Age Level:  Middle School
Class: Social Studies

 
Students will write a feature article, using a specific event in U.S. history as the subject. The audience for these pieces could include; teacher, peers, magazine or newspaper editors.
 

Ideas and Pre-writing:
I show examples of feature articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, etc. to the students.  I usually do this on the overhead and have printed copies for them to look at while in class. I give them a handout explaining the assignment and have them write notes and brainstorming ideas on this paper. We begin by identifying what event in history  they are supposed to be writing about. If, for instance, we are studying the Revolutionary War, I might let them choose one of the events leading up to the war. We brainstorm as a class a list of events to write about, and then I usually allow them to choose one. Sometimes to keep from having 30 pieces on the Boston Tea Party, I will assign topics or let the students draw one out of a hat at random.

One option is to have students use a given headline/title, such as, "Massacre in Boston":  "King George Imposes Taxes on Colonists":  "War Between The States--North and South Take Up Arms Against Each Other". Another choice is to have students come up with a suitable title/headline as one of the requirements.

Make sure to express to the students that they must have the who?, what?, where?, why?, and how? Explain that they need to write as if they witnessed the event in person.
 

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