The document assigns students a project to create a newspaper about a country in South America. It provides guidelines for the content and format, including requiring two paragraphs each on two current events, two entertainment segments, two advertisements, sections on weather, sports, and an interview. Periodic deadlines are set to submit sections for a grade. Students can work individually or with one partner. Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and will result in point deductions.

1. Due Date ____________________________________________
For your first big project of the school year in Social Studies, I am going to have
you create a newspaper of any South America Country that you would like. If
you have any questions on whether the country that you would like to use would
qualify, please see me. You are to create your newspaper on a large poster board
that has been folded in half. I expect you to be able to fill all four sides of the
poster board. This is obviously going to be much larger than an actual
newspaper, so you may use a little bit bigger font than usual (Not too much
bigger than 16 or 18 however). Your newspaper should include all of the
following categories and you should have 2 paragraphs (5 Sentences per
Paragraph) of information for each one. That means that if there are 2
current events, each one of those current events need to be 2 paragraphs
long!!
2 Separate Current Events (Each Current Event is 2 paragraphs long) – What is happening in your
country today? Report on something that has happened recently (within the past 6 months) in your
chosen country. Was there a crime that occurred? Is there a war going on in the country? Was there an
important election? Where there any Natural Disasters that occurred?
2 Separate Entertainment Segment (Each Entertainment Segment is 2 Paragraphs) (Cooking,
History, Wildlife, Famous Landmark) –Choose 2 of the 4 types of entertainment and explain them.
What types of foods are eaten in your chosen country? What are the ingredients, Explain how to make
the dish. OR Discuss a famous historical event that occurred in the country. When did it take place?
Why is it so famous? Who was involved? OR Discuss what kinds of animals can be found in your
country. Are there any endangered species in your country? OR Are there any famous landmarks inside
of your country? When were they built? What purpose did they serve?
2 Separate Advertisements (Each Advertisement is 2 Paragraphs) – Sell two products that the
country is known for exporting. For example, if you choose Mexico, make an advertisement selling
silver or if you have chosen Brazil, you could do an advertisement for sugar. The products that you are
selling actually have to be real products that are made in the country that you have chosen! BE
CREATIVE.
1 Weather Segment –What is the country’s average yearly temperature? What is the average rainfall?
Average yearly snowfall? Does your country experience weather disasters like hurricanes, monsoons,
earthquakes, etc?
1 Sports Report What types of sports are popular in the country? Who are some of the famous athletes?
Are they involved in any international tournaments? How young can they be to play the sport?
1 Interview –Interview a famous (alive or dead) from the country. Why is he/she famous? What did the
do to impact the country? This person can be from history, the government, a sport, or from
entertainment.

2. Pictures For Your Newspaper
You must include one hand-drawn picture for each of the categories above. You may include
pictures from magazines and the Internet, but you MUST INCLUDE A HAND-DRAWN
PICTURE AS WELL!!
Deadlines
I realize that this is a large project for the students. In order to keep the students on task, I am
going to set up periodic deadlines to assure that the students do not wait until the last minute to
work on the project. Also, these turn-in days will count as a quiz grade, so it is very important
that the student have their articles for the check in date!!!
October 19th (Today): Project Assigned
October 26th: First 2 articles are due
November 2nd: Next 2 articles are due
November 9th: Next 2 articles are due
November 16th: Next 2 articles are due
November 19th: FINAL PROJECT DUE DATE!!!!
Partners
This can either be a solo project or I will allow you to have one other partner (Please do not ask
if you can work in groups of three or more as your request will be denied). However, I strongly
suggest that you choose a partner that will do equal the amount of work that you do, I will
not listen to students complain that their partners are making them do all of the work. I
urge you to consider your choice of partner before you tell me your final decision. I will be
passing around a sign-up sheet for you to write your partner’s name, or if you will be doing this
on your own. Thank you and have fun with this.
Academic Integrity
You will need to do quite a bit of outside research for this project. I think that encyclopedias and
the Internet would be excellent resources to find the necessary information. DO NOT, under any
circumstances, just copy the information out of a book or copy and paste right off of the Internet.
This is called plagiarism and is directly against the rules of the Higgins Middle School. I will be
taking off 35 points if I feel that you are not putting the information into your own words.

