Current Events
News and Notes
by Shelley Propst
Welcome to school year 09-10! and to Current Events at the Lieberman Learning Center of the University City Public School System. You will be doing research, writing journals, participating in Socratic Seminars and enlarging your working vocabulary. All due dates are recorded on the Social Studies calendar on the Social Studies home page, shown in purple.
Click here to read the Current Events class syllabus.
Current Events students research two individual topics, one international and one national and/or local. You will also do research on a common class topic and will be responsible to monitor one web site for the class.
Click here to view a list of possible topics and websites and the form to record your choices.
Each student will create a weekly journal on an article related to one of their topics. Click on the following links to find resources to help you with your journals:
Instructions for creating weekly journals with scoring.
Journal Entry Form (narrow newspaper columns)
Journal form for wider columns from Internet or magazine articles
List of valid journal entry types
Students will also participate in Socratic Seminars on various topics of current interest, especially on their class's common topic, and will be responsible for sharing information from their own web site research.
In addition students will be participating in a vocabulary workshop using the textbook provided. This should help our students prepare for the ACT test. We will do one unit approximately every two weeks. Students will be tested over each unit according to the calendar. Any work not completed in class should be completed at home. You should complete one exercise each time our class meets. Have Ms. Propst correct them in class so you can get any help you need and use your corrected exercises to study for the tests. Do not fall behind! You will be required to take the test on time whether or not you have completed the exercises. If you miss class on a test day, you will need to make up the test before or after school. All test dates are shown on the social studies calendar.
We will be starting with Unit 9, since many of our students completed the first 8 units last school year. By mid-semester we will finish the book and go back to the first unit.
Click here to see a list of the Unit 9 words.
Bonus points will be given for using the vocabulary words in your weekly journals.
Check this section for daily notes:
September 16, 2009 - We are completing the exercises for Unit 9 and will take that test on Friday or Monday, September 18 or 21. We have completed the topic list choices and are beginning the first common journal on plastic water bottles.
Revised
September 2009
