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Current Events Scrapbook
You will be asked to read newspapers, magazines, or Internet news sites on your own time to find articles dealing with a current event in government. You will cut articles out of the newspaper and magazines (if the magazine belongs to the school or me, photocopy the first page of the article and sight your source) and neatly attach your article on a sheet of paper. You may want to highlight the major parts of the article to help in the summary/analysis. On the back of the paper, you will word process a summary AND analysis of the article that is to be ¾-1 full page in length. Every article is to be on a separate page dated with the source clearly identified. You will need to keep these articles in a small 3-ring binder or a folder that accommodates 3 holes. There will be a total of (4) sections to your scrapbook over the course of the semester. The sections are to be completed as followed:

Grading period 1- (4) Local/State Government articles and (2) special interest articles
Grading period 2- (4) National Government articles and (2) special interest articles
Grading period 3- (4) International Government articles and (2) special interest articles.
Special Interest-Over the course of the semester, you will choose one topic that you will follow the entire 18 weeks. You will need (2) articles each grading period for a total of (6). Pick something you are interested in and will hopefully last the duration of the class!!! That will make this much more interesting for you. If you choose a topic relating to the September 11th or current War, you must pick a certain topic, place, or person within to help narrow your searches.
Grades

-4 core articles (from at least 2 sources)-- 20 points each

-2 special interest articles—20 points each

-overall neatness and organization—5 points

TOTAL 125 points

Binders will be checked on preannounced dates for benchmarking progress. This will most likely happen between weeks 3 and 4. 20 possible points can be earned. Failure to have at least 3 articles for the grading period will result in a 0/20. It is an all or nothing grade. No partial credit can be earned. This is a work in progress! Doing the articles at the very end will defeat the purpose of tracking a topic and won’t really be "current" over the course of the grading period.

Things to remember:

Articles must have sources and dates clearly marked
Articles must be at least 3 days apart. (Jan. 15-Jan 18 Okay, Jan 15-Jan 17 Not Okay).
Include relevance and opinion in your summary/analysis. I can read it, I want to know what you think.