Name: ___________________________
Date: ____________________________
Ms. Ecker / Mr. Placenti
World History – Academic
CURRENT EVENTS ARTICLE AND PRESENTATION
QUARTER 4 ALTERNATE ASSESSMENT
Introduction: Throughout this year, we have been examining how global experiences and interactions
create unique situations around the world. Beginning with early exploration and expanding with
European imperialism, the world has increasingly been becoming more interconnected and
interdependent. A true understanding of history and the world is demonstrated not by the ability to spit
back facts and figures, but to connect events across time and recognize reoccurring themes by which all
major events may be understood. Your task is to locate an event from a nonwestern country and
present your article to the class to help us gain a broader view of the world.
Definition of Current Event: A current events news article is defined for the purpose of this assignment
as a relevant (within 3 months of the due date) written in print or digital news media source. It is an
article that has, at its main idea, topics related to international issues. A current event article is not
about a television show, a music group, a movie, or a sports team. An article is defined by the length, it
cannot be a one paragraph news summary.
Assignment Directions and Requirements:
1. Find a current news article related to a nonwestern country. (Must be approved ahead of
time)
2. Highlight important information in the article (Should be completed prior to being approved
to show that you have thoroughly read the article)
3. Create a 5 minute PowerPoint (or similar) presentation explaining the article and its
connection to history.
a. Summarize the article (answer: Who? What? Where? When?)
b. Why is the event in the article important? What did you learn from the article and
how can it affect your life? (Think about this on a broader scale – how will your
article impact the world in which you live)
c. Identify / explain which of the 9 historical themes this event fits into and why.
d. Compare the event to an event in WORLD history. How is the event in the article
connected to what we have been studying? Which of the historical themes does this
event connect to and why? (This requires research!)
e. MLA Style Bibliography with 3 different sources (1 book, 2 databases). A source card
must be completed for each source.
4. You must submit a complete research folder (worth 15 points) with the following:
a. A copy of your PowerPoint
b. Copies of ALL sources with 3 Source Cards
c. Highlighted News Articles
d. MLA Bibliography
NAME ______________________ BLOCK ______
PROJECT GRADING RUBRIC
PowerPoint
Summary: Explain your
article. Be sure to
answer: Who? What?
Where? When? (5pts)
Importance: Why is the
article important to
both the country and in
the scope of world
history? What did you
learn from the article
and how can it affect
your life? (15pts)
Comparison to History:
Connect your event to a
similar even from
history and draw
comparisons between
the two. (20pts)
MLA Bibliography
Include at least 1 book
source, 1 database
source, and 1 web
source with source
cards / evaluation
pages.
Presentation Skills
Presentation skills look
at the following
categories:
Organization, content
knowledge, visuals, and
delivery.
SCORE _______
A
The news article is
fully explained and
the audience has a
complete
understanding of
the event. (5pts)
Well thought out,
insightful analysis of
the event that goes
beyond the scope of
the article
(15-13.5pts)
B
News article mostly
explained &
audience mostly
understands the
event (4pts)
C
Explanation of article
is general and the
audience has some
questions about the
event. (3pts)
D
Explanation of article is
vague and the
audience does not
understand the event.
(2pts)
F
There is no
explanation of the
current event.
(0pts)
Well thought out
and insightful but
analysis remains
within the scope of
the article.
(13-12pts)
Analysis is somewhat
limited and
misinterprets the
article.
(11.5-10.5pts)
Analysis is unoriginal /
simply restates the
significance as defined
in the news article
(10-9.5pts)
There is no
analysis of the
importance of the
event.
(0pts)
Well thought out,
insightful
comparisons made
between events.
Background to
historical event
clear and accurate
(20-18pts)
Interesting and
clear comparisons
made between
events.
Background to
historical event
mostly clear and
accurate
(17.5-16pts)
Basic comparisons
made between events
Background to
historical event
somewhat clear with
few inaccuracies.
(15.5-14pts)
Minimal comparisons
made between events
Background to
historical event unclear
or inaccurate.
(13.5-13pts)
There is no
connection /
comparison to an
event in history.
(12.5-0pts)
10-9
 3 sources w/
supporting work
 No errors in
formatting
8.5-8
 3 sources w/
supporting work
 Minimal errors
in formatting
7.5-7
 3 sources w/o
supporting work
 A few errors in
formatting
6.5
 Less than 3 sources
w/ or w/o
supporting work
 Many formatting
errors
6-0
No bibliography
or supporting
work submitted.
