CURRENT EVENTS GUIDELINES

40 point weekly assignment (and ticket for extra credit)

REMEMBER: LIMITED TO PRINT OR INTERNET MEDIA. NO TV OR RADIO.

REMEMBER: IF YOU CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE ARTICLE, PICK ANOTHER.

REMEMBER: WRITE OPINION FIRST AFTER READING THE STORY (FRESHEST).

REMEMBER: DON’T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THIS WORK.

REMEMBER: ATTACH PRINTED OR SCISSORED ARTICLE BEHIND THE FORM.

CRITICAL THAT YOU UNDERSTAND:

  • Late = lose 20 points of 40, and no quarterly extra credit allowed
  • No article = lose 20 points; if only part of article, lose 10 points
  • No summary (or not in own words) = lose 10 points and no extra credit allowed
  • No opinion (or not in own words) = lose 20 points and no extra credit allowed
  • If off-topic, lose 35 of 40 points, but no loss of eligibility for extra credit, and can re-submit when topic is appropriate

ADVICE: Read the article, and write the opinion first because it’ll never be fresher.

  • Always write your first and last NAME(no last name is loss of 5 points),correctPERIOD number, and DATE you started the assignment (lose 5 points if blank).
  • Get DUE DATEcorrect, check agenda (lose 5 points if blank – incorrect lose 3).
  • Write the appropriate TOPIC from among the three given, or write Student Choice if that particular topic is given (lose 5 points if blank – incorrect lose 3).

SOURCE INFORMATION:(5 points each)

  • NAME = the name of the newspaper, magazine, or website title (5 points)
  • HEADLINE = usually in bold above the story (5 points)
  • AUTHOR = between headline and start of the story, for example (5 points):

- a reporter’s full name

- Associated Press (also known as AP)

- Reuters News Service

- Arizona Daily Star

- CNN

  • DATE = date of paper, magazine, or website article (5 points)

5 REPORTER QUESTIONS: (5 points each)

  • WHO = any name of the HUMAN(s) in the story (not the author), or the workers of a company or government department, like “the scientists at Raytheon”
  • WHAT = describe what the story is about
  • WHEN = when did the story happen, or what was the timeframe of the story (for example, “currently” or “recently” or “over the last decade”)
  • WHERE = where did the story happen (city, state, country, at sea, etc.)
  • WHY = of all possible stories to print, why is this particular story in the paper

SUMMARY: (10 points)

Put the story IN YOUR OWN WORDS, 8-12 words per line, all 8 lines, 64 words minimum

OPINION: (20 points)

Write IN YOUR OWN WORDS what you thought of the story itself, 8-12 words per line, all 8 lines, 96 words minimum

IF YOU CANNOT WRITE A SIGNIFICANT OPINION ON YOUR OWN, SIMPLY ASK YOURSELF THESE (AND PERHAPS OTHER) PROMPTING QUESTIONS AND WRITE YOUR RESPONSES:

- Now that you’ve read the story, what sticks in your mind?

- Why do you think that part of the story is important to you?

- How would you feel or react if you were one or more of the people in the story?

- Why do you think you’d feel or react that way?

- What does the story remind you of? Does the story remind you of anything else?

- Why does the story remind you of that?

- What have you learned from reading the story?

- What advice could you give others who have not read this story?

- What do you think (or hope) will happen next in the story?