Current Event Assignments

In addition to our 7thth grade social studies curriculum, we will be discussing current events each week. Each week you will read and annotate a news article and write a short response about what you have learned. (The “Remind” text and the Breakers homework page will have the specific requirements for each week at the start of the year, as we will ease in to this assignment and practice each other required skills. Students will also have the weekly requirements in their agenda!)The response can be broken down into two parts: a summary, and your reaction or reflection. We will also be focusing on reading for information and annotation skills.

Summarizing an article:

  1. Who are the key people or groups involved? Who will this affect and how?
  2. What is the main idea? What happened?
  3. When did this happen? How long has it been going on?
  4. Where (geographically) did this event take place?
  5. Why did this happen? /Why is this happening?

Reacting to/reflecting on the article: Each of these questions is a guideline to help you write a reaction…. Be sure that this paragraph is a minimum of FIVE COMPLETE SENTENCES.

  1. How do you feel about the situation?
  2. Do you think that is issue is right/wrong? Why?
  3. Do you think that the course of action will be effective?
  4. What questions do you have about this issue?
  5. Where do we go from here?

*As you reflect on an article that you just read or a news story that you just read, think about what you might read or look for next to learn more about the issue.

Your grade will be based on the following criteria:

Completeness

Each paragraph has at least FIVE sentences

Summary addresses each question and reaction addresses all relevant questions

(For example, if there is no right or wrong on the issue in your article, expand on one of the areas that pertain to the article you chose.)

Annotated article is attached to summary with evidence of active reading

Name, date, and class number are neatly typed or written at the top of your paper

Accuracy

Correct spelling, grammar and punctuation

News story is from a reliable source (newsela.com, Time, local or national news paper, teachingkidsnews.com, major news stations, NPR, etc)

Summary gives a clear description of the story or issue

Neatness

Summary and reaction are word processed or neatly written on a clean sheet of white, lined paper

Article is neatly annotated and stapled to the back of your summary and reaction