Reference no: EM132374044 , Length: word count:250
Current Events in Social Studies Assignment - Why Are We Studying This Anyway?
Background: Every week there are news stories related to the topics we are discussing in class. But how much of the news do you really consume (listen to, read, watch)? The goal of this assignment is to improve your general cultural literacy with respect to topics in economics and government/politics/civics/culture. In other words, I want you to see the connection between what we study and everyday life.
Assignment: News articles (current events) may not be older than three weeks from the due date. Make sure you print the article to turn in with your submission (write-up).
Improve your understanding of topics in the course by identifying news stories that you find relevant to our lessons. The best way to approach this is by sitting down regularly to search out news stories. The goal is to take in more news that is related to our standards that cover the economy, culture, politics, and government of the regions of the world that we study.
When you find a story that really connects with you and/or with the material we are studying, take note of where you first learned the story - who is the source? Identify (1) the title of the story and (2) provide a printout of the story. Finally, (3) write two well-developed paragraphs explaining the connection between the story and what we have covered in class. For our purpose, a well-developed paragraph is a minimum of five sentences.
The first paragraph:
Summarize the story in a minimum of three sentences. You must summarize the entire article, not just the first paragraph or two.
- Explain why the news story relates to a specific standard. Make sure you fully explain the how/why/in what way the article relates to the standard.
Minimum of two sentences. Repeating the standard is not explaining how the standard relates to the news story. Think about the how and/or the why the article is relates to the standard.
The second paragraph:
Address one or two of the questions provided (minimum of five sentences)
Explain why you found the story interesting to share.
Charts/diagrams/ photographs
- Explain what you are seeing in the charts/diagrams/photographs as they do not always print out with the story.
Questions for reflection for the second paragraph:
- What new information did you learn?
- What questions did the article raise but did not answer?
- What did you learn from photographs? from charts and diagrams? from illustrations?
- Did this article change you thinking on this topic? How?
- Did the author weave opinions into facts? Can you find examples of each? Give several examples of facts from the article, and give several examples of opinions from the article.
- Do you agree/disagree with the author? Why?
- What inferences, interpretations, or connections can you make from closely reading the text?
- What lessons can you learn from this policy, person, or movement?
- What can you infer from this article about this particular time, place, or culture?
Approved Sources of Information: You may use a print story, a news podcast, a news radio story...but the story must be factual. No movies and no editorials. No encyclopedia articles with general information about a country. You do not need to request approval from the listed sources of information, but if your source of information is not listed, you must email me for source approval. Make sure you email for approval in advance, not on the day your article/story is due.
Approved Sources of Information
- National Public Radio
- BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)
- Public Radio International
- American Public Media
- Smithsonian Magazine
- The Wall Street Journal
- The New Yorker
- The Atlantic
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post
- The Christian Science Monitor
Remember, your story needs to relate to the region of the world we are studying.
Attachment:- Assignment File & Template.rar