Introduction:
The students should have received background knowledge and engaged in activities revolving around the parts of a newspaper, writing the news, writing sports, interviewing and the writing process. It is time for the students to apply the process and information they have learned. Over the course of approximately a week, students will create their own community newspaper.
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Resources:
- K-W-L chart (.doc) or (.rtf)
- internet and library access for background research
- a computer layout program like Microsoft Publisher or a template (.doc) or (.rtf) to use an example.
- an evaluation form (.doc) or (.rtf) for the process and final product
- group evaluation form (.doc) or (.rtf)
- list of links for possible concepts to review
- video clip Re: keeping the story balanced
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Activities: Task One - Getting Started
Students will need to get into groups of approximately 4. In each group, the students must decide who will be in charge of the following story areas:
1. Breaking News
2. Municipal News Beat
3.
Court or Community News Beat
4. Sports News Beat
Once each group has had the opportunity to assign a beat to each student, the students will complete the two tasks listed on the student version of this page.
If students have decided not to use their ideas from the lesson on Elements of a News Story, they will be starting with a blank page. As this can be daunting, you will need to provide possible suggestions for each beat.
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Possible Ideas for Each Beat
Sports
- Junior teams
- Senior teams
- High School teams
- Recreational teams
Municipal
- discussion with the Mayor
- talking to an Alderman
- attending a council meeting
- recent decisions/changes made by council
Court/Community
- attend court in the community
- fundraisers in the community
- special events for specific members of the community
- recent successes of community members |
To avoid story overlap, the teacher will act as the assignment editor. As a group, you will pitch/generate story ideas for your beat. Once you have a sufficient list of ideas, each of the students will choose one of the ideas as the focus of their story.
Task Two - Beginning the Process
This lesson allows the students to go through a process that they have been learning over the course of a few weeks. They will need to go through the steps of:
1. Getting the story idea
2. Doing the background research
3. Conducting a minimum of one interview
4. Writing the story
5. Editing another's story
6. Creating the newspaper
Once every group has met with the teacher, the students will need to work individually on their story ideas. Students should start by doing some prewriting. Have students brainstorm ideas for their story. A good way to do this might be to fill in a K-W-L chart to organize their prior knowlegde and begin thinking about what they would like to know. Students can write words, phrases, or questions in the chart to help them to decide on a focus for their story.
As the students are beginning this process, it is an appropriate time to give them an idea of how they are expected to use their class time. A sample timeline is provided on the student version of this page. Alternatively, you could tell students how many class periods they will have to work, give them the sample timeline and have each group set their own goals. |
Task Three - Background and Research
The students will need to spend some time researching their story. This will be a two part process. Students must: 1. Familiarize themselves with the topic/person
2. Prepare for and conduct an interview Student will need to spend their research periods finding pertinent background information, setting up the interview, creating interview questions and conducting the interview.
Before the students begin, have them watch this video, dealing with the importance of researching all sides of a story before drafting. |
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Objectives:
Students will be able to
- prepare a school or community newspaper targeted at a particular audience
- demonstrate responsible journalism
- recognize the importance for journalists of interviewing, researching, and reporting
- demonstrate fact-gathering, research, and writing skills necessary for in-depth reporting
- conduct an interview skillfully
- recognize writing as a process of constructing meaning for themselves and others
- analyze and evaluate their own and others' writing |
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View other lessons for the main objective. |
Instructional Strategies:
Task 1 and 5 - Cooperative Learning Groups (Interactive)
Task 2 - KWL - Didactic Questions (Direct)
Task 3 - Research (Independent) and Interviewing (Interactive)
Task 4 - Writing (Independent) and Peer Practice (Interactive)
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Task Three Continued . . .
During these work periods, the teacher will want to try to spend a little time with each group. As the assignment editor, you will check with each group to see what angle each person is taking with his/her story, what research each person has done, and what types of questions will be asked in each interview. During the research class periods you will likely want to circulate to each group and receive progress updates.
One of the most challenging parts of group work can be conflict within the group. It will be important for you to meet with each group, not only to see if the group as a whole is meeting its deadlines, but to gauge whether there are individuals not putting in the required effort. There are a few ways that you can deal with group conflict:
1. You may act as a mediator/facilitator when a problem comes up. Talk to the students and ask guiding questions to help them in solving the problem.
2. Allow students to individually assess the group's ability to work equally together. If you choose to do this, you will need to discuss with the class, at the beginning of the project, that their marks can be affected by how well they work within their group. Let students know that you will be observing them and that their peers will have a chance to make comments at the end of the process.
Task Four - Writing and Editing
Students will need time in class to sift through their information, choose what they would like to use and draft their stories. Students may want to go back to their KWL chart and fill in what they have learned and begin organizing and prioritizing from there. After reviewing the news writing technique and elements of a news story, students will draft their own story.
Once they have finished a draft, they will need to take on the role of copy editor for another student in their group. There is a list of responsibilities for copy editors on the student version of this page.
Task Five - Putting together the Paper
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Once the students have written and edited their stories, they are ready to put together their paper. |
Students can use the newspaper template or the pages provided by the Meadow Lake Progress as an example from which to start.
Assessment and Evaluation:
As this lesson is as much about the process as it is about the product, assessment in both areas is necessary. Tasks One, Two, and Three focus on the process of creating the newspaper by working individually with an idea. You will likely assess the students understanding of major concepts through your discussions as assignment editor. During your discussions, if students are having difficulty you may need to do some reteaching of major concepts. Tasks Four and Five focus on the process of group work and the final product. In order to assess both the process and the product, including work individually and as a group, you may find it useful to keep anecdotal notes throughout the process. At the end, you can give students feedback through an evaluation such as the sample newspaper evaluation provided. This assessment allows you to evaluate both process and product. You may also want to have students use a form to evaluate their work as a group in one of two ways: 1. Students mark the group as individuals. You would then average the marks for the group mark 2. Group marks themselves as a collective. |
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