fisherman during the drought years of the 1970s and 1980s; or,

¨      Protest letter or poster concerning a dam on the Bani River.

 

Your primary source will be graded on the following scale:

Teachers Score	Points Possible	Description	Students Score
	6	The primary source contains enough information so that a researcher would be able to learn something new about the topic and want to write about it
	3	The primary source is written in a style that is appropriate for the character who could have written the document
	2	The ideas presented in the primary source are clear to the reader
	4	The primary source gives a clear opinion of what the writer would have been thinking