Menlo School Library: 8th grade: Civil Rights Activists Pecha Kucha: Resources

Step 1: Choose a civil rights activist

First you will need to do some background research to get some ideas.

What topic interests you? What person from the recent past or from the present do you admire? Think about some of the individuals or events you discussed in class. There are a lot of people out there who are doing amazing work with little recognition—maybe you can tell that person's story.

For additional inspiration, here are some good places to search:

National Geographic
Search the word "activist" on this page to find stories from around the world.
TED-Ed People and Places
Some of these presentations profile people doing meaningful work.
Time 100
Each year Time magazine creates a broad list of people who have made an influential impact in the world. View the most recent and previous lists here.
Biography: People
This site presents biographies of all kinds of people, most of whom are well known in their fields. This search lists those under the term "activist".
The Fifty Most Influential Progressives of the Twentieth Century
"The radical ideas of one generation become the common sense of the next." Read about these 20th century Americans.
Lists of activists
This is a list of lists - activists working in a variety of areas.

Rosa Parks and MLK Jr./Tradlands/CC BY 2.0

Photos taken at the Global Climate Strike in London on Friday 15th March 2019/Garry Knight/CC-Zero

Step 3: Find images for your presentation

The library subscribes to two image databases. This means that we pay for these images and in turn are given the license to use them within a school setting.

AP Images Collection (EBSCO)
Why search here?
This is a useful database to find non-text sources.
What’s included?
Photojournalism and audio files from over 100 years of news coverage from the Associated Press.
License information: these images can be used to support classroom learning, in classroom presentations and reports, and in face-to-face settings. They may not be posted online unless they are behind a password on a classroom site.
Image Quest (Britannica)This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Look here for images and photographs with citation information provided.
- What’s included?
  Over two million photographs, artistic works and political cartoons.

Several sites provide access to images that are either copyright-free or that have been made available for use under certain guidelines. Be sure to look for copyright permissions before using these, as there are a variety of licenses.

Creative Commons Search
This tool allows you to search for images and sound recordings from a variety of sources including Google Images, Flickr, Wikimedia, and YouTube. Be sure to check the use permissions for any image you choose.
Photos for Class
Free Creative Commons images licensed for public use, with attributions included. One of the fastest and easiest ways to find a properly attributed image.

For additional reference on finding and citing images, consult our Image Search and Citation guide.

Step 4: Cite your sources

Use NoodleTools to keep track of your sources. Sign in using your school gmail logins. You can find the NoodleTools icon in the waffle menu (those nine dots in the upper right corner) of your G-Suite apps.

Be sure you are using Chicago style, junior level. Chicago style citation is used in history research papers—if you want to see what this looks like, take a look at the Chicago citation page on the library website. There are minor differences from what you are used to seeing in MLA style citations.

Step 2: Learn about the person you chose

Start by looking in some Menlo databases:

As you start learning more about your person's story, jot down the key events, places, dates, etc. that you can use as search terms to dig deeper throughout your research.

Britannica Academic This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Begin your research by reading authoritative tertiary sources like the ones found here.
- What’s included?
  In-depth overview articles, often with links to supporting primary source materials. Also includes a world atlas with statistical information on individual countries plus the ability to compare any two countries.
Global Issues in Context (Gale) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  This is an excellent database for finding information about issues affecting the world at large.
- What’s included?
  Tertiary, secondary and primary source materials, statics, and viewpoint essays. Topics include a wide variety of environmental and social issues.
History Reference Center (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  This history database is both a useful research starting point and a good place to find sources to fill research gaps.
- What’s included?
  This is a very large collection of tertiary, secondary and primary sources. Use the Advanced Search screen to narrow your search to a particular type of source.
MAS Ultra (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  This very large database is a good place to begin a research project.
- What’s included?
  Tertiary and secondary source articles, images, historical documents, and popular magazines.
Oxford Reference This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Look here for reference information of all types.
- What’s included?
  Dictionaries, encyclopedias, and other reference sources.
Oxford Research Encyclopedias This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Find long-form reference articles on a wide variety of topics.
- What’s included?
  Signed, peer-reviewed, topic-specific articles from 25 individual encyclopedias.

You can also search current and historical newspapers in these news databases:

Access World News (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Look here for news articles from around the world including many of today’s newspapers.
- What’s included?
  Current and historical news articles from nearly 200 countries.
America's Historical Newspapers (Newsbank) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Look here for newspaper articles from many cities across the US.
- What’s included?
  350 years of newspapers and broadsheets.
Historical Newspapers: U.S. Major Dailies (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Find news reporting from major United States newspapers on a variety of historical events.
- What’s included?
  Archived newspaper articles from past issues of the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune.
Newspaper Source Plus (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  Find current and past newspaper articles from around the United States.
- What’s included?
  The most recent 20 years of newspaper coverage from 800 newspapers, plus radio and television transcripts.
New York Times This link opens in a new window
- Why search here?
  This provides access to the current issues of the New York Times.
- How to access:
  Click the database title, then follow the instructions to set up a subscription to the NYT. Initial setup must be done online, but once you have an account, offsite access is available.

Search the Catalog for Books

You can search the Menlo Library catalog to find books by or about your chosen individual. Use the terms "biography" or "memoir" to find relevant works.

Can't find the book in our collection? Try searching the San Mateo County Public Library catalog.

Search Kanopy for Streaming Films

You can search for a range of films, mostly documentaries, through Menlo's Kanopy subscription. Enter the name of your civil rights activist or a related event in the search bar, or browse by subject.

Online Searching

You can also search for your person in Google, but be sure you are using authoritative sources!

Wikipedia can be a solid place to start when you are looking through lists of activists, but for your research you should use well-known newspapers and magazines, reputable online news sites, government resources, and the websites of involved organizations.

Annotated bibliography

Main components:

Your annotated bibliography should be a 4-6 sentence paragraph that includes

1) A brief summary and the main points of the source

2) An evaluation of the source, e.g. who is the author or group that created the source and what makes them credible?

3) A reflection and your use of the source, e.g. how does the source inform your research and presentation?

Here is a sample annotated bibliography:

To view additional annotated bibliography examples, see the Sample Pages on our Chicago Citation guide.

Google Searching Tips

Use quotation marks around words or phrases for an exact match e.g. “Russian Revolution”
Use a ~ before a word/phrase to pull up synonyms e.g. ~“global warming” will also include climate change, etc.
Use a hyphen before a word to eliminate it from a search e.g. “global warming” -hoax
Use insite: to limit by website e.g. “global warming” insite:nytimes.com
Use site: to limit by domain e.g. “global warming” site:.edu
Use filetype: to search by a specific file or extension type e.g. filetype:pdf
Use intitle: e.g. searching for intitle:russian revolution stalin ensures EACH term shows in the title
Put related: in front of a site to find other, similar sites e.g. related:www.worldwildlife.org
Use Google Scholar for academic journals and scholarly publications