Shurden Garrett

Citizen of the
Year Award

Who: You are a newspaper journalist for The Best

School Times.

What: The editor of The Best School Times has

assigned you with the task of publishing a story on an
individual that has recently received the prestigious
honor of Citizen of the Year in your town. The editor
has asked you to highlight this individuals strengths and contributions to the town.
Not only is he or she an outstanding, informed, and active participant in several
events in your local community, but he or she is known for always obeying the law
and enforcing the rules of the town by promoting a good character and responsible
behavior.

Where: Your story will be published on the front page of The Best School Times.

How: For your story, you are in charge of creating the character that has received
the award and highlight his or her achievements to the community. Your story must
include:
3 reasons why this individual has received the award (noteworthy
actions, service to the community, responsible behavior, obeying the
law, active volunteer, protection of the environment, etc.)
An explanation of how this individual has contributed to an orderly and
just society and how he or she has set an example for other members
of the community, and
How the actions of this individual go beyond the practice of basic
rights.

Audience: The Editor-in- Chief of the local newspaper will be observing and reading
your final article.
Shurden Garrett

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

As you may know, over the past few weeks we have been studying a unit on
civics and government in Social Studies. We are leaning all about citizens rights,
the roles of our local, state, and national government, rules, and laws, and how all of
these components contribute to a community. We have completed several projects
and assignments together and we have learned so much about the importance of
our government and rights!
One of the assignments that your student will work on is called Citizen of
the Year Award. This assignment will allow your student to take on the role of a
local newspaper journalist. Their task is to compose a one-page story about a
citizen of the local community who has just received the Citizen of the Year
award. Your student will use what they have learned in this unit so far about rules
and laws, the purpose of the government, citizenship, and community to develop a
news article about the individual who has received this award. They will be
prompted with three components they must include in the story: 3 reasons why this
individual has received the award, an explanation of how this individual has
contributed to an orderly and just society, and how the actions of this individual go
beyond the practice of basic rights. The Editor-in-Chief of the local newspaper
will be in attendance to read your students final articles.
Not only does this assignment encourage your student to reflect on the key
terms and ideas that they have practiced throughout the duration of this unit, but
it also serves as Performance Based Evidence, or a valuable assessment tool. It
provides an engaging and alternative way to testing for me to assess students
knowledge, as well as their conceptual understanding of the material.
Though this assignment will be completed in class, I encourage you to ask
your students about their work and have them analyze their response through this
project to the essential question I have set before them. I have attached both
the assignment sheet and a rubric containing the essential question for your
benefit. Feel free to review this with your student and challenge them to answer
the essential question! I hope this will allow you to better understand how this
assignment serves as an assessment tool for me so I can better meet the needs of
your student.
Please do not hesitate to email me with any questions you may have about the
purpose of this assignment, or any other Performance Based assessments your
student will complete during this unit.
All the best,
Ms. Garrett
Shurden Garrett

Citizen of the Year Award Rubric

EQ: How have your experiences impacted what you know about rules and laws (in
your school, community, state, etc.? Where, in school, at home, or in your own
experiences, have you seen rules or laws before? Facet: Application
EU: All aspects of life require some system of government to keep us safe,
maintain order, and prevent conflicts.

Value Dimension Quality

5 points Content: Citizenship The student showed an understanding of
and rights characteristics of citizenship and rights. The
student correctly distinguished between basic
rights and exceptional behavior. The student
referenced examples of individuals actions and/
or rights that were mentioned in class or in
previous assignments and backed their examples
with supporting detail.
5 points Content: The student applied their knowledge of local
Government and government roles, specifically upholding rules
rules and laws and laws, by explaining that a good citizen
follows rules and obeys the law. The student
shows a connection between government and
rules and laws.
5 points Thinking: The student displayed a clear understanding of
Application key terms and ideas and applied it to the
explanations and detail of their news article.
They included all three key components to show
that they not only understood content, but
could also apply it to a real-life task.
5 points Clarity: Clear The student included all required components in
communication and their news article and organized it in a clear,
organization distinct, and meaningful way. The student
supported their main points with examples and
knowledge of content material.
Total Points Score: Comments:
(20) ____ /20