3. Category 5 Points 4 Points 2 Points 0 Points
Facts were accurate, Facts were accurate, Facts were Facts were NOT
and less than 6 months current, but only 4 bits accurate, current, accurate, current, or
Current Events old and 5 bits of of information but only 3 bits of there was less than 3
Segment 1 information was given information bits of information
Facts were accurate, Facts were accurate, Facts were Facts were NOT
and less than 6 months current, but only 4 bits accurate, current, accurate, current, or
Current Events old and 5 bits of of information but only 3 bits of there was less than 3
Segment 2 information was given information bits of information
Segment was clearly Segment only had 4 Segment only had Segment was missing
presented and stated at accurate entertainment 2 or 3 accurate completely or there
Entertainment least 5 accurate facts. facts. entertainment facts were no accurate facts
Segment 1 given
Segment was clearly Segment only had 4 Segment only had Segment was missing
presented and stated at accurate entertainment 2 or 3 accurate completely or there
Entertainment least 5 accurate facts. facts. entertainment facts were no accurate facts
Segment 2 given
Segment includes 5 Segment only had 4 Segment only had Segment was missing
accurate facts about the accurate weather facts 2-3 accurate facts. completely or there
Weather weather of the country. were no accurate facts
Segment given.
5 accurate facts about 3-4 accurate facts 2 accurate facts No interview segment
the life of the person about the life of the about the life of the included or no accurate
Interview Interviewed person Interviewed person Interviewed facts about the life of
Segment the person Interviewed
Advertisement sells a Advertisement sells a Advertisement sells No Advertisement
well-known export of well-known export of a well-known Included or there are
the country and the country and export of the less than 2 accurate facts
Advertisement 1 includes 5 accurate includes 4 accurate country and about the product
facts about the product facts about the includes 2-3
product accurate facts
about the product
Advertisement sells a Advertisement sells a Advertisement sells No Advertisement
well-known export of well-known export of a well-known Included or there are
the country and the country and export of the less than 2 accurate facts
Advertisement 2 includes 5 accurate includes 4 accurate country and about the product
facts about the product facts about the includes 2-3
product accurate facts
about the product
Sports segment Sports segment Sports segment Sports segment
discusses a major sport discusses a major discusses a major discusses a major sport
of the country and sport of the country sport of the country of the country and
Sports Segment includes at least 5 and includes at least 4 and includes at include 1 or no accurate
accurate facts about the accurate facts about least 2-3 accurate facts about the sport.
sport. the sport. facts about the
sport.
Hand drawn pictures Hand drawn picture Hand drawn Hand drawn picture
for every one of the missing on 1-2 picture missing on missing on 5 or more
segments segments 3-4 segments segments
Pictures
Each Day the Project is Passed in Late Will Be –10 Points
Copying From the Internet or Book Will Be –35 Points

4. October 19, 2012
Dear Parents and Guardians of the Marlins Cluster,
I am just writing you this short note today to inform you that I have assigned a project in Social
Studies class and that the due date will be November 19th. I have sent home a sheet explaining the
entire assignment as well as a rubric as to exactly how the assignment will be graded. The project will be
to create newspaper of an Asian country of their choosing.
I have spoken to the students quite a bit about the topic of plagiarism, which is the direct copying of
information from a book or Internet source. This type of behavior is unacceptable and is explicitly
discussed in the handbook that was given to the students at the beginning of the year. On this project, if
a student is caught using words that are not their own, they will lose 35 points off of the project.
This can either be a solo project or I am allowing the children to pick one other person in the cluster
to work with, the choice is theirs. I urge students to be careful in their choice of partner, they should
choose a partner that will do the same amount of work that they will. Thank you very much for your
time, if you could please sign this slip of paper so that I know that you have seen it, it would be greatly
appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mr. Raponi
Parent or Guardian Signature ____________________________________________
October 19, 2012
Dear Parents and Guardians of the Marlins Cluster,
I am just writing you this short note today to inform you that I have assigned a project in Social
Studies class and that the due date will be November 19th. I have sent home a sheet explaining the
entire assignment as well as a rubric as to exactly how the assignment will be graded. The project will be
to create newspaper of an Asian country of their choosing.
I have spoken to the students quite a bit about the topic of plagiarism, which is the direct copying of
information from a book or Internet source. This type of behavior is unacceptable and is explicitly
discussed in the handbook that was given to the students at the beginning of the year. On this project, if
a student is caught using words that are not their own, they will lose 35 points off of the project.
This can either be a solo project or I am allowing the children to pick one other person in the cluster
to work with, the choice is theirs. I urge students to be careful in their choice of partner, they should
choose a partner that will do the same amount of work that they will. Thank you very much for your
time, if you could please sign this slip of paper so that I know that you have seen it, it would be greatly
appreciated.
Sincerely,
Mr. Raponi
Parent or Guardian Signature ___________________________________________

5. http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/plagiarism.html#
What is Plagiarism?!?!?!?!?
Chris just found some good stuff on the Web for his science report about sharks. He highlights a
paragraph that explains that most sharks grow to be only 3 to 4 feet long and can't hurt people.
Chris copies it and pastes it into his report. He quickly changes the font so it matches the rest of
the report and continues his research.
Chris just made a big mistake. Do you know what he did? He committed plagiarism. Plagiarism
is when you use someone else's words or ideas and pass them off as your own. It's not allowed in
school, college, or beyond, so it's a good idea to learn the proper way to use resources, such as
websites, books, and magazines.
Plagiarism is a form of cheating and is stealing a person's ideas or writing. You wouldn't take
someone's lunch money or bike, right? Well, someone's words and thoughts are personal
property, too.
Plagiarism Is Lazy
Though plagiarism can be accidental, it's sometimes done on purpose and that's just being lazy.
By copying whole paragraphs from different places, a kid doesn't have to spend the time thinking
about the subject, gathering his or her own thoughts about it, and then putting it into original
words. Cut, paste, and you're done.
But this is a shortcut that will probably catch up with a kid, even if he or she doesn't get caught
for plagiarism. It's important for kids to be able to research a subject, think about it, and then
come up with something interesting to say. This skill is important in elementary school, middle
school, high school, college, and beyond. A kid who just lifts an entire report won't get the
practice needed to become good at this.
Ask yourself, "Am I using this to avoid doing my own work? Is it easier just to copy this?" If the
answer is yes, beware. You just might be plagiarizing.
What Happens if I Plagiarize?
Most schools are pretty strict about plagiarism. If you're caught, you can wind up suspended or
worse. At the very least, you're probably going to fail the assignment. When you're older and in
college, some schools will expel students who plagiarize. To be expelled means to be kicked out.
And when you're kicked out of one college, it can be hard to get into another.
Also, when you apply for a job someday you want to be able to say, "I graduated from
Supersmart University in 2020." You don't want to have to explain how Supersmart University
kicked you out!