Colonial Newspaper Project

Task: You will be working in a group to produce a newspaper dated, July 4, 1776. On that day, the Declaration of Independence was signed declaring that the 13 colonies no longer wanted to be part of England. You and your group members will be colonists writing for a colonial newspaper about the signing of the Declaration and the events leading up to it. You must include the following things in your newspaper:

Each person must write at least 2 news articles. News articles don’t include opinions. They just state the facts. Every news article must include:

• The details of the event (who, what, where, when, why, how) • A headline• A byline• A dateline • A hand-drawn picture with a caption

*For one group member, one of the two news articles will be the main article in the paper on the Signing of the Declaration of Independence. Decide who will be in charge of that article.

**All the other articles must be about the events leading up to the colonists wanting to declare their independence from England (the Sugar Act, Boston Tea Party, etc ...).

Each person must also write two “additional features” for the paper. Some ideas for an additional feature are:

• An advertisement• A political cartoon• A comic strip• A crossword puzzle• An editorial (an article that is all about the author’s opinion)• A “Dear Abby” advice column• Classified ads• Letters to the editor from 2 different people showing 2 different

opinions of the same event

•An article by a celebrity columnist (a famous person who writes an article)•An interview with a Patriot or Torie

Your newspaper layout (the way it looks) must include:

•The flag (title of newspaper)•The banner, or main article

(has to be about the signing of the Declaration of Independence)

•The date (July 4, 1776)•The price

Remember! You are a colonist, living during colonial times, NOT a kid living in America today . Have fun using your imagination!

Glossary of Newspaper Terms

•Flag – The title of the newspaper

•Banner story – Your newspaper’s main article: for you it will be about the signing of the Declaration of Independence

•Banner Headline – the title of the most important article in the newspaper. It goes on the front page.

•Headline – the title of a regular newspaper article

•Byline – The name of the person who wrote that article. It comes below the headline, and above the article.

•Dateline – where and when the information in the article took place. For example: Boston, Massachusetts, March 5, 1770 – Today, fighting broke out between ….

Blue Mountain TimesApril 18, 2013 $1.25

Principal Parker Goes in the Dunking Booth By Jack Avila

Happyvale, California, April 17 – As promised, Principal Parker agreed to be dunked at the George Smith Elementary School annual Spring fair yesterday. After students exceeded their goal of raising $5,000 during the school’s Jog-a-thon fundraiser, Principal Parker said, “The kids did their part, now it’s my turn to do mine!” 522 kids tried their hand at throwing a beanbag at the target that would drop Mr. Parker into the tank of freezing water below. Only 27 kids managed to pull it off though. Principal Parker came to school prepared wearing swim trunks, goggles, and flip flops. Lisa Li, a fourth grader in Ms. Thompson’s class said, “This is such a fun day! I can’t believe Mr. Parker agreed to do this. He is the best principal ever!” Mr. Parker has said he will do the same again next year … as long as students exceed the amount of money they raised this year.

Heavy Rains Flood Highway 7By Lauren Sumpters

Gorfield, California, April 17 – Heavy rains prompted local police to close Highway 7 between Gorfield and Happyvale yesterday after several cars became trapped in the rising waters and passengers had to be rescued. Despite dangerously high waters covering the highway, cars were still attempting to drive across it. When asked why, Marvin Sunders replied, “The water didn’t look that bad until we were all the way in it. By then it was too late to turn around.” The police has blocked off the road, and will keep it shut until the highway is completely dry.

Principal Parker’s Swim Trunks for the dunking booth

“Flag” or title of newspaper

Banner articleByline

priceDate

Picture with caption

Banner Headline

Headline