1. FRONT PAGE NEWS
FROM
BENICIA HISTORY
Brandy Shelton

2. Table of Contents
 Anticipatory set
 Project description
 Timelines & deadlines
 Grading and Rubrics

3. Anticipatory Set
 Step back in time and pretend that you live in
Benicia during the 1800’s . What do you think
people would find interesting? Who would
keep the small town buzzing? Your job is to
create the font page of Benicia’s local
newspaper complete with pictures, captions,
and articles. Make sure to use what we have
learned about Benicia’s history and the
fascinating people who started our small town.

4. Project Description
What would you include in Benicia’s local
newspaper in the 1800’s?
 Begin your newspaper creation by reviewing the historical
information that we have covered in class, or you have found on
your own. Focus on looking for one important event, one important
person or family with their picture, and one important place or site
with its picture.
 Next, write a rough draft of a short article that is 1 to 2 paragraphs
long for each event, person, or place. Include the most important
information by answering the questions:
 Who or what is the article about?
 Why is it important?
 How did it affect or help

5. Timeline
 Day 1: Classroom- Review the information that you have collected and
discussed for different events that led up to Benicia’s growth and expansion
into the city we know it as today. Talk about the people and what they did
that helped our city grow as well. Review different parts of the “Benicia
Book” that has already been put together, highlighting important details in
the city’s history.
 Days 2-4: You will need to choose one event that you feel was important to
Benicia’s history and one person that helped our community grow in the
1800’s. You will then write two rough draft articles: one article explaining
the important event as if it were happening today, and one article
highlighting an influential person in Benicia’s history. You will need to have
your rough drafts completed before doing a “First Edit” with a peer,
checking for grammatical errors and complete thoughts, ideas, and correct
details. After completing a “First Edit” you will then rewrite your articles for
a “Second Edit” which is completed with the teacher.

6. Timeline Continued
 Days 5-9: Classroom and Computer Lab- You will learn how to
open Microsoft Word and then change the page format in
“Columns” from one column to two columns. This will set your
writing up so that you will already have a newspaper article format.
You may also change the font you are using and adjust the font size
so that your text fits the front page with illustrations. You will need
to type your articles in the two-column format, print them, and then
save your document as “Name-Benicia Front Page.”
 Days 10-14: Classroom- You will then put together your
newspaper’s front page by creating and writing a title at the top of
the page, cutting and pasting your articles into the appropriate
spaces, and then creating a colored illustration for each article with
a detailed caption. You can then “age” your newspaper by giving it
an antique color and crumpling it after completion.

7. Grading –
What are you expected to do?
 You will be graded on your Benicia history research and Front Page
Newspaper project.
 Your research should be posted in your Benicia history book.
 The Front Page Newspaper project will need to include:
 Newspaper layout with headline and captions for each article and
illustration.
 Columns that have been typed up using Microsoft Word.
 Articles that answer the questions who, what, when, where, and how.
Make sure you give adequate information for each person, place, or
event.
 All writing has been proofread for correct spelling and grammar.

8. Project Rubric