11th Grade World History Current Events Log

Transcription

1 Name: 11th Grade World History Current Events Log The Assignment: Every Tuesday and Thursday, we will have an in-class discussion on current events going on in the world around us. Your task between those times will be to search national and international media outlets to find stories of global importance, complete a formal write-up of the article, and be prepared to present and discuss your article(s) with your peers in class. At the end of the week, we will review the week s big stories through a wrap-up Current Events Quiz, which includes both formal open-ended questions and / or political cartoons / illustrations At the end of the course, you will be turning in your Current Event Log for a final grade with a one (1) page analysis paper that will sum the news stories and connection you have made with these events from the material learned in class and during the course of the semester. What materials will I need to complete this assignment? Three (3) prong folder or one (1 ) inch binder Local / national newspapers, magazines, or reliable Internet sites Glue or other adhesives What do I have to do for this assignment? 1. You must locate a current news story from a legitimate news source that has some kind of global impact. Try to focus on with an international theme (anything outside North America) Sorry The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, or other TV sources do not count. Try to avoid editorials, blogs, weather section, or sports pages / magazines 2. Read the article and get a feel for the story or issue it is talking about. 3. Complete a write-up of the article using the assigned format 4. Glue the article to the back of or staple the article to the write up neatly(typed or neatly handwritten) 5. Participate in in-class discussions of current news stories both from peers and Mr. H and be prepared for end of week pop quizzes. 6. Keep the article in your current events notebook or binder for class discussion / collection at the end of the semester. 1

2 What is the format for the current events articles? This template can be found on Mr. H s website under the Current Event Log tab Your Name: Block / Period: Current Events Log 1) Source Information: Title of Article: Author(s) name: *Name of the Publication (Source): Date of Publication: *If it was an Internet source, please include name of site & web address ( ) 2) Region of the World: -Eastern Europe -Western Europe -East Asia (China) -South Asia (India) -Southeast Asia (Vietnam) -The Middle East -Russia / Former USSR -Africa -Latin America / Caribbean 3) Nation or Country: 4) Summarize the article, giving the reader the basic information of the problem, discover, or conflict (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How) (One [1] paragraph 5-6 sentences minimal) 5) Give your own thoughts on the article s major issues: Why do you think we as Americans should know about this? How it might connect to a topic we have talked about in class? Is there a solution you think would help the situation? (One [1] paragraph 4 sentences minimal) (Each journal entry should be not longer than one [1] page in length) 2

3 What goes into the final analysis paper for my Log? The final part of this assignment will be to select one (1) of the following two (2) as a wrap up to your Log, which will help to sum it up and make some more concrete connections to the material we have discussed in class. Option #1: The formal, one (1) page, typed analysis paper. Formatting should be single-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman copy included with your finished Log. Specific formatting & guiding points are below: Name of Student Course Teacher Due Date (Please write out) Paragraph #1 (Introduction to the Assignment) o Purpose of the Assignment o Requirements for the Assignment o News sources / other materials used Title of Paper Paragraph #2 (Overview of the big news stories of the semester) o Were there any themes or common characteristics between your news stories or were they a diverse mix of topics? o What were the top three big news stories of the semester in your opinion? o Why were they so important or newsworthy, in your opinion? o How did these news stories affect the world around us or how did they affect your community directly? Paragraph #3 (Drawing Conclusions) o How would you sum up the news overall for the semester? (Positive, negative, etc.) Explain why. o Do you think the news is presented in an appropriate fashion, without bias or spin? Explain why or why not? Explanations why or why not? o What trends or themes did you see developing in the news this semester? (Emphasis on particular themes or issues like the environment, world hunger, terrorism, etc.) o Where there any connections you made between one of your news stories and the material we discussed in class? If so, explain what and give an example. o How do you think this project has helped you to become a better student of world history? Why or why not. Option #2: The creation of a five (5) to six (6) slide video mash-up from the Meograph site which meets the same requirements as Option #1, but in a digital formatting. Finished mash-up will have to be shared with Mr. H digitally prior to the Current Event Log s final due date. You can learn and experiment more with the Meograph site via the links on Mr. H s Current Event Log page. 3

4 How will the end-of-week Current Event Quizzes work? At the end of each week, students will be asked to review and apply critical-thinking skills to a series of two (2) political cartoons that relate back to two (2) news stories we discussed during the course of the week. All the current event stories we discuss in class are posted on Mr. H s website under Video Current Events and can be accessed throughout the week for review, along with guiding questions. o If you miss a Current Event Quiz, you are responsible for making it up. All past video / news stories are archived on Mr. H s YouTube page An example is listed below: 1) What news story / current event from this week is being addressed by this cartoon? 2) Why is this event considered newsworthy / important to us as Americans? Explain. 3) What is the point(s) about this story that the creator of this cartoon is trying to make and how is this shown in the cartoon? Explain. What is Fantasy Geopolitics? Popularly referred to as "fantasy football for social studies and literacy standards," Fantasy Geopolitics is a free, exciting, and easy-to-use new learning game. Developed by a Minnesota social studies teacher, Eric Nelson, who was looking for a new way to engage his students in current events and the study of cultures around the globe, F.G.P. engages students in news / current events in a new and different way, by turning the study of this topic into a fantasy football-style experience. Students draft teams of countries, follow those countries in the news, and get points every time their countries are mentioned in The New York Times. In Mr. H s class, we will be using Fantasy Geopolitics to try and make our discussions of news from around the world more interactive and engaging. Students at the start of the semester will draft countries to represent their team and be assigned to a particular division and conference. Game schedules for each week will be distributed and students will check in to see how their team is doing during the course of the week, orchestrate trades, and add / drop new countries to improve their end of the week outcome. Information of playoffs and draft rules will be coming soon. 4

5 How will my articles be graded? Your entries will also be checked for completion each week: o Current Event Log = 10 total points (5 points x 2 days) o Current Event Quiz (Fri.) = 10 points total At the end of the semester, your current events journals will be collected and graded according to the following rubric. Those grades will then be added to the total points for the course. The rubric that will be used to grade your Log at the end of the semester is planned on looking like the rubric below: Task Description Points Received Points Possible Format Writing: All format requirements are followed as listed above All entries are organized in the binding of a notebook or folder 30 points Opinion / Original Thought: Original ideas are presented in thoughtful and intelligent manner with format requirements present 40 points Neatness / Presentation: Articles are included with the write-up on the back Neatly typed or handwritten on white paper or with the assigned template. Analysis paper are typed with Time New Roman, 12 point font, single-spaced, one inch margins (1 ) Devoid of spelling / grammatical mistakes 30 points Totals: 100 points 5

6 Legitimate Internet News Sources The following websites are some of the acceptable Internet sources when it comes to finding current events: News Agency Website The Associated Press Online *(Yahoo, Google, etc.) RSS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME BBC News Online CNN.com ABC News Online CBS News Online Reuters.com World News.com MSNBC USA Today.com Times Magazine Online The New York Time Fox News.com *If you are a fan of Yahoo, Google, or AOL News, keep in mind that many of these stories are taken from other sites like the Associated Press, Reuters, BBC News, etc. Make sure that you cite the original news source the article is coming from, NOT YAHOO, GOOGLE, or AOL!!! 6