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Name: _____________________________

10th Grade World History Current Events Log

The Assignment: • Throughout the year we will have an in-class

discussions on current events going on in the world around us.Your task between those times will be to search national andinternational media outlets to find stories of global importance,complete a formal write-up of the article, and be prepared topresent and discuss your article(s) with your peers in class.

At the end of the course, you will be turning in your Current Event Log for a final grade with a one (1) page analysis paper that will sum the news stories and connection you have made with these events from the material learned in class and during the course of the semester.

What materials will I need to complete this assignment? • Three (3) prong folder or one (1”) inch binder• Local / national newspapers, magazines, or reliable Internet sites• Glue or other adhesives; Or use my 3 hole punch

What do I have to do for this assignment? 1. You must locate a current news story from a legitimate news source that has some kind of global

impact.• Try to focus on with an international theme (anything outside North America)• Sorry…The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, or other TV sources do not count.• Try to avoid editorials, blogs, weather section, or sports pages / magazines

2. Read the article and get a feel for the story or issue it is talking about.3. Complete a write-up of the article using the assigned format4. Participate in in-class discussions of current news stories5. Keep the article in your current events notebook or binder for class discussion / collection at the

end of the semester.

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What is the format for the current events articles? • This template can be found on Mr. Danners’s website under the “Current Event Log” tab

Your Name: ________________________ Block / Period: ________________________

Current Events Log

1) Source Information:Title of Article: ______________________________________ Author(s) name: _____________________________________ *Name of the Publication (Source): _______________________Date of Publication: __________________________________

*If it was an Internet source, please include name of site & web address(www._____._____)

2) Region of the World:

-Eastern Europe -The Middle East-Western Europe -Russia / Former USSR-East Asia (China) -Africa-South Asia (India) -Latin America / Caribbean-Southeast Asia (Vietnam)

3) Nation or Country: ______________________________________________

4) Summarize the article, giving the reader the basic information of the problem,discover, or conflict (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How)

(One [1] paragraph – 5-6 sentences minimal)

5) Give your own thoughts on the article’s major issues: Why do you think we asAmericans should know about this? How it might connect to a topic we havetalked about in class? Is there a solution you think would help the situation?

(One [1] paragraph – 4 sentences minimal)

(Each journal entry should be not longer than one [1] page in length)

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What goes into the final analysis paper for my Log?

• The final part of this assignment will be to select one (1) of the following two (2) as a wrap up to yourLog, which will help to sum it up and make some more concrete connections to the material we havediscussed in class.

Option #1: The formal, one (1) page, typed analysis paper. Formatting should be single-spaced, 12 point font, Times New Roman copy included with your finished Log. Specific formatting & guiding points are below:

Name of Student Course Teacher Due Date (Please write out)

Title of Paper

• Paragraph #1• (Introduction to the Assignment)

o Purpose of the Assignmento Requirements for the Assignmento News sources / other materials used

• Paragraph #2• (Overview of the “big” news stories of the semester)

o Were there any themes or common characteristics between your news stories or were they a diverse mixof topics?

o What were the “top three” big news stories of the semester in your opinion?o Why were they so important or newsworthy, in your opinion?o How did these news stories affect the world around us or how did they affect your community directly?

• Paragraph #3• (Drawing Conclusions)

o How would you sum up the news overall for the semester? (Positive, negative, etc.) Explain why.o Do you think the news is presented in an appropriate fashion, without bias or spin? Explain why or why

not? Explanations why or why not?o What trends or themes did you see developing in the news this semester? (Emphasis on particular themes

or issues like the environment, world hunger, terrorism, etc.)o Where there any connections you made between one of your news stories and the material we discussed

in class? If so, explain what and give an example.o How do you think this project has helped you to become a better student of world history? Why or why

not.

Option #2: The creation of a five (5) to six (6) slide video mash-up from the Meograph site which meets the same requirements as Option #1, but in a digital formatting. Finished mash-up will have to be shared with Mr. Danner digitally prior to the Current Event Log’s final due date.

You can learn and experiment more with the Meograph site via the links on Mr. Danner's Current Event page.

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What is Fantasy Geopolitics?

• Popularly referred to as "fantasy football for social studies and literacystandards," Fantasy Geopolitics is a free, exciting, and easy-to-usenew learning game. Developed by a Minnesota social studies teacher,Eric Nelson, who was looking for a new way to engage his students incurrent events and the study of cultures around the globe, F.G.P. engagesstudents in news / current events in a new and different way, by turningthe study of this topic into a fantasy football-style experience. Studentsdraft teams of countries, follow those countries in the news, and getpoints every time their countries are mentioned in The New York Times.

• In Mr. Danner’s class, we will be using Fantasy Geopolitics to try and make our discussions of news from around the world more interactive and engaging. Students at the start of the semester will draft countries to represent their team and be assigned to a particular division and conference. Game schedules for each week will be distributed and students will check in to see how their team is doing during the course of the week, orchestrate trades, and add / drop new countries to improve their end of the week outcome. Information of playoffs and draft rules will be coming soon.

Fantasy Geopolitics

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How will my articles be graded?

• Your entries will also be checked for completion 3 times throughout the quarter:o Current Event Log = 10 total points each time

• At the end of the year, your current events journals will be collected and graded according to the following rubric. Those grades will then count as your 4th quarter project. The rubric that will be used to grade your Log at the end of the year is below:

Task Description Points Received Points Possible

Format – Writing:

• All format requirements arefollowed as listed above

• All entries are organized inthe binding of a notebook orfolder

30 points

Opinion / Original Thought:

• Original ideas are presentedin thoughtful and intelligentmanner with formatrequirements present

40 points

Neatness / Presentation: • Articles are included with

the write-up on the back• Neatly typed or handwritten

on white paper or with theassigned template.

• Analysis paper are typedwith Time New Roman, 12point font, single-spaced,one inch margins (1”)

• Devoid of spelling /grammatical mistakes

30 points

Totals: 100 points

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Legitimate Internet News Sources

The following websites are some of the acceptable Internet sources when it comes to finding current events:

News Agency Website

The Associated Press Online *(Yahoo, Google, etc.)

BBC News Online

CNN.com

ABC News Online

CBS News Online

Reuters.com

World News.com

MSNBC

USA Today.com

Time Magazine Online

The New York Times

Fox News.com

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/ RSS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

http://www.cnn.com/

http://abcnews.go.com/

http://www.cbsnews.com/

http://www.reuters.com/

http://www.worldnews.com/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

http://www.usatoday.com/

http://www.time.com/time/

http://www.nytimes.com/

http://www.foxnews.com/

*If you are a fan of Yahoo, Google, or AOL News, keep in mind that many of these stories aretaken from other sites like the Associated Press, Reuters, BBC News, etc. Make sure that youcite the original news source the article is coming from, NOT YAHOO, GOOGLE, or AOL!!!