Current Events
Each trimester, students in 6th, 7th and 8th grades will have a current events paper due. (In 7th grade there will be a project in lieu of one of the current events)
Current Events
Each student will be responsible for finding a recent article in the newspaper or online that pertains to events in the Spanish-speaking world. They are to read the article and write a summary. The summary will be presented in class.
The guidelines are as follows:
Articles: The article must be on a topic in a Spanish-speaking or Latin American country. (Issues that pertain to the Spanish –speaking population/cultures in the United States are also accepted) It must be no more than 1 year old. Some good sources are: www.centralamericadaily.com, www.lanic.utexas.edu, www.cnn.com/world, The Baltimore Sun (www.sunspot.net) and The New York Times.
If your article is too short to write a ¾ to full-page length summary, then you have several options:
1. choose another article
2. look for related articles that may provide more information
3. follow the event for a few days to see if there are any developments that may add to your summary (a timeline or sequence of articles)
4. research basic information about the country that the current event takes place in and tie it in to the article. For instance, if your article is about a FARC incident in Colombia, then you could look up information on the FARC and what they do in Colombia.
Summaries: Students will summarize the main ideas of the article and explain how this issue is important. They will also include a “reaction paragraph” at the end of their summary, stating their opinion/thoughts about the issue/event.
The article summary final copy should be approximately ¾ to one page in length, typed in a 12 point font (such as Times New Roman, Arial, Courier or Verdana) and double-spaced. Rough draft, final draft (typed), and article will all be collected on the due date.
Presentations: Students will present their article summaries to the class and explain their articles and how the issue they covered is important. While students are presenting, those listening will take notes. There will be a brief class discussion after each presentation.
Reaction: After the presentations, each student will write a separate “reaction paper” where they explain what they found interesting or surprising in the class presentations.
Rubric
Rough draft, complete and
handed in with final draft: 10 pts
Appropriate article (must meet guidelines)
10 pts
Final draft typed, 12 pt font, double spaced
10 pts
Follows spelling and grammar conventions
20 pts
Summary covers important topics of article
without plagiarizing
20 pts
Student's reaction/thoughts on the article
20 pts
Presentation
10 pts.
Total:
100 points
