Current Events Assignment
Requirements
As part of the Social Studies curriculum, students will be responsible for presenting two current events
assignments each trimester. These will be presented during class on Fridays, with some Thursday
options, due to scheduling conflicts. Being familiar with and able to discuss current happenings in our
world is a crucial skill that will stay with the students throughout high school, college, and beyond, and
it is never too early to begin practicing good public-speaking abilities. I will be giving your son or
daughter both of their assigned dates for each trimester. It is their responsibility to write them in their
planner, and to be ready when it is their week.
6th grade students should bring in an article about state or local issues OR a political cartoon.
7th grade students should bring in an article about national issues OR a political cartoon.
8th grade students should bring in an article about international issues OR a political cartoon.
Specific requirements:
 Students should tell where the article or cartoon came from (Herald Mail, Washington Post, USA
Today, Cagle Cartoons, etc.) Online versions of newspapers & magazines are fine,
too…however, if a student plans to use his/her school iPad to present, it is STRONGLY
SUGGESTED that he/she also brings a copy of the article from home, in case of internet issues.
 Newspaper articles may be “hard” news, human interest or investigative stories. No opinion
columns, obituaries, or letters to the editor are permitted.
 Students will not read their article aloud, but will instead be giving a summary of the main idea of
the story. This means that students should have already read through the article several times
independently at home, and should be ready to tell the main points: the Who, What, Why, Where,
When & How. It should be evident that the student has practiced at home…I do not want to see
students reading verbatim from an article they are looking at for the first time, or scrambling to
find an article on their iPads because they forgot it was their assigned day!!
 For political cartoons, students should share their interpretation of what the cartoon means,
and offer insight into how it relates to current events.
 Students may not do three cartoons in a single trimester. At least one presentation must be a
current events article.
 The articles and political cartoons that are presented must be timely and recent; no older than
two weeks prior to the students’ presentation dates.
 Students lose ½ point for each day that they are unprepared to present!
Grading: Students will receive a total of 10 points per article or cartoon presentation. It is broken into 5
points for the article or cartoon itself and the student’s summary and preparation (content grade) and 5
points for the student’s oral presentation skills; volume was appropriate, posture was good, some eye
contact was made with the audience, speed and pacing were appropriate, etc. (application grade).
**In the event that a student is absent on his/her assigned day, the student
should be prepared to present his/her article the first day back at school.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------YOUR ASSIGNED CURRENT EVENTS PRESENTATION DATES ARE:
TRIMESTER 1: ____________________ and ______________________
TRIMESTER 2: ____________________ and ______________________
TRIMESTER 3: ____________________ and ______________________