Constitution Challenge

Literature Connection — Sample Lesson

Freedom of the Press Newspaper Article

Overview
Students use the novel Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes to create two newspaper articles. The articles should demonstrate how the First Amendment guarantees the citizens’ freedom of the press. One article should be written from the perspective of the colonists and the second from the perspective of the British. They should include references from the fictional account and references from the history text or from the Internet.

Standards

Social Studies
Grade 5
Government, Benchmark B

3. Explain the significance of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.

Grade 8
History, Benchmark E

3. Identify and explain the sources of conflict that led to the American Revolution, with emphasis on the perspectives of the Patriots, Loyalists, neutral colonists and the British concerning these events:

a. The Proclamation of 1763, the Stamp Act, the Townshend Acts, the Tea Act and the Intolerable Acts.
b. The Boston Tea Party, the boycotts, the Sons of Liberty and petitions and appeals to Parliament.

Government, Benchmark B

5. Explain how the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of citizens, regulates the use of territory, manages conflict and establishes order and security.

6. Explain how specific provisions of the U.S. Constitution, including the Bill of Rights, limit the powers of government in order to protect the rights of individuals with emphasis on these topics:

a. Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition.
b. Right to trial by jury and the right to counsel.
c. Due process and equal protection of the laws.

Social Studies Skills and Methods, Benchmark A

1. Compare accuracy and point of view of fiction and nonfiction sources about a particular era or event.

Social Studies Skills and Methods, Benchmark C

3. Write a position paper or give an oral presentation that includes citation of sources.

Language Arts
Grade 5, Reading
Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text, Benchmark A

1. Use text features, such as chapter titles, headings and subheadings; parts of books including index, appendix and table of contents; and online tools (search engines) to locate information.

2. Identify, distinguish between and explain examples of cause and effect in informational text.

3. Compare important details about a topic, using different sources of information, including books, magazines, newspapers and online resources.

4. Summarize the main ideas and supporting details.

8. Distinguish relevant from irrelevant information in a text and identify possible points of confusion for the reader.

Reading Applications: Literary Text, Benchmark A

1. Explain how a character’s thoughts, words and actions reveal his or her motivations.

2. Explain the influence of setting on the selection.

3. Identify the main incidents of a plot sequence and explain how they influence future action.

Grade 5, Writing
Writing Process

All Indicators

Writing Conventions

All Indicators

Writing Applications, Benchmark A

5. Produce informal writings (e.g., messages, journals, notes and poems) for various purposes.

Writing Applications, Benchmark B

2. Write responses to novels, stories and poems that organize an interpretation around several clear ideas, and justify the interpretation through the use of examples and specific textual evidence.

Writing Applications, Benchmark C

3. Write letters that state the purpose, make requests or give compliments and use business letter format.

Writing Applications, Benchmark D

4. Write informational essays or reports, including research, that organize information with a clear introduction, body and conclusion following common expository structures when appropriate (e.g., cause-effect, comparison-contrast) and include facts, details and examples to illustrate important ideas.

Grade 8, Reading
Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text, Benchmark A

1. Compare and contrast text features, including format and headers of various informational texts in terms of their structure and purpose.

2. Identify and use the organizational structure of a text, such as chronological, compare-contrast, cause-effect and problem-solution, and evaluate its effectiveness.

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text, Benchmark B

8. Recognize how writers cite facts, draw inferences and present opinion in informational text.

Reading Applications: Informational, Technical and Persuasive Text, Benchmark E

3. Compare and contrast the treatment, scope and organization of ideas from different sources on the same topic.

Reading Applications: Literary Text, Benchmark A

1. Identify and explain various types of characters (e.g., flat, round, dynamic, static) and how their interactions and conflicts affect the plot.

Reading Applications: Literary Text, Benchmark B

2. Analyze the influence of setting in relation to other literary elements.

Grade 8, Writing
Writing Process

All Indicators

Writing Conventions

All Indicators

Writing Applications, Benchmark A

6. Produce informal writings (e.g., journals, notes and poems) for various purposes.

Writing Applications, Benchmark D

4. Write informational essays or reports, including research, that: pose relevant and tightly drawn questions that engage the reader; provide a clear and accurate perspective on the subject; create an organizing structure appropriate to the purpose, audience and context; support the main ideas with facts, details, examples and explanations from sources; and document sources and include bibliographies.