20-18
 Logical,
interesting
sequence of
information.
 Exceeded
expectations in
knowledge
 Visuals reinforce
presentation
 Clear voice w/
proper
pronunciation
Research Folder
15-14
The research folder
should have the
following:
 A copy of your
PowerPoint
 Copies of ALL sources
with 3 Source Cards
 Highlighted News
Articles
 MLA Bibliography
Research folder is
thorough, complete
and has all required
elements
17-16
 Logical sequence
of information
 Comfortable
with content but
fails to elaborate
 Visuals related
to presentation
 Clear voice w/
mostly correct
pronunciation
13-12
Research folder is
complete but
shows minimal
effort / content
15-14
 Difficult to follow
sequence, student
jumps around
 Uncomfortable with
info and cannot
elaborate
 Visuals rarely
support present.
 Unclear voice, some
mumbling,
significant
mispronunciation
11
Research folder is
missing one of the
required items
13
 Unable to follow
information b/c no
sequence
 Lack of
understanding /
cannot answer basic
questions
 No visuals used
 Cannot hear,
significant
mumbling and
mispronunciation
12-0
No presentation
was given.
10
9-0
Research folder is
missing two or more of
the required items
Research folder is
mostly empty and
shows a poor
organizational
method/approach
TIPS AND HINTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PROJECT
Below are some hints to help you successfully complete this project without getting too stressed out. I
recognize that I am asking you to create a final product in a very short time, but it is completely doable if
you follow the suggestions below.
1. Choose articles that you think are interesting. You will ultimately be assigned a region of the
world to complete your project on and you want to be researching something you like.
2. Use your library time to find your 3 sources and complete the source cards / website evaluation
pages. Then, if there is time, start your PowerPoint.
3. Remember to get hard copies of all your research. You will be responsible for turning in a
research / project folder for a separate quiz grade. Your research folder should include:
a. Copies of ALL your research (3 sources minimum and supporting work).
b. Copy of your PowerPoint.
c. 3 highlighted news articles.
4. If you start your PowerPoint in school, remember to email it to yourself before you leave so you
don’t have to start over at home! Or use Google Docs to create your presentation.
5. When trying to make connections to history, it is helpful to identify the theme of your article
and then try to identify a specific historical event based off that theme. The 9 themes of world
history are located in the beginning of your textbook (starting on page BH-3) and contain an
explanation of each. The 9 themes are:
a. Politics and History
f. Religion in History
b. The Role of Ideas
g. The Role of Individuals
c. Economics and History
h. The Impact of Science and
d. Social Life
Technology
e. The Importance of Cultural
i. The Environment and History
Developments
6. When creating your PowerPoint, remember to use relevant pictures and avoid full sentences.
You want to keep the focus of the presentation on you. If you just repeat / read everything on
your visual, the audience will lose interest.
7. Help yourself by creating note cards of what you want to say. PowerPoint will even let you add
notes to each slide about what points you want to make on that slide and print them out.
Remember; if possible, try not to just read from either your PowerPoint or notes. That gets
boring for the audience. Engage with them!
8. But above all else: RELAX!!!!!
NAME ______________________ BLOCK ______
PROJECT GRADING RUBRIC
SCORE _______
CURRENT EVENTS ARTICLE AND PRESENTATION
SUGGESTED SOURCES
In order to aid you in your search for a relevant current issue, below is a list of reputable digital
and print sources in the news world.
Boston Globe
bostonglobe.com
British Broadcasting Company (digital)
bbc.co.uk
CNN International (digital)
cnn.com
Fox News (digital)
foxnews.com
International Herald Tribune (digital)
iht.com
Los Angeles Times (digital and print)
latimes.com
MSNBC (digital)
msnbc.com
National Public Radio (digital)
npr.org
New York Times (digital and print)
nytimes.com
Newsweek (digital and print)
newsweek.com
Reuters News Source
reuters.com
The Guardian (digital)
guardian.co.uk
Time Magazine (digital and print)
time.com
US News and World Report (digital and print)
usnwr.com
USA Today (digital and print)
usatoday.com
Wall Street Journal
wsj.com
Washington Post (digital and print)
washingtonpost.com
click on international edition