Current Events Blog Posts and Grading

You will be posting your written analysis of a newspaper article on your individual blog.  Start by choosing one of the articles designated on the Blog Hub.

You will be writing a post that is at least 600 words in length.  Each post must contain
    (1) your original summary of the article,
    (2) your reasoned analysis of the reliability of specific data in  the article, and
    (3) your reasoned analysis of the point of view of the article’s author.

You are writing in paragraph form.  Each of the above (1, 2, and 3) could be the subject of three different paragraphs.

In addition, each post
    (4) must contain a link to the articles and sources of information utilized in your post;
    (5) will be evaluated on whether its format is easy to read (e.g., no light text on dark background; make sure your fonts are the same throughout, etc.);
    (6) must be well written.  Your post is graded for correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and other aspects of composition.

Remember, you want this post to be interesting and clear to your readers (your classmates and admiring public).   Your own subjective opinion, IF you wish to include it, should be explicitly identified.

Below is a rubric that explains how these posts are graded.  Having this in front of you while you research and write your blog post will help you do a good job.

	A grade	B grade	C grade	D grade
1. summary (not a paraphrase)	The article is capably summarized to include all important points, and less important points are described. The reader gets a sense of the entire article.	The article's major points are mentioned, but some minor information is missing or is misunderstood.	The article's major points are mentioned, but some minor information is missing, misunderstood, or not entirely clearly explained.	A significant amount of information from the article data is missing and/or mistaken
2. reliability of specific pieces of data	There is a clear and convincing statement about which data or conclusions in the article are reliable, and why.	There is a statement about which pieces of data or conclusions in the article are reliable, but the reasons for this point are not that clear.	There is a statement about reliability, but insufficient information or explanation.	There is no treatment of this issue, or the post claims that the article is reliable because it appears in such-and-such newspaper and/or is written by such-and-such person.
3. author's point of view	The author's point of view (or lack of it) has been identified by evidence within the article and newspaper, or through comparing this article to others on the same topic.	The author's point of view (or lack of it) has been identified by evidence (see A), but this is a bit unclear or a bit incomplete.	The author's point of view has been discussed but not clearly identified or not complete.	There is no treatment of the author's point of view, or the description of the author's viewpoint is not accurate.
4. links	All links are present, sufficiently visible, placed in appropriate places, and are fully functional.	All links are present, fully functional, but they are not always sufficiently visible or   placed in appropriate places.	Most of the links are present and functioning, but not all, and they are not always sufficiently visible or placed in appropriate places.	Links are missing, or not functional, or are all placed at the beginning or end of the post.
5. format	The post is visually easy to read and well designed in terms of spacing, colors, and font choices.	The post is visually easy to read and generally well designed (see A), but there are minor problems.	The post is adequately formatted, but a bit confusing or difficult to read.	The post is hard to read because of a lack of paragraph divisions, changing fonts, clashing colors, etc.
6. correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and writing	Writing is free of grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors. It is written in paragraph form and its ideas progress logically.	A few errors are present.	A large number of obvious errors are present, but they do not detract from the post's legibility. {A C in this category prevents receiving an A grade on the post.}	Errors are so many and significant that reading the post is difficult, and the post is difficult to understand.