BACK TO THE FUTURE NEWSPAPER PROJECT

Introduction:
"We the people of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America."



Have you heard these words before?
What do they mean?
What is the Constitution of the United States of America?

THE PRECEDING QUESTIONS AND QUOTE SHOULD BE THE FOUNDATION FOR YOUR NEWSPAPER.

Task
It's September 17, 1787, the final draft of the United States Constitution has just been sent to congress and will now be sent to the states to be ratified. Your job as an employee of your home state newspaper (pick one of the states existing in 1787*) is to provide news to the public about the important event that has just taken place. You must communicate this information to your readers! It's a big job!

Process
You will work in teams of 5-6. Each member of the team will need to choose a job from the list below.
In the end all memebers must come together to make the final product..

1. Reporter(s) - These members gather information about the Constitutional Convention and report intricate details of what occured. You must also write about the Convention from the presepctive of your teams state.

2. Feature Writer - This person gathers information on the delegates of the state your group has chosen and puts together a biography and information about the delagates role in the Convention and what they did during their time there.

3. Illustrator - This person draws pictures of the events discussed throughout their newspaper and works on the overall layout of the newspaper. You must also create creative captions throughout the paper and make the title page/political cartoon.

Remember that all the people in this group must work together to create your final product.
Each group should pick ONE State to write about!

Virginia


Pennsylvania


South Carolina

New York


New Jersey


Delaware

Connecticut


Massachusetts

Maryland


New Hampshire



Georgia

North Carolina

Rhode Island

____________________________________________________________________________________________
First, find your job name listed below. Next, read the questions listed under your job title. These questions are to help guide you in your research.

Reporters:

1. What is the U.S. Constitution? Summarize and explain this to your readers. Tell us about the event and the significance of the document that came out of it.

2. What does the Constitution do for the citizens of the United States? And for your state?

3. What three government bodies did the constitution create and how do they work together?

4. What was the Constitutional Convention? What role did it play in developing the Constitution? How did people act there and what did your state do to influence the event.

5. What events led to the writing of the constitution and the constitional convention? (example: riots, strikes, petitions) Try to focus on the things that occured in the state you chose.

6. What was the atmosphere like in the convention?...paint a picture with ur words.


Feature Writer:

1. Did your delegate(s) play an important role in the writing of the constitution? What was his role?

2. Did your state have more than one delegate? Why or Why not?

3. What was your delegate(s) occupation? What led them to ebcome a delegate? How did he get the position?

4. Did your delegate(s) participate in political issues in the past? What influnce did he have in your home state?

5. How does your state and the citizens in your state view your delegate?

6. What was your delegates experience in the Constitutional Convention?

Illustrator:
1. What scene(s) do you picture when hearing the feedback from your group members?
2. What important pictures will your readers want to see?
3. What captions will you need to write to let your readers understand the pictures?

Political Issue Paper:
Select a controversial issue that is of interest to you.
1) Attack the issue and break it down for the reader.
2) Make a connection between your issue and politics/government. What impact does your controversial issue have on the government?
3) Analyze the issue and provide details on how you see the issue continuing in the future.
4) How does the issue you chose affect society?
5) Relate it to the "Old Days" ( explain how the old days were different) and explain how the issue has had a personal impact on your life (example: gas prices and going to Dodgers game with your family)

Letter Analysis:
1) Write a letter to a politician or government official in regards to a concern or issue you may have. (Make up the person who "wrote" the letter---example: Christina 16 yrs old from Midgetsville)

2) Write a response from the politician. ( I suggest you find a letter during your research and simply use that as a foundation and THEN write the letter TO THE politician). If you have questions ask me please.

3) Analyze the RESPONSE LETTER by the politician:

A) Was the letter honest or just telling you what you wanted to hear? Why?
B) Did the person/elected official understand your position? Why or why not?
C) What is your opinion of what the responder said?
D) What is your opinion of the elected official(s) who did not answer the question directly? Does this impact your decision on how good of a job they are doing in office?
E) Will you vote for the individual(s)? Why or why not?
F) Did you like the response by the politician? Did it fully answer the question? If not, what should the politician have said?

Your newspaper criteria:
All questions for each job must be answered
Biographies depending on the State you choose (see me if you have questions or concern)
Pictures with captions
Title of News Paper and Headings/subheadings throughout the News Paper
1 Ad or Comic
Be in proper format!