Create Your Own Society Project (Virtual School Edition)

The "Create Your Own Society Project" is a great beginning of the year assignment. The project asks kids to imagine they have discovered an uninhabited island. In teams of four to six, their goal is to settle on the island and create a society. Creating a society requires anything from food and shelter to government and economics. The Society Project gives students creative freedom to create whatever they want, within the parameters of the assignment.

I like doing this project at the beginning of the year for several reasons. First, I let students choose their groups, so I immediately know who their friends are in the class. If they work well together, great. If they do not, I know who to keep apart in future projects. Second, this project shows me how well the students work with others, how efficiently they use their time (I purposefully allow limited time to complete the project), and who my leaders are in the class. Third, the writing element of the project gives me an idea as to how well my students write. Finally, this project culminates with a presentation, which allows me to get a feel for the presentation skills of my students. Since my class is presentation-based, this helps guide the depth of my future presentation lessons.

This project is typically done in the classroom, on paper. With COVID, I have created a digital version of the project. Included in this download are:

1. Editable PowerPoint that walks students through every element of the project. I recommend students use PowerPoint in the cloud to collaborate with their teammates);

2. Student work examples;

3. YouTube video link that walks students through the project, step by step;

4. A project rubric; and

5. A presentation rubric.

I hope you and your students enjoy this project as much as me and my students do!