5. Write persuasive compositions that establish and develop a controlling idea, support arguments with detailed evidence, exclude irrelevant information and cite sources of information.

Materials

History text or Internet sites
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Newspapers

Procedure

Students use their history textbook to read and take notes on the Tea Act and the Boston Tea Party.
The teacher can supply basic background information on the following real people or groups of people that are mentioned in the novel, or students can do research on them.

• Sam Adams
• Parliament
• Sons of Liberty
• East India Company
• John Hancock
• Paul Revere

Students read Chapter VI, “Salt-Water Tea,” from Johnny Tremain.
Students take notes as they read the chapter, comparing the information from the textbook with that of the fictional account. They should incorporate the literary standards into their notes.
Students should read several news stories in a newspaper and identify the journalistic questions: who, what, when, where, why and how.
Student will assume the role of a reporter in the time of the story and write two newspaper reports: one from the perspective of the colonists and the other from the perspective of the British. They should:

• Use the journalistic questions as an outline to the story
• Describe the events they have witnessed
• Be sure to include quotes from participants and bystanders

Students discuss as a class why the colonists’ views would not have been permitted to be published during this time.
Students then discuss how the First Amendment changed that.

Evaluation
Writing Rubric for Freedom of the Press Newspaper Article.

CATEGORY	4	3	2	1
Layout — Headlines and Captions	All articles have headlines that capture the reader’s attention and accurately describe the content. All articles have a byline. All graphics have captions that adequately describe the people and action in the graphic.	All articles have headlines that accurately describe the content. All articles have a byline. All graphics have captions.	Most articles have headlines that accurately describe the content. All articles have a byline. Most graphics have captions.	Articles are missing bylines OR many articles do not have adequate headlines OR many graphics do not have captions.
Layout — Flag	The name of the newspaper is centered and is in a font that makes it stand out from other content. The date and edition of the newspaper appear below the name in a smaller font.	The name of the newspaper is in a font that makes it stand out from other content. The date and edition of the newspaper appear below the name in a smaller font.	The name of the newspaper is in a font that makes it stand out from other content. Either the date or the edition number of the newspaper appears below the name in a smaller font.	The name of the newspaper does not stand out OR both the name and edition of the newspaper are missing.
Spelling and Proofreading	No spelling or grammar errors remain.	No more than a couple of spelling or grammar errors remain.	No more than three spelling or grammar errors remain.	Several spelling or grammar errors remain in the final copy of the newspaper.
Articles — Supporting Details	The details in the articles are clear, effective and vivid all of the time.	The details in the articles are clear and pertinent most of the time.	The details in the articles are clear and pertinent some of the time.	The details of the articles are neither clear nor pertinent.
Graphics	Graphics are in focus, are well-cropped and are clearly related to the articles they accompany.	Graphics are in focus and are clearly related to the articles they accompany.	Some of the graphics are clearly related to the articles they accompany.	Few of the graphics are clearly related to the articles, orr no graphics were used.
Who, What, When, Where, Why and How	All articles adequately address who, what, when, where and how.	Most of the articles adequately address who, what, when, where and how.	Some of the articles adequately address who, what, when, where and how.	A few of the articles adequately address who, what, when, where and how.
Articles — Interest	The articles contain facts, figures and word choices that make the articles exceptionally interesting to readers.	The articles contain facts, figures and/or word choices that make the articles interesting to readers.	The article contains some facts or figures, but is marginally interesting to read.	The article does not contain facts or figures that might make it interesting to read.
Editorials — Worthwhile	The information is accurate and there is a clear reason for including the editorial in the newspaper.	The information is accurate and there is a fairly good reason for including the editorial in the newspaper.	The information is occasionally inaccurate or misleading, but there is a clear reason for including the editorial in the newspaper.	The information is inaccurate, misleading or libelous.