ï Introï Taskï Procedureï Resourcesï Evaluation/Assessment ï Conclusionï Add'l Infoï

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Read All About It! Insight into the life and times of the people of the 1700's gained by reading the latest edition of The Independence Times.

The Independence Times.

1. Each person in your team must work for a different department. Choose one of the following: (1) News- report on the headline stories and the articles on the front page, (2) Editorial- write an opinion about the day's news, (3) Features- report on a variety of topics related to public interest (i.e. interviews with key people, articles on travel, cooking, new products, etc.), (4) Entertainment- report on what people do for enjoyment (i.e., plays, operas, games, libraries, etc.)
2. Using your assigned time period, select a topic for your article and have it approved by the editor. Your editor has a list of possible topics if you develop writer's block.
3. In your Reporter's Log, list the headings: Who-What-When-Where-Why-How. Leave room after each heading to take notes.
4. Check web site links. As you research, take notes and keep track of resources (web sites, titles and authors.)
5. Using the notes from your Reporter's Log, create your article as a word processing document (double space, Times font, 12 point). In addition to the body of the article, make sure to include a headline (and subhead, if appropriate), by-line, and dateline. Save your article using your last name and topic as the filename (e.g. Heling-fashion). When you are finished, spell check and proofread your article. Save again and print a hard copy.
6. Meet with others from your department. At this time, your role changes from reporter to proofreader. Exchange your article with others in your department, and using appropriate proofreading marks, edit each other's articles. Return to your role as a reporter and make necessary corrections to your article. Print a revised hard copy and receive final proofing from the editor.
7. After your article has received final approval, return to the web site links and locate a graphic/picture related to your article. Save the graphic using your last name and picture name as the filename (e.g. Heling-fashionpix).
8. As a staff, under the supervision of the editor, determine the layout for your team's edition of The Independence Times using appropriate software (e.g. AppleWorks 5.0 newsletter assistant). Create a newspaper masthead and logo. Using copy and paste tools, insert articles and graphics into appropriate locations within the newsletter format.

To view the evaluation rubric, click here.

Wisconsin State Academic Standards addressed . . .

Click here for Teacher Notes

Joelle Heling helinjoe@bonduel.k12.wi.us

Dawn Scheelk scheedaw@bonduel.k12.wi.us