Formats Included
Downloadable, Word Document File
Description
The Project is designed for two purposes: 1) to give students a better understanding of the Punic Wars and 2) to help students identify bias in historical documents.
Students are assigned the role of newspaper reporter during the Punic War. They will be reporting from either the Roman Side or the Carthaginian side. They are three parts to the project: 1) Newspaper Article, 2) Newscast, and 3) Review of another students Article or Newscast.
The key and most interesting part of the assignment is that they must report the news from the perspective of the civilization that they represent. Meaning, when reporting Rome's victory in the First Punic War, a Carthaginian reporter would interpret the battle as a disaster while a Roman reporter would describe it as a great victory. After writing their newspaper article, the students create a newscast. I have done this two different ways: a live newscast in front of the classroom or a video recorded newscast. Finally, the students critically but professional review a newscast from the opposing civilization. The main focus of this review is to identify bias. My students really have fun with this part.
It is a great project and kids love it!