“Extra! Extra! Read All About It . . .”

A WebQuest for 9^th Grade English

Ms. Kollaris

Teacher of English—9^th Grade Ramp Up

Grace Dodge High School

INTRODUCTION:

Social problems have plagued Americans for many years. From racism and discrimination to world wars and drug wars, problems have existed in our society since the beginning of our nation’s history. Reporters have played a major role in uncovering important news events. Major newspapers across the country often include journalistic feature articles. In these feature articles, also known as saturation reports, reporters conduct investigations on problems affecting society. These newspaper reporters immerse themselves in everything they can to find out about the subject. Your class has been selected to perform a special task! The NEW YORK TIMES has hired you to become special investigative reporters. As part of your assignment, you are to uncover the truth behind a social problem that exists in the world.

TASK:

You may choose one of the following to complete the required task:

Create a written journalistic feature article/saturation report

- At least 3 pages

- Typed

-Use at least 3 resources

-Include a bibliography

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OR

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Create a PowerPoint Presentation

-At least 10 slides

-Interactive

-Include pictures

-Include a bibliography

PROCESS:

To begin your special assignment, your first task is to choose a topic. This should be a topic of interest to you as well as something your readers will be interested in. Then, think up an important question to ask about your topic. Finally, immerse yourself in everything you can get your hands, eyes, and ears on! Conduct research and gather background information, observe people or events related to your research question, record dialogue/conversations you overhear, interview experts in the subject; in other words, get as much information as you can before you create your journalistic feature article/saturation report. Your goal is to blend journalism and story telling to tell the best story possible. You will use the Public Policy Analyst on the TIPS website to investigate your chosen social problem.

You will use the PPA and complete the worksheets below:

Step One: Define the Problem

Step Two: Gather the Evidence

Step Three: Identify the Cause

Step Four: Evaluate an Existing Public Policy

Step Five: Develop Solutions

Step Six: Use the worksheets above to help you with your task

Write a scene by scene, descriptive and narrative report from all the information gathered. This can either be a written Saturation Report or a PowerPoint Presentation.

RESOURCES:

Use many different research methods to complete your task. Go to the library, look up information in books, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedias, etc. Locate experts in the field you are studying, interview people, observe your surroundings. Find out as much information as you can about your topic.

Since your task requires you to be a journalist, you may go to the following websites in order to gain insight into journalistic feature reports…

www.nytimes.com

www.cnn.com

www.pbs.org

www.nationalgeographic.com

You should also use the following search engines to research your topic…

www.google.com

www.askjeeves.com

www.discovery.com

www.dogpile.com

EVALUATION:

You will be evaluated on the following…

· features of a Saturation Report evident

· in-depth, scenic, and dramatic writing

· evidence of research (observations, interviews, etc.)

· discusses topic thoroughly (explores questions and answers)

· descriptive and interpretive

· PPA worksheets completed

You will be evaluated based on the following rubric for your written Saturation Report:

CRITERIA	4	3	2	1
Development & Organization	High quality development and organization thorough clarification	Very good development, organization , and clarification	needs some work on organization and development	unprepared unorganized not clear
Research	Evident, extended, and comprehensive research Followed a line of investigation from at least 4 sources	Good research Followed a line of investigation from at least 3 resources	limited research	Needs to research further information No evidence of research

You will be evaluated based on the following rubric for your PowerPoint Presentation:

CRITERIA	3	2	1
Content	content is written clearly and concisely with a logical progression of ideas and supporting information provides the audience with sense of the project’s main idea information is accurate and current	vague in conveying a point of view does not create a strong sense of purpose includes some information with few facts	lacks a clear point of view and logical sequence of information includes little information and few facts about the topic information is incomplete or incorrect sequencing of ideas is unclear
Text/Graphics Layout	fonts are easy-to-read and point size varies appropriately for headings and text graphics, sound and/or animation assist in presenting an overall theme and make visual connections that enhance understanding of concept, ideas and relationships.	in a few places the use of fonts, italics, bold, long paragraphs, color or busy background detracts and does not enhance readability some of the graphics, sounds, and/or animations seem unrelated to the topic and do not enhance the overall concepts	text is extremely difficult to read with long blocks of text and small point size of fonts, inappropriate contrasting colors, poor use of headings, subheadings, indentations, or bold formatting graphics, sounds, and/or animations are unrelated to the content

NYS Standards:

English:

#1: Language for Information and Understanding

#2: Language for Literary Response and Expression

#3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation

Social Studies:

#1: History of the United States and New York

Students will use a variety of intellectual skills to demonstrate their understanding of major ideas, eras, themes, developments, and turning points in the history of the United States and New York.

CONCLUSION:

With the completion of your journalistic feature article you will have made a powerful statement about the topic you chose, synthesizing and building on the skills you have developed over the past few months. Immersing yourself in a topic of study and reporting it back in a journalistic type article will have made you a truly sharp investigative reporter. You should be proud of your finished product, for you will have given your readers some new information about the ‘slice of life’ you have chosen to present.