1. We chose our topic by first brainstorming a variety of possibilities. At first, all we could think of was generic and boring topics that almost everyone would pick, but then Gavin, a member in this group, remembered that he had someone in his own family tree that took a stand for what's right. We researched the story of William Green Butler and the town of Helena, and found out that it would be a very interesting and intriguing, as well as a fun, topic to research and learn about.
2. The way that we first conducted our research was by getting a general knowledge of the topic. We decided that the best way to do this was by having Gavin interview his mother and write down what research he gathered. He shared it to the rest of our group which helped us very much. Once we had a clear understanding of the general topic, we got to the real research. We found almost everything that you could learn about William Butler and the town of Helena, and made sure to keep a record of all of the websites that we used. Then we looked for credible pictures that could help us portray the setting and action of the conflicts between William Butler and the people of Helena.
3. All of us in the group were not sure what type of presentation we should do, but we were leaning toward doing a play. We researched more about plays and watched some examples, and we began to realize that a play might not be the best choice to display our information at its full potential. So we decided we needed to do something different. We realized that we are all very “techy” and decided to use a website to display our research. Once agreed, we went straight to work. We all collaborated and worked hard finally finishing the website.
4. Our project relates to the NHD theme, “Taking a Stand in History” because William Green Butler stands up to the town of Helena for not doing anything, even though his son was unrightfully killed in a bar fight he didn’t deserve to be in. He took a stand for knowledge, freedom, and justice.