Current Events Assignment Guidelines/Outline

English 10 College Prep

Guidelines:
 This is a bi-weekly assignment (due every two weeks on a Friday) designed to
have you read an article from a newspaper, magazine, or credible online news
source and to analyze that article.
 The following sources are the ONLY sources you can use:
o Time.com
o USA Today
o The New York Times
o CNN.com
o Smithsonian.com
o History.com
 Please find/read about important issues in our world today.
 You MAY NOT use articles on Entertainment/Gossip or Sports.
 If you are a student in Health Tech, do not use medical articles. (I am aware that
your shop teacher assigns article assignments as well)
 Article may not be no more than a week old from when the assignment is due.
 All Current Event assignments must be typed and in MLA format.
 Must have a minimum of 6 sentences in each paragraph (total of 3-4 paragraphs)
 Work Cited page needed.

Helpful Hints for Writing the Summary Paragraphs:

 Remember to read the ENTIRE article.
 Underline all possible who, what, when, where, why or how’s in the article or
make a list of them on a separate sheet of paper. This will help you use your own
words and avoid plagiarism.
 Find the main idea. What do all of the facts that you wrote refer to? What is the
main “what” of the article?
 Your topic sentence should include the main idea of the article.
 The body of your paragraph should include the important facts that support or
explain the main idea.
 Use your own words.

Helpful Hints for Writing the Reflection Paragraph:

 Keep your topic sentence general rather than personal. This way you are free to
focus on yourself and others throughout the paragraph rather than making it all
about you. For example, list who is affected by the event taking place in your
article
 Think of the following questions to help you write your body sentences.
o How is this event important to me?
 Current Events Assignment Guidelines/Outline
English 10 College Prep
o How is this event important to others? Does it impact a specific group of
people/things? If so, how? c. Does it have a global impact? Does it have a
worldwide affect?
o Does the article present a problem? If so, what possible solution can you
think of?
 Avoid statements like: “This event does not affect me.” If the event does not affect
you, focus your reflection on how it impacts those people/places/things that it does
affect.
 Your closing should tell what you think or feel about the EVENT (not the article
itself) and why you have the reaction you do.

What are the 5 W’s and How?

 Who  Who/what is the event happening to or who is exhibiting the event?
 What  What is the event?
 When  When did the event happen or when is it going to happen?
 Where  Where did the event happen?
 Why  Why did the event happen? (What is the cause of/reason for the event)
 How  How did it happen? or how is it possible or how are people reacting?

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 Paragraphs 1-2: Summary of the article. Please include the following information
 Who, what, when, where, why, and how
 2 paragraphs (8 sentences each)
o Summary Paragraph #1:
 Start with: The title of the article is “_________________,” written
by author’s name.
 Continue with: The article is from The New York Times.
 Continue with: explanation of the article’s main idea and include
the “who” and “what”.
o Summary Paragraph #2:
 Support the main idea of the article with the most important facts in
the article.
 Includes the “why” and “how”.
 Closing sentence: introduce the idea that people/things will be
affected by the event as this will help your summary paragraphs and
your reflection paragraphs to flow smoothly.
 2-3 in-text citations in each paragraph are required
 Make sure you properly cite in order to avoid plagiarism.
o example: According to the article, a 12-year old girl “achieved the top
score of 162 on Mensa's Cattell III B paper, suggesting she has a higher IQ
than well-known geniuses Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking”
(Whitman 1).
 Current Events Assignment Guidelines/Outline
English 10 College Prep
 Paragraph 3-4: Reflection on the main event presented in the article. Please the
following information:
 1 or 2 paragraphs (8 sentences each)
 Make a general statement about how people/things are or will be affected by the
event
 Reflect on how the event is important to you or to others as well as the impact it
has.
 Tell your reactions to event and AND why you think/feel that way.

 Work Cited Page Needed

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Please cut out, print, or photocopy the article in and staple it with the assignment. You
may also email me the link to the article. If you do not attach the article, or if do you
not email me the link, you will automatically lose 10 points off your grade.

This is not a critique of whether the article is good or bad. This assignment is a well
thought opinion of the issue presented and asks you to explore your attitudes
thoughts/beliefs on the many topics in our current world. Your opinion should be well
thought out and should consider current information and personal views. This assignment
will enhance and improve both your reading skills and your writing skills.

You are responsible for one assignment every two weeks. The value will be 100 points
per assignment.

 Example current event assignment is attached

 List of Due Dates is attached
 Since you have two weeks to complete each current event, LATE
assignments will NOT be accepted.
 Current Events Assignment Guidelines/Outline
English 10 College Prep

DUE DATES:
Every OTHER Friday
*If due dates have to change, I will let you know in advance.*

Article #1 – September 29th

Article #2 – October 13th

Article #3 – October 27th

Article #4 – November 17th

Article #5 – December 1st

Article #6 – December 15th

Article #7 – January 5th

Article #8 – January 19th

Article #9 – February 2nd

Article #10 – February 16th

Article #11 – March 2nd

Article #12 – March 16th

Article #13 – March 29th (Thursday)

Article #14 – April 13th

Article #15 – April 27th

Article #16 – May 11th

Article #17 – May 25th

Article #18 – June 1st

Article #19 – June 8th

Article #20 – June 13th (Wednesday - Extra Credit)