A WebQuest
for 12th Grade (Senior Literature)
TEACHER PAGE
Designed by
Susan Hartmann
shartmann@southcountry.org
Introduction | Task | Process | Evaluation | Conclusion | Credits | Student Page
It is 1956 and you are the only one at the newspaper who
has managed to avoid catching the stomach virus going around. As a
result, it is left to you to make sure this week's edition of the paper is
ready for the presses to keep the paper from having to close its doors.
It is the year in review issue and you don't want to make any mistakes nor do
you want to disappoint the advertisers.
The topic of the paper this week is:
What happened in history this year?
Purpose:
This WebQuest is being used to
have students learn some of the background of times in 1956 as well as to form
their own opinions and thoughts about the death penalty and jury trials before
reading Twelve Angry Men.
Students will be asked to create a newspaper using
Microsoft Publisher (or whatever type of publishing software available.)
They will first have to do some research to get started and then write news
articles about those events. Additionally, they will have to write an
editorial. Two illustrations are required as well. One of the
documents included in the WebQuest is about how to
write an actual newspaper article.
Learner Objectives:
1. Students will be able to complete research to
learn about events that took place in and around 1956.
2. Students will be able to write factual articles incorporating the
things they learned during their research.
3. Students will be able to write about their opinions in an editorial, supporting
them with facts from their research.
4. Students will be able to use technology (specifically Microsoft
Publisher) to produce a "newspaper" of their work.
5. Students will be able to correctly use conventional standards of
written English in their work.
English Language Arts Standards (9 - 12)
1. Students will read, write, listen, and
speak for information and understanding.
3. Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis
and evaluation.
4. Students will read, write, listen, and speak for social
interaction.
Mathematics and
Technology (9 - 12)
Standard 5: Students will apply
technological knowledge and skills to design, construct,
use, and evaluate products and systems to
satisfy human and environmental needs.
What the students see:
You will be required to
do the following things while generating your newspaper:
- write
3 factual articles;
- write
an editorial about either jury trials or the death penalty;
- have
2 illustrations;
- create
the title of the newspaper; and
- demonstrate
personal insight in your writing.
You should use Microsoft Publisher to create your
newspaper. Click on the newsletters file and pick a template for your
newspaper or create your own.
1.
You are a newspaper reporter for a local paper. Read
the following handout about writing newspaper articles and pay attention to
what is needed in a newspaper article.
2.
It is imperative that you get the newspaper out with three
factual feature stories about events that occurred in the year 1956 both in the
3.
Because the photographer is ill, you must also illustrate
your newsletter with at least 2 illustrations.
4.
You must come up with the name of your newspaper.
Try to be clever, remember it is 1956 and you are in
5.
As you have to be the Editor-in-chief as well, it is imperative
that you write the editorial for this week's paper. The editorial should
be based on your opinions and views after doing some research on both jury
trials and the death penalty. You need only write one editorial on one of
the two topics.
6.
Add anything you think appropriate for your
newspaper. The items listed are the minimum requirements.
7.
Be creative! Remember, you want to save the paper.
Resources
to consult:
Writing a newspaper article:
Writing
a news story
How
to write a newspaper article
1956
1956 Timeline
Timeline - 1956
Historic Events 1956
Jury Trials
Jury Trials 1
Jury
Trials
Women
on Juries
Death Penalty
Death Penalty Information Site
NY Death Penalty
Information
Grading is left to the discretion of the instructor.
It will be graded on a 100 point scale (a test grade). The minimum
requirements are set forth in "The Process" and "The
Task". Each article should be graded based on grammar, following the
standards of a news article (who, what, where, when, why), relevance, and
spelling. The editorial should not only be an opinion, it should be an
opinion supported by facts. Some points should also go toward the
illustrations they chose, creativity, etc.
Here is what the students see:
You will be graded on a 100 point scale. The
newspaper is worth a test grade. Make sure you meet the minimum
requirements set forth in "The Process." Be sure to follow the
directions and do your research. The newspaper articles will be graded on
how well they are written and how they follow journalistic guidelines.
Read the attachments! Use them!
Students should have learned a little bit about the times
in 1956 by the time they have completed their projects. Additionally,
they will have used a publishing program and formed their opinions about the
death penalty and jury trials. Finally, they will have learned how to
write succinctly and in journalistic fashion.
Hopefully, you have learned a bit about the events of
1956. Those events shaped the thoughts and feelings of people who sat on
juries like the one in Twelve Angry Men. You should also have
learned about jury trials and the death penalty in the state of
The
links above are all active links as of April 11, 2010.
Thank you to those who created those sites.
Last updated on April 12, 2010. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page