10.13: Happy - Conspiracy Theory Projects

Every spring, my 9th grade English students get to choose, research and debunk various conspiracy theories. The students get really excited about the project, and I get to teach them researching skills and logical fallacies and public speaking and Prezi. We spend about a month on it, and the kids honestly put their heart and souls into it. Okay. MOST of them put their heart and souls into it. There are always those few who don't.

Then, once everything is turned in, the kids start their presentations. The rest of the class sits, fascinated. They ask questions (sometimes a ton!) once the presentation is over. The presenter has to be able to answer most logical questions. I only allow one person to explore a conspiracy theory per class, so nobody is bored while watching the presentations (except me: by the 5th time I have to hear about 9/11, I'm done). They also get to show brief youtube videos during their presentations, and we've watched some amazing things.

The students also have to create a visual with their presentation, and I got some great ones this year. They made me really happy!

The Clinton Body count was a new, but popular, conspiracy theory this year. One of my students chose to support it rather than debunk it. It does make sense, at least in part.

Paul McCartney is dead. Really. Okay, not really, but there's a conspiracy theory about his mortality that I am pretty sure the Beatles themselves made up. This is a microphone that went with one of the presentations on this topic.

Another student chose to make this visual for the same topic. It's adorable and I told her that she couldn't have it back. 

This is, of course, a model of the Twin Towers on September 11th. The cotton balls still smelled like spray paint. Yummy!

This dildo-looking thing is actually a neuralizer from the Men in Black. I didn't know this, but the movie was based on an urban legend about the "real" Men in Black. They aren't as funny as Will Smith. 

This horrible slide is from my very favorite little 9th grader this year. I love her to pieces, but she does nothing for my class. I had a lot of fun teasing her about spelling "diseases" "desis". This is not the only fun slide, but this was the best.

We still have a few days of presentations to go, but this week has been tons of fun for me -- AND for the kids. This is a big part of what teaching is all about for me.

NGS is a conspiracy theory.