NAME: ______________________________________ Period: _________
U.S. History – Civil War Newspaper Project
Assignment: Given a specific Civil War Event, you and a partner are to create a reproduction of a
newspaper that reports on that event. You should use Google Drive to complete the tasks and share
your work with your partner. Be equal contributors!
Event:______________________________________
Due Date: __________________
Your Newspaper must include the following:
1. A feature story on the battle you are assigned (see below and on back for details)
DONE:______
2. Two separate biographies on the generals (North & South) who were involved in the battle.
(see below and on back for details) DONE:______
3. A bar graph of casualties of the battle (# of killed and wounded for each side - include a title).
DONE:______
4. A nice, large, clear map of the battle (with a title)
DONE:_______
5. A letter to the editor from either a Southern or Northern point of view stating why the war should or
should not be supported (1 paragraph)
DONE:_____
6. 2 political cartoons of the Civil War Era (1 from each of you)
Done: ______
7. Fillers (Things that make it look like a ‘real’ newspaper: Title - give your newspaper a name!,
weather, comics, local events, classified ads, little known facts, interesting stories, role of women,
pictures, etc.) DONE:_____
Grading:
30 pts – Feature Story (Contains: Headline, dates, events leading to the battle, comparison
of opposing forces, outcome).
10 pts – Bar Graph with a title
5 pts – Map of the battle – With Caption
5 pts - Political cartoons
20 pts – Biographies (10 pts each) – With titles and pictures of the Generals
30 pts – Design of Newspaper (Neatness, Grammar, Titles & Headlines, Columns, Fillers).
Total: 100 pts. (Grade will be divided in two for 50 pts. each – however, I reserve the right to
add or take points from group members if there is an unequal effort).
NAME: ______________________________________ Period: _________
*Timetable:
Time Management is very important to getting this assignment completed. I have given you a
timetable that you should use as a guide to make sure you are using your time correctly.
* End of day two: Rough draft of Feature story
* End of day three: Rough draft of Biographies
* End of day four: Map and Bar Graph
* End of day five: Begin filling columns
Instructions for each section:
* Feature Story: THIS IS THE #1 PRIORITY! Both of you need to research and contribute to this.
You must write a feature story on the event you are assigned. The feature story will be
about a battle during the American Civil War and should contain the following:
- A headline
-The facts of the event (When, Where, Strategy of both sides, Who won, the results of the battle)
- Correct grammar – in paragraph form (multiple paragraphs need to be used to “tell the story”
- Remember to write this as if you are describing it to readers during the Civil War.
- A map of the battle (The map you find should appear near your feature)
- A Bar graph that includes the number of killed and wounded for the North and a bar graph
showing the same for the South.
* Biographies: (2 total - 1 from each person)
A biography of the commanders discussed in your feature story and picture of each
2-3 paragraphs:
- Early life (Birth, family, children, education, occupations)
- Military career
- post-military career (if they live after the Civil War)
* I realize this paper is to be written as it would appear soon after your battle but please have
you biographies examine the leaders until the end of their lives.
Basic Layout:
Front Page - Newspaper Title, Feature story, bar graph, battle map, fillers
Inside: Biographies, Letter to the editor, Political Cartoons, fillers
Back: Both your names and period.
NAME: ______________________________________ Period: _________
Civil War Newspaper Project
Scoring Rubric
Section
Points
Possible
Feature Story
30
Bar Graph
10
Map of the Battle
10
Political Cartoons
Biographies
10
20
Design
20
TOTAL:
100
SCORE FOR EACH PARTNER:
Comments / Notes
Total out of 50 Pts:
Comments: