Wednesday, May 28th, 2014

Take the Poll (and yell at Mr. Burns if it's not up yet)

Circle
What's going on in the world?

Current Event Unit
We'll be letting you spend the next two classes researching any national or international current event of your choice. On Thursday the 5th, you'll be writing a paper on your topic. For your final, you will be presenting your topic.
Skills: 
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
-AND-
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
Requirements & Considerations:
-You must take notes on paper on all sources you research and all notes must be on paper and be submitted after each class.
-Your research must be from a variety of sources and media types.
-You should consider researching "connected" topics -- even if they are movies, worlds of fiction, Ted Talks, Colbert Reports, etc.
-Keep a list of vocabulary words you encounter as you research.
Types of Questions to Try To Answer
What happened?
Why did it happen? Why did they do what they did?
What is the history we need to understand?
    -between the countries involved
    -key people
    -important events
Why does it even matter?
    -geography
    -strategic/military reasons
    -resources
What happens if we get involved?
    -go through all possibilities
What happens if we don't get involved?
    -go through all possibilities
What are your recommendations?
    -This should be well reasoned and fairly long.
When you write the paper..
1) This paper needs to be organized in a way that makes sense so the reader does not get lost.
2) When the reader starts the paper, they must understand what they are reading and why they are reading it.
3) Use bullets or numbers to make it easy to read.
4) Answer the questions above to help keep you organized.
5) Don't use any words you can't define.
6) Include pictures or other visuals from the internet to help you explain things.  Make sure to explain where you got your information from.

Current World Topics Periods 7/8
Military coup in Thailand
South China Sea clashes between China and Vietnam
Training Syrian Rebels
Should we be doing something about North Korea
Pakistan Human Rights abuse and our relationship with them
Stereotypes
Ukraine Crisis/Civil War
Civil Unrest in Syria
Chemical Weapons in Syria
Nigeria/Boko Harum
Crisis is South Sudan/Rebel Groups

Edward Snowden/NSA Spying