“Extra, Extra, Read All About It!”
Introduction: The Great Gatsby has just been published and it is an instant best seller. The publication that you
work for has picked you to create a special edition on Life in the 1920’s. You have a midnight deadline so that it
can be out on the streets ASAP. It is your group’s job to write the articles and design the layout for the
publication. Within your group you will designate three people to as reporters and one as the layout designer.
Include anything you want in the publication; you have complete creative control.
The Task: Each group is going to create a publication comprised of all the writings that have been completed.
The publication can be organized in any fashion. You need to create a cover and decide on an original title for
the publication. Once each group is completed, you will give a short oral presentation covering the topics that
each group member learned.
Here are some examples of current publications. These images can help guide you when trying to design your
cover. Your cover should have a similar structure to these publications: a cover, table of contents, and sections
with articles that relate to them.
The Process: Your group needs to decide who is going to take each position that is available. These are the four
positions that are available:
1) Arts and Entertainment Reporter: TWO people will report on living in the 1920s. Include specifics on
the nightlife, popular actors/actresses, writers, literature, performers, and/or popular trends.
2) Biographers: One person will write a biography on two influential people during the 1920s. Investigate
their lives and why they were so influential in the 1920s.
3) Layout Designer and Copy Editor: This person will be in charge of the layout and design of the
publication, including the table of contents, cover, appropriate pictures throughout the publication, the final
editing of all the articles and the putting together the final product.
Each section of the publication must have at least TWO graphics. Brainstorm with your group
to see how your group’s publication can be the best. Make sure to include a cover with an
original title and a table of contents.
Role Chart for Arts and Entertainment Reporters
(TWO REPORTERS) Your job is to report on living in the 1920s. Include specifics on the
nightlife, popular actors/actresses, writers, literature, performers, and popular trends. You may
choose to divide the following topics evenly between the two reporters. Whatever you choose, be
sure to cover each of the following topics within your article. EACH TOPIC SHOULD
RECEIVE AT LEAST A PARAGRAPH OF COVERAGE. BE SURE TO INCLUDE
PICTURES. You may choose to do each topic separately as mini-stories or to combine them into
longer articles. See back pages for examples of topics.
Nightlife
Actors/Actresses
Writers and
Literature
Performers
Trends/Pop
Culture
Role Chart for Biographer
(ONE PERSON) This reporter will write a biography on two influential people during the 1920s.
Investigate their lives and why they were so influential in the 1920s.
Choose from the following people. EACH ARTICLE SHOULD BE AT LEAST TWO
PARAGRAPHS LONG. Make sure to cover their personal information, impact and significance
in the 1920s and accomplishments.
Alain Locke
Richard Wright
Dorothy West
Zora Neale Hurston
Person #1:
Langston Hughes
Claude McKay
Jean Toomer
Al Capone
Louis Armstrong
Countee Cullen
Charlie Chaplin
Duke Ellington
Personal Background/Family Information:
Impact:
Important pieces of
information/literature/films:
Why so influential in 1920s?
Person #2:
Personal Background/Family Information:
Impact:
Important pieces of
information/literature/films:
Why so influential in 1920s?
Guidance
Research each aspect of your project very carefully!!!
Brainstorm within your group to figure out how you are going to organize your project.
Some topics you may want to include in your publication:
 The flappers: who or what were they?
 What is the Charleston?
 Women’s right to vote and how it affected politics
 Impact of the automobile on society
 What was prohibition? What did it cause?
 Who was the president of the United States during the 1920s?
 Who were Rockefeller and Vanderbilt?
******Use any kind of technology that our school has to offer. Therefore, this should not be a
bunch of word processed papers stapled together. Use colorful graphics that relate to your article.
REAL publications have pictures with captions to go along with articles. So should yours!*****
Information Sources:
Web-based Information—Categories for Research:
The Arts:
Jazz Music http://redhotjazz.com/index/htm
Cotton Club
Charlie Chaplin
Duke Ellington http://www.acns.nwu.ed/jazz/artists/ellington/duke/
Robert Frost (see info and poems in textbook)
Mickey Mouse
Bessie Smith
Harlem Renaissance
Langston Hughes http://www.awl.com/englishpages/lit_wkbk_hughes_bio.htm
Countee Cullen http://www.nku.edu/~diesmanj/cullen/html
Alfred Stieglitz
Louis Armstrong
Thomas Benton
Television
Charles Sheeler
Culture in the Jazz Age http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~nick/e3009k/jazzage/html
Music of the 1920s http://btinternet.com/~dreklind/threetwo/Jazzhome.htm
Article on Jazz music controversy
http://www.cwrl/~nick/e309k/texts/faulkner/faulkner.html
Business, Industry, and Invention:
http://www.manteno.k12.il.us/cjudy/business.htm
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J.C. Penny
Charles Walgreen
Model ‘T’ Ford
Stock Market Crash
Charles Lindberg http://www.worldbook.com/fun/aviator/html/av2htm
Radio
Government and Politics: http://www.manteno.k12.il.us/cjudy/governme.htm
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Women’s Suffrage http://www.history/rochester.edu/class.suffrage/home.htm
Prohibition
Ku Klux Klan
Coolidge
Hoover
Society & Fads http://www.manteno.k12.il.us/cjudy/society&htm
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Slang Language
Dance Marathons
Hairstyles & Fashion
Dances
Flapper Culture and Style
Vanderbilt Family
Crime and Criminals http://www.manteno.k12.il.us/cjudy/crime&htm
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Al Capone
Leopold and Loeb
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
General References
Lesson with many great resources on this time period:
http://www.kiko.com/richey3/the-age-of-the-great-gatsby
Site for a good overview/intro to the period
http://php.ucs.indiana.edu/~mcsimons/wq/quest.html
Trustworthy searchable sites for info:
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/
http://www.loc.gov/
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/finder.html
1920s people and issues
http://www.liberty.edu/resources/library/public/as/history/american/1920/htm
The Roaring 20s
http://www.louisville.edu/~kprayb01/1920s/html
Final Requirements
 All papers should be double-spaced and well-edited.
 Pictures are not extra---they are REQUIRED, as is a table of contents and cover.
 Your publication should be approximately 10 pages in length.
 A works cited page should be attached to the back of your publication listing any articles
and/or websites you used and what article they were used with.
 You will receive a GROUP GRADE out of 120 points; therefore, it is each individual
group member’s responsibility to make sure the publication as a whole is complete.
 You will all have the ability to evaluate each group member so group members who do
no work do not receive points.
1920’s Group Project Scoring Rubric
Group Members’ Names:
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________
Neatness/Organized
Appearance/Editing/Creativity
/20
Work Productivity in Class
/10
Content (included all required elements
including a cover, table of contents, articles
on the arts and entertainment, at least two
biographies,
graphics/pictures/drawings,
double-spaced, required length)
/50
Works Cited Page
/10
Group Presentation
/10
Total Group Score
/100
Comments: