Mythology Tabloid Web Quest For Ms. Bishop's English 1     Introduction  | The Task  | Procedure  | Resources  | Evaluation  |  Conclusion | Credits     Introduction You have been given the magical ability to enter the imaginary realm of the gods and goddesses of Ancient Greece and Rome.  As you witness these great mythological events, you and your fellow time travelers will create a tabloid newspaper to record what takes place. Luckily, you can count on the gods and heroes of the ancient world to provide you with plenty of facinating, shocking stories to cover--it's up to you to package them in the most interesting articles possible. The Task Your team of reporters will work together in a group.  Each writer will be responsible for researching, word processing, and adding a graphic to at least one news article.  Articles should be sensational--but classroom appropriate! Your newspaper staff should agree on a title for the newspaper, create a masthead (logo) for the paper, and work together to create the final copy, published in either Word or Appleworks in a real newspaper column format.  Each article will report mythological events as if they are happening or have just occurred.  Remember to use eye-catching headlines! Procedure Review the chapters in our mythology unit for ideas for stories. Visit the Web sites provided in order to find more newsworthy stories and graphics.  Meet as a group to discuss findings, to set a theme and title for the paper, and to make individual article and filler assignments. Gather data and at least one graphic related to your article, as well as creating filler material (weather reports, advertisements, etc) that would be appropriate for your paper. Write at least one article, add your name as a byline, and save it to your H-drive.  Save at least one graphic on a disk.  Be sure to document the sources you have used. Cite sources for your group on a separate page, using proper Source Citation Format! Work as a group on the format and layout of the newsletter, transferring articles and graphics into one file. (You may use my flash drive as well as the classroom laptops and your own H-drives to do this, or you may cut and paste printed articles onto paper, if you prefer.)  Edit the newsletter and add final touches to make it appealing to readers. Proofread carefully! Resources Web Sites: Mythweb Timeless Myths Classical Myth: The Ancient Sources Mythography Greek Mythology The Ancient Greek World Top Ten Tabloid Headlines (For Inspiration.) The Mars Times (A Parody Newspaper, again, for inspiration.) Books: D'Aulaire, Ingri and Edgar. D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths.1962. NY. Bantam Doubleday      Dell Books. 1992. Hamilton, Edith, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes.  1942. NY. Warner      Books. 1969. Scott, James, ed.  Mythology, A Cooperative Learning Unit.  Cheswold, Delaware.        Prestwick House, Inc. 2003. Evaluation For full credit, your newspaper must: Capture mythological events as if they are current tabloid news.  Have an attractive, newspaper-style layout. Include headlines and graphics for each story. Contain stories that are interesting and well written.  Be free from grammatical and spelling errors. Feature at least one illustrated mythological article per member. SEE RUBRIC IN HANDOUTS AREA FOR SPECIFICS ON GRADE! See Handouts Area for newspaper templates, in Word and Appleworks. Conclusion Congratulations!  You and your fellow time travelers have captured mythological events and images from Ancient Greece and Rome.  You have practiced using Web sites and other research materials.  You have worked together as a group to create a newsletter that everyone is eager to read.  Credits Original idea adapted from Beverly Foote.   updated May 2006