For Senior Current Issues Students:
This assignment will be completed by groups of four students. We will organize groups on Monday September 15. Make sure all group members sign up on the calendar adjacent to the Electoral College Map at the back of the room. Student sign ups are noted online here.
This is a 100 point project grade. Student grades will be divided into five parts (20 pts per).
- Electoral Map update, online post, and classroom presentation.
- Podcast of the current Electoral Map breakdown.
- News article assignment link
- Assignment to go with above news article
- Student group grades of student assignments.
1 – Update, Post, and Presentation – 20 pts.
OK – first of all update the map according to Real News Politics as of the day prior to your presentation. Secondly take a photo and post it online. Third you must provide a thorough group presentation of the current state of the Electoral Map. This will probably be a five minute look, and should include forward thinking, and changes from previous electoral layout (s). Provide predictions and reasoning. You will be graded on the quality of the presentation.
2 – Podcast – 20 pts.
Come in before or after school. Or at lunch. You’ll need to post the pod cast by the end of the day of your scheduled presentation. All group members must be present for the podcast in order for the group to earn full credit. The podcast has specific guidelines. You will be graded on the quality of the pod cast.
- Provide the date of your podcast and the names of students in the group
- Length should not run more than three to five minutes
- Talk about the same issues that you did in the class presentation.
- Remember your audience – fellow students – provide guidance as to the election outcome.
3 – News Article – 20 pts.
Find a good news article on the Election. Post a link to that news article along with the title and the source. The news article must be current, it must come from a reliable source, it should be an interesting look at some facet of the Election. You may run ideas by me prior to the posting…but generally choose an article that interests you and sheds light on the events of the Election of 2008. You will be graded on quality and depth of the article, as well as the quality of the source, and the fact that the news is current. Article must be linked by the end of your presentation day.
4 – News Article Question – 20 pts.
Group must prepare and post a question that relates to the above news article. Students will blog their answers. The question needs to be thought provoking and one that can be responded to in a blog. Think hard about the issues that you want students to consider when reading your news selection. You will be graded on the depth of your question. It must be posted by the end of your presentation day.
5 – Grade em – 20 pts.
Mr. Wood will run copies of all student posts. Due date for posts is Friday of your presentation. You may cut and paste your own copies of student posts as well. Either way you need to follow Blogging Guideline rules for grades. This includes spelling error subtractions. Make comments on the separate copies, provide scores out of twenty, and hand in all to Mr. Wood. He will enter your group comments into the blog. You will be graded on how thorough and fair you are in your grading, and by the quality of feedback that you provide students on their blog assignments.
FINAL THOUGHT
Mr. Wood will provide group grade and comments in each of the above categories (100 pts total. ) Since we held a draft for group leaders, and since every single person has had the option of moving out of their perspective group – group leaders will also assign an effort grade for each individual’s personal contribution to the project.
