Current Events U.S. Government
This semester, you will be expected to complete approximately one Current Event assignment per week. This assignment is intended to help you become more aware of the world around you, and help you stay up to date with happenings here and around the world. These will be due the class meeting BEFORE a quiz, unless announced otherwise!
Guidelines l Current events MUST be on the topic assigned. The topic for the current event will be given to you with each agenda for the week, and it will be written on the board as well for the duration of the week. l Current events must include the actual article you used, cut out and stapled to your paper or printed from the site you got it from. l Current events must be taken from a newspaper or news source, and CANNOT be from a blog or opinion piece.
Assignment Structure Part I: Dateline This consists of the name of the source (LA Times, CNN, etc.), the name of the author of the article, and the date it was published.
Part II: People/Organizations This is a list of the names of people, organizations, or any other important things named in the article. Examples of this would be President Obama or NATO. Make sure to underline or highlight these in your actual article.
Part III: Main Idea This is a 3-5 sentence summary of what the article is talking about. What happened? What may happen? How does this affect us? Main ideas that are not 3-5 sentences will lose points!
Part IV: Your Opinion This is a 3-5 sentence reflection of how you feel about this topic? There is no right or wrong answer, and do not be afraid to say how you really feel about the topic—I appreciate honesty and thought! Be sure to be specific—simply saying “I agree”, or “I disagree” does not tell me anything!
Rubric (Each Current Event is worth 5 points) A – All four parts are completed correctly, main idea and opinion show in-depth analysis and genuine thought. Student has included article and has highlighted/underlined relevant parts accordingly.
B - All four parts are completed correctly, main idea and opinion show satisfactory analysis and thought. Student has included article and has highlighted/underlined relevant parts accordingly.
C – All four parts are completed correctly, main idea and opinion show marginal analysis and thought. Student may not have included article and/or not highlighted/underlined relevant parts accordingly.
D – One part may not be completed correctly, main idea and/or opinion are unsatisfactory. Student may not have included article and/or not highlighted/underlined relevant parts accordingly. Article may not be acceptable (blog or opinion piece)
F – Two or more parts are not completed correctly, main idea and/or opinion are unsatisfactory or incomplete. Student may not have included article and/or not highlighted/underlined relevant parts accordingly. Article may not be acceptable (blog or opinion piece)
Current Event - Sample U.S. Government
Name Date Period/Class
Current Event #___ I.
LA Times, Author, February 9, 2010
II.
President Obama, Senator Ted Kennedy, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, NATO, NASA
III.
This article was about ___________. President Obama wants to pass a bill where ____, but Senator Kennedy and Speaker Pelosi opposed it. If this bill passes, it would mean that Americans now have the right to ______________ .
IV.
I think that this bill would be great because __________________. If we passed this bill, it would mean that lots of people could _______________, and I think that would be helpful. If I were President Obama, I would sign this bill because I would want to help people.
Article should be highlighted/underlined and stapled to this paper.
