Current Events

In each class, students will be assigned 4 Current Events topics per marking period. The topics of the current events will relate to classroom lessons and will be posted on individual Google Classrooms. Each carries the same point value (25 per article - QUIZ GRADE).

The purpose of the project is to keep you informed and involved with the modern world and society, as well as correlate class lessons with ongoing global, national, and local events. Your objective is to find a current news article, within 1-2 weeks of due date, whether from a newspaper, magazine, or internet source, that has relevance to the weekly topic. Each article topic will correlate to the topic of classroom lessons.

Students must prepare to answer the following questions in 1-2 sentences:

Q. 1 How does this impact the world around me?

Q. 2 How does this relate to what I am learning in class?

Students can submit their article 1 of 3 ways:

WRITTEN

Choose an article that relates to the weekly topic (if you’re unsure, please check with me), submit it with a 1 page reaction paper.

The paper should give a 1 paragraph (4-5 sentences) summary of article AND 1 paragraph (4-5 sentences) of your opinion on the issue. You must also answer both Qs 1 & 2, in 1-2 sentences each.

SCORING:

  • Article (5 points) Article is relevant to weekly topic, within date requirement
  • Summary (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, accurate summary with no plagiarism
  • Opinion (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, concise opinion
  • Q1 (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, correlates to personal affect
  • Q2 (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, correlates to class lessons

If student chooses to also present article in class extra credit will be assigned.

PRESENTATION

You can choose to do a 2 minute presentation of the article to the class, however, you must submit proof of talking points (3 bullet points of summary, 3 bullet points of opinion) and provide article.

Student must also accept questions from the class or teacher about the topic.

SCORING:

  • Article (4 points) Article is relevant to weekly topic, within date requirement
  • Summary (3 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, accurate summary with no plagiarism
  • Opinion (3 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, concise opinion
  • Presentation (5 points) Presents concise and accurate summary of article and opinion, fields questions of class
  • Q1 (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, correlates to personal affect
  • Q2 (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, correlates to class lessons

GOOGLE CLASSROOM

Post an article, relevant to the weekly topic, to our Google Classroom page.

Along with the post, provide a 3-4 sentence summary of the article and 3 sentences of your opinion.

You must respond to at least one comment of your posting and also comment on at least one classmate's posting in Google Classroom.

SCORING:

  • Article (4 points) Article is relevant to weekly topic, within date requirement
  • Summary (3 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, accurate summary with no plagiarism
  • Opinion (3 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, concise opinion
  • Response (5 points) Student responds to one comment and to a classmate's article
  • Q1 (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, correlates to personal affect
  • Q2 (5 points) Meets min. sentence requirement, correlates to class lessons

EXTRA CREDIT

If a student submits each Current Event on the DUE DATE, they will receive 5 points extra credit at the end of the marking period. Current Events can be submitted up until midnight of the DUE DATE to be eligible for extra credit.

LATE SUBMISSION

Students can submit current events up until midnight of the Sunday after the due date for no penalty. Students have the ability to submit current events late, however, points will be deducted as follows:

Monday submission until 12 AM = -5 points

Tuesday submission until 3:30 PM = -10 points

After 3:30 Tuesday DEADLINE, current event will be marked as a 0.

(Ex. Due date Friday - 12/2, deadline Tuesday 12/6).

STRIKE POLICY

Students are allowed to make up 1 missed current event. Students may submit missed article anytime before the end of the marking period for no late point deductions.


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