My history class has begun a correspondence with Peace Corps volunteer Michael Thoms.  He is stationed in a village called Gouraye in Mauritania (West Africa).

Here is how Michael has introduced himself:

16 August 2006 - We have a primary school in Gouraye, kids from about 7 to 14 years old. The older ones can write in French and Arabic fairly well.  I began a letter exchange with my old junior high school in New York, and it went very well.  The kids here were very excited about exchanging letters with American kids, so I think that any kind of exchange that you want to do would be very successful.  Please e-mail me back at your earliest convenience.  I have sporadic access to e-mail, but will usually be able to get back to you within two weeks.  I hope all is well, and look forward to hearing from you so that we can discuss options for the coming year.  Take care -Michael

Here are some links to information about Mauritania:

bullet Library of Congress study of the country
bullet Lonely Planet Guide to Mauritania
bullet UPenn's online links and resources on Mauritania
bullet BBC News file on Mauritania
bullet World Bank info on the country
bullet Mauritanian maps
bullet CIA World Factbook on the nation
bullet US State Dept. Consular info sheet
bullet Page by Mauritania's mission to the UN

Our goal this year to maintain a year-long correspondence that will help my history students learn -- based on one volunteer's experience -- what another corner of the world is like.  The Peace Corps is an amazing organization, and its volunteers have a real desire to make the world a better place.

 

Peace Corps project

Research on Mauritania

In preparation for our year of correspondence with our Peace Corps volunteer in Mauritania, we are going to compile one research report as a class, so that we can begin to understand the lives of the people in our volunteer's village.  This isn't going to count as a grade; rather, it will simply be a group project to which everyone will contribute.

The first step is to break down the research on Mauritania into several categories.  Here they are: 

Ø      History (until around 1990's)

Ø      Current issues (since 1990)

Ø      The politics of the country

Ø      Daily life (including data)

Ø      Education

Ø      The influence of religion in the country

Ø      Culture and cultural influences

Ø      The economy

Ø      Geography and its influences

Ø      Its relationship with the United States

Ø      What other areas should we explore?

    How are we going to write this group report?  Using wikis on Moodle.  As you do the research on your section, you will add your information to our group report.  Go to Moodle (www.mvcds.net/moodle) and find our AP U.S. History page.  In the first week's listing, you'll find a link to the wiki I started on Mauritania.  Type your research in your own words in the wiki space.  (Note: I do NOT want you to cut and paste info from the Web or elsewhere.  When our report is done, I will run it through our plagiarism service, and I will be able to tell not only whether there is plagiarism, but whose entries in the wiki report were plagiarized.  Whenever you enter something, your own stamp and ID go on it.)

  This time I am also giving you the ability to alter other people's additions or words, but if you are unreasonable in your "editing," I will again be able to tell who did it.  Add your share of information, and try to fuse it seamlessly with others' research.  You don't have to just tack it on at the end; find the right place in the report to put your information to make the paper sing.