CURRENT EVENTS RUBRIC AND DIRECTIONS



CURRENT EVENTS

Social Studies

Mr. Redfern 2015-2016

[pic]

Twice a month I will assign current events homework in social studies class. You will have two possible assignments. One will be a current events topic of your choice. The other will be a topic I chose for you.

Although sports are important factors in society and world cultures, we will not be using sports related articles as current events.

[pic]

If I assign a topic of your choice, you may choose any international, national, or local news article you find interesting, except for sports or local crimes. You must use one legitimate source of information such as the newspaper, an article you find on the internet under a news website (with your parent’s permission), a magazine such as National Geographic, Time or Newsweek, or a TV news program, such as the evening news.

IMPORTANT: Please rotate your source types throughout the year. You cannot use the same source two times in a row. For example, if you used the internet in September, you must use the newspaper or a magazine or a TV program in October.

Instructions for Current Events

Mr. Redfern

Social Studies

Choose your current events article. The article should be at least three paragraphs long. Please avoid using sports-related articles, or stories about local crimes.

1. Cut or print out the article. (If using television, not needed)

2. At the top of the First page, write your source, a copy of your source if available and include the following information:

Date of article

Name of magazine, newspaper, TV show, etc.

Name of source

Page numbers of article

4. On the second page, below the source listing, write a summary of the article using your own words. Be sure to make some sort of connection to what we have learned in class. This should be at least two full paragraphs each consisting of 5-7 sentences. Try to answer the following: who, what, when, where, how, why?

5. Write a second ‘opinion’ paragraph, answering the following questions:

a. Why did you choose the article?

b. Was the article interesting to you?

c. How did the article make you feel? Does what you read make you angry? sad? happy? annoyed? scared?

d. Did you change your opinion after reading the article?

e. What would you do to change the situation?

6. Optional: Ask a parent to read the article and include a quote indicating his/her reaction to the article at the end of your second paragraph. This is worth 5 points of extra credit!

Mr. Redfern

Social Studies

Current Events Rubric MONTH ___________________ TOPIC __________________

|Your source included: | | |

|Name of source, date of article, page number, author of article. This includes internet articles. Use | | |

|your MLA guidelines for how to list internet sources. | | |

| | | |

|Note: If one of your sources is from a TV or radio news program, list the date, time, station and | | |

|reporter’s name. | | |

| | | |

| |10 | |

|You included a one paragraph summary in your own words, with all important details included such as: | | |

|who, what, where, how, why? You used proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. |10 | |

|You included a one paragraph personal reaction (your opinion) indicating a clear understanding of the |10 | |

|topic. You used proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation. | | |

|You included the opinion of one of your parents, or another adult (optional). |5 | |

| |(Bonus) | |

|TOTAL POSSIBLE POINTS |30 | |

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download