Blog Assignment

AP US History Current Events Blog 

Blog is located at apushklein.blogspot.com

Goals of the Blog

An essential piece of citizenship involves staying on top of current events.  This assignment will help to build this habit while at the same time helping you to make connections between the past and the present.  Also, it is necessary in the 21st century to be skilled at online communication and able to participate in discussions on blogs.  The hope is for this blog to be a place where students can authentically discuss current events that they believe are relevant and interesting without the restrictions and demands of a formal essay. 

Requirements of the Current Event Blog

• Posting Week – each student will be assigned one week that they will be required to make one original post to the blog.  The student must also respond at least once to the student comments to their original post. Finally, on your posting week, you need to comment on at least one other post from that week.  The original post must be made by Friday at 9pm … if you post after Friday at 9pm your post will only be eligible for late credit.  

• Commenting Weeks – for the other weeks (when you are not “posting”) you need to comment on the posts of your fellow students that you find interesting.  You need to comment at least once per week during the blog cycle.  

Blogging Guidelines (RESPECT!)

The mutual respect rule that exists at Lowell within the classroom applies to anything posted on the blog.  The expectation is for all students to be civil. You can disagree with another post but you need to make sure that you do so in a respectful manner.  It is essential that you never personally attack another student. For example, “how can you live with yourself” or “only a moron would think” are NOT appropriate ways to respond to a post.  Instead, “Bob, did you consider the effect” or “I understand the point that Sue is making but I disagree because.” Remember that everything in print can be taken twice as harsh as you might intend.  Posting under the influence of emotion is dangerous. 

An excellent POST is one that … 

1. Introduces a new current event topic that has not yet been posted 
2. Provides a link to an article from a reliable news source
3. Includes embedded images, video, charts, cartoon, etc. 
4. Includes summary and reaction to the news article (in approximately 2-4 sentences) 
5. Connects current event to historical content (in approximately 1-2 sentences) – MUST connect with US History!  
6. Poses an issue or question for discussion 
7. Is approximately 200-300 words 

An excellent COMMENT is one that … 

• Directly address the material or ideas presented in the post 
• Brings up a new perspective or idea
• References others sources as support for their argument
• Comments regularly throughout the semester and does not cluster all comments in the final week
• Uses respectful academic language while agreeing and disagreeing with posts 

Blog Grading

I will keep track of your blog participation throughout the nine-week blogging period.  Below are the deadlines and dates I will post a blog grade in the fall semester.

- Participation Weeks 1-5 – DUE Tues 3/3

- Participation Weeks 6-10 – DUE Tues 4/14

- Posting Week – Due Fri at 9pm on your assigned week

-Posting Week Rubric 

In order to provide you with more feedback, the rubric included here will be used.   

Good Resources for News Articles

These sites are great places to get started in your search for a good news item to include in your post.  Please do not feel limited by this list in anyway … it is just a list of suggestions to get you started.  

• http://hnn.us/
• http://www.sfgate.com/
• http://www.nytimes.com/
• http://www.npr.org/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/
• http://www.usatoday.com/
• http://www.cnn.com/
• http://www.bbc.com/

How to Use the Blog to COMMENT:

1. First, you need to be signed in to your sfusd.edu. student account. 
2. Go to the blog (apushklein.blogspot.com) and verify that you are signed in (you can see that you are signed in if sfusd.edu account is listed in the top right hand corner.)  

3. Once you are signed in, review the posts that have been made during the week and comment on the posts.  
1. If you are having trouble signing in, put your name at the end of your post just in case!

How to Use the Blog to POST:

1. Sign into your sfusd.edu account and check your email … open the invitation email you received from me asking you to be an author of the blog.  Note: You will only be allowed to author posts on your assigned week from Tuesday 3pm until the following Tuesday at 3pm.  

2. Accept the blog author invitation. 

3. Return to the APUSH blog at apushklein.blogspot.com  and click the “New Post” button in the top right hand corner.

4. Complete your post by following the requirements included in the posting rubric.  Then post!

5. Remember, you must post by 9pm on Friday and you must comment on your post and on another post from your week by the following Tuesday at 3pm.  

Blog Posting Schedule – Spring 2020

Week #	Date (3pm Tuesday-3pm Tuesday) (must post by 9pm on Friday!)	Posting Students (Block 1)	Posting Students  (Block 3)	Posting Students (Block 7)
1	1/28/20-2/4/20 (Must post by 1/31 at 9pm)	Garrett, Stephanie, Emily	David, Grace, Allister	Paul, Kelly, Gabriella
2	2/4/20-2/11/20 (Must post by 2/7 at 9pm)	Hayden, Dylan, Vivian	Isaac, Pietro, Sophia S	Lilo, Ayden, Naomi
3	2/11/20-2/18/20 (Must post by 2/14  at 9pm)	Consuelo, Soraia, Asher	Antonio C, Talia, Jeremy	Aaron, Xin, Kavi
4	2/18/20-2/25/20 (Must post by 2/21  at 9pm)	Shiuan, Bruno, Cielo, Jonathan	Esther, Dakota, Michael	Hadiqah, Victoria, Ivan
5	2/25/20-3/3/20 (Must post by 2/28  at 9pm)	Madalynn, Luc, Tommy, Julie	Tim, Sophia L, Peter, Owen	Kevin, Joanna, Chloe, Kenedi
6	3/3/20-3/10/20 (Must post by 3/6 at 9pm)	Vince, Justin, David, Jason O	Philippe, Chloe, Evan, Zaida	Syndie, Kendrick, Honon, Iain
7	3/10/20-3/17/20 (Must post by 3/13  at 9pm)	Emmanuel, Siena, Sophia	Robert, Cappillen, Angelina	Igor, Ronny, Madeline, Ashley
8	3/17/20-3/24/20 (Must post by 3/20 at 9pm)	Dalya, Ernest, Javi	Lia, Vincent, Conrad	Bridget, Eoin, Christine, Kim
9	3/24/20-3/31/20 (Must post by 3/27  at 9pm)	Ethan, Bonny, Jason	Nadia, Sabrina, Brandon	Leo, Kaitlyn, Laura
10	4/7/20-4/14/20 (Must post by 4/10  at 9pm)	Lauren, Steven, Jason L	Gohnshein, Victoria, Antonio V	Ethan, Justine, Mikayla