Current Events Assignment
This term, you will be required to give a brief presentation and written response to a
current event of your choice. The article can come from a print newspaper or an online
newspaper. The presentation should be from 5-7 minutes in length. You may work alone
or in pairs.
Your choice of article should be guided by the following considerations:
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An issue that could create a discussion because it is controversial.
Something that is current; don’t use an article from two years ago!
Avoid using a sports event, as these do not give rise to discussion.
The issue should be relevant to the lives of your classmates in some way.
For the presentation:
 Give the title of the article and the newspaper it was found in.
 Create a poster that includes: the article, labels showing examples of the 5
media concepts, a W-5 chart. One poster per pair please.
 Briefly summarize the main point of the article and the main factors involved. You may use point
form notes.
 Ask two open-ended questions, based on the Q-chart, which you will use to facilitate a class
discussion. Each person must ask one question and facilitate that part of the discussion.
 Close with your opinion(s) on the article. This will be easier if you have picked a controversial
article.
Discussion Participation:
 Each student (in the audience) is expected to participate in and will be evaluated during class
discussions during Current Event presentations. You are not expected to comment every time, but
at the minimum 3 times.
 As part of your participation mark, each student must respond to 2 questions that are posted on
the wiki. You may respond to a question from any class. These 2 postings are due by the end of
the unit.
Written Work: Each partner must write and submit their written work independently.
In your notebook and online:
 Write a summary that outlines the key points in the article. You may use the 5 W’s to guide your
summary, but do not simply list the facts of the article. Rather, retell them in your own words.
 Write a second paragraph that is an analysis, or “alternate reading” of the article. Use the Critical
Reading Chart as the template to guide your written response.
 Post your summary and response to the article on the Grade 8 Wiki.
https://gr8pljms.wikispaces.com/Current+Events
Where to look…
 Newspapers such as the Toronto Star, Globe & Mail or the National Post. Online you may want to
look at http://www.cbc.ca/ or http://www.bbc.co.uk/
 If you’ve found your article online make sure it is a complete article and not just a brief summary of
the event or issue.
 Look in the national news or the Toronto section to find interesting issues.
 Explore an issue that is interesting to you and relevant to your classmates as this will make it easier
to generate questions and discussion during your presentation.