United States History (Period 6)
Ms. Wong
Room 203
Chapter 7: A More Perfect Union
Newspaper Project
Project Goal:
To understand forces that shaped American government by writing about an important event
of the years following American independence. You will research and write about one of these
events: the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, the Ordinance of 1785, the Northwest
Ordinance, Shays’ Rebellion, or the Great Compromise.
For this assignment, you will prepare a newspaper from the late eighteenth century. You only
need to do the front page of the newspaper. On that front page, you will write an article about
one of the following events: the adoption of the Articles of Confederation, the Ordinance of
1785, the Northwest Ordinance, Shays’ Rebellion, or the Great Compromise. The article must
include an appropriate image. You will also provide a bibliography documenting your research.
The rest of the page can consist of other articles and images that you believe are appropriate
for the time period. I will not be checking their accuracy; I will be focusing on your main article.
This project can be done individually or in groups (maximum 3 students per group.) Keep in
mind that I will grade your project much more strictly if you do it in a group.
Articles must have the essential elements of a newspaper article as discussed in class. Refer to
the attached rubrics for more information.
Some good sources to reference are:
 America’s Library: America’s Story: Articles of Confederation:
http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/revolut/jb_revolut_2ndcong_1.html
 National Park Service: Springfield Armory: Shays’ Rebellion:
http://www.nps.gov/spar/historyculture/shays-rebellion.htm
 Ohio History Central: Land Ordinance of 1785; Northwest Ordinance:
http://ohiohistorycentral.org/entry.php?rec=1472&nm=Land-Ordinance-of-1785
 The Public Broadcasting Service: Chronicle of the Revolution: Northwest Ordinance:
http://www.pbs.org/ktca/liberty/popup_northwest.html
 United States Senate: July 16, 1787: A Great Compromise:
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/A_Great_Compromise.htm
 The Library of Congress: Road to the Constitution:
http://myloc.gov/Exhibitions/creatingtheus/Constitution/Pages/Default.aspx
This counts as a test grade. When you turn in your project, you will share it with the rest of the
class. You will also complete a self- and group assessment.
Project Due Date:
Thursday, December 18
United States History (Period 6)
Ms. Wong
Room 203
Newspaper Assessment Rubric:
Points
5
4
3
2
Research and Content
Style
All required elements
included; research
extremely thorough and
accurate; sources relevant
and consistently reliable;
bibliography lists more
than 3 sources and
formatted correctly.
Article presents in-depth
account of event; article
extremely well organized;
article exceptionally clear,
concise and informative;
images help readers
understand event; article
contains few to no errors in
grammar, usage, mechanics
or spelling; rest of
newspaper page is original
and clear.
Article presents somewhat
in-depth account of event;
article well organized;
article clear, concise and
informative; images help
readers understand event;
article contains few errors
in grammar, usage,
mechanics or spelling; rest
of newspaper page is
mostly original and clear.
Article presents account of
event, but lacks depth;
article generally effective
but could be more
informative or better
organized; writing
sometimes unclear or
wordy; images help readers
understand event; article
contains occasional
distracting errors in
grammar, usage, mechanics
or spelling; rest of
newspaper page is clear.
Article presents minimal
account of event; article
All required elements
included; research
thorough and accurate;
sources relevant and
generally reliable;
bibliography lists at least
3 sources and formatted
correctly.
All required elements
included; research
conducted but sometimes
lacks thoroughness or
accuracy; most sources
relevant and reliable;
bibliography lists 3
sources and formatted
correctly.
1 or 2 required elements
missing; research limited
Collaboration and Time
Management
Project tasks effectively
divided and strengths of
each group member
used well; group
collaborates effectively
and balances tasks
equally in researching,
planning and writing
article; team organized
and demonstrates
skillful time
management.
Task responsibility
shared equally; all
members participate in
researching, planning
and writing article; time
used effectively.
Responsibility for tasks
balanced among group
members; most
members fulfill
responsibilities in
researching, planning
and writing article; time
generally productive.
Responsibility for task
unbalanced among
United States History (Period 6)
Ms. Wong
Room 203
and often inaccurate;
sources sometimes
irrelevant or unreliable;
bibliography lists fewer
than 3 sources or
provides incomplete
documentation for
sources.
1
0
3 or more required
elements missing; little to
no research conducted;
source material
frequently irrelevant or
unreliable; fewer than 3
sources cited or citations
incomplete.
Article not completed or
submitted.
missing details or needs
improvement in
organization; writing
frequently unclear or
wordy; images not clearly
related to event; article
contains frequent
distracting errors in
grammar, usage, mechanics
or spelling; rest of
newspaper page is
somewhat clear.
Article’s account of event
incomplete or inaccurate;
article disorganized or
lacking in detail; writing
unclear or wordy; images
not clearly related to event;
article contains errors that
interfere with meaning; rest
of newspaper page is
attempted.
Article not completed or
submitted; no newspaper
page.
group members; time
productive at times.
Responsibility placed
primarily on 1 or 2
group members; group
members do not use
time effectively.
Group refuses to meet
or cooperate.