Photo provided by Nationaal Archief. Creative Commons License.
Day One
Day Two
Days Three - Publishing Caveats
- Initiate prior knowledge about newspapers. Develop a KWL (Know-Wonder-Learn) chart. Have students brainstorm what they know about newspapers. Ask if their parents or other family members regularly read the news. Do they read the news? Why or why not? Which sections of the newspaper do they read? Talk about the Essential Questions of this unit and see where students are thinking.
- After listing all the sections of the newspaper that they can think of, divide students into small groups. Pass out a variety of samples of local newspapers. Students are to look through these and try to find the features that they already listed as well as note sections and features that they missed.
- Students come back together as a large group and add more features they've discovered.
- Ask what they are wondering about. LIst all the topics and questions that they students raise.
- Next, pose a question for small groups to discuss. "In what ways can a school newspaper benefit the students at Moretown Elementary School". Students will come back together as a whole class to discuss.
- Check out other students newspapers, online version as well as printed versions from other schools.
- Exit reflection: Have each student fill out an "exit" survey to check for understandings and possible misconceptions. Each student will post a reply and read the comments of their classmates on the blog posting on Weebly : Pretend that you are meeting someone who has only ever watched TV. They have never seen or heard of a newspaper.
How would you explain it to them?
Day Two
- Students will have a chance to explore the different roles involved in making a newspaper. By the end of the class period, each student will chose a role and submit a work plan for review per the teacher and two classmates.
- Using the descriptions of each role, the teacher will introduce the various jobs that each student must chose from for the upcoming edition. Please stress that jobs may change from edition to edition and that students are not "locked in" to any role for the entire year. Each job will have its own unique criteria that students will be assessed for and that no one job is "the easy one".
- Once roles are explored, have various areas in your library/classroom for the four different groups to begin working. The reporters and the feature writers will explore different examples of newspapers written for kids (Scholastic News Online) and some written by kids (The MIddle Pages, The Lewis Growl, Mustang Mania). For the comic artists, have computers ready for them to explore the Make Comic website. For the photographers, they should look at the student news examples and then explore the tutorials at Schooltube.com about digital cameras, podcasts, and Flip video cameras.
- Exit reflection: 5 minute write on the following prompt: Brainstorm possible areas interest for the newspaper edition. What are you interested in covering? Please share Include one question, one concern, and one exciting discovery you had in class today.
Days Three - Publishing Caveats
- Students need to be aware of copyright laws as they produce their work. Ask students to share what they know about copyright in a large group setting. It's most helpful for students at this age to relate copyright to music, as most are familiar with iTunes, for example. Students expect to pay for songs they want to download onto their MP3 players. Ask, "why do you think that you can't get these songs for free?" While discussion will likely raise the issue of monetary compensation for the artists, steer the students toward the notion of protected works and plagarism. Have students turn and talk to a partner about the following: Could a newspaper get away with copying material and reprinting it? Why or why not? Summarize their discussions, ending with the prompt, Can the writers, artists, and photographers at The School Yard Informer? Discuss aloud or have students write or type responses (to check for understanding).
- Watch the following video ( or a partial viewing) to gain an overview of copyright.
- As student write their articles or create their comic strips, it will be most important that the teacher assesses for originality. If a student wants to use a recipe from a book or online source, for example, they can as long as they credit their source. If students use images from the web, be sure they are licensed under Creative Commons.
Days Four to Six
Students will work in small groups, following the directions on this website created for each of their roles. Because of the nature of this project, this approach will allow students to participate in a "self-guided" form of instruction. Because there are skills and tasks to be addressed depending upon the particular job a student choses, the teacher cannot possibly stand in front of the class delievering a lesson in the old-fashioned manner. Each student will pair up with someone in their work group, if possible. Teacher will move from group to group to informally assesss and instruct, as needed. Talk about DEADLINES. What is it? Why do we need one? What would happen if we didn't have a deadline? Does it matter if work is handed in late? Post the deadline date in a prominent place in the library/classroom. Establish a deadline that is three weeks -- this time frame will help keep students on track and focused on the tasks at hand.
Students who finish early may pursue additional copyrwriting or editing assignments, create word puzzles with an online word puzzle generator , create a survey, etc. Students should review online and print newspapers for more ideas and inspiration. Students who need extra support should be paired with other students, if possible, or work with individually with Mrs.Allison. Their assignments can be adjusted per individual IEP plans.
Day Seven
Connecting with experts. Arrangements should be made before the start of the unit to integrate knowledgeable community members - local and/or global - that know a thing or two about journalism. Tap into the resources of the local newspapers. Perhaps a reporter could visit the class and if not, perhaps they'd be willing to Skype with students. A local college or university may have a journalism program and be willing to act as mentors. Whichever the means, it is important for students share their work and seek advice. The Society of Professional Journalist s seeks to support student journalists nationwide. Their organization is more than happy to help student journalists. Questions can be posited, work attached in an email, and advice sought, as long as students abide by the society's guidelines. More information can be found on their website.
Day Eight
Putting it all together!
In an effort to explore moving the newspaper to a website, create a free site using GoogleSites, Weebly, or PBWorks. Create a simple layout (one page could be sports, another photographs) and have students upload their work to the website. Use the students themselves to teach each other - there are always "experts" at this grade level. If you have the funds, consider paying for an online school newpaper website to host your paper, and if you can, by all means do so. Information can be found on the
While students are working on getting their articles, pictures, and comics uploaded, others can work on their
Day Nine
Celebrate! Distribute the very first copies to the class and allow them time to read the newspaper. Upload the online version and have it displayed on a projector. Have netbooks ready, as well. Have the students choose which format they'd like to read the paper first - print or online. Have juice and a healthy snack provided, if you'd like. You should be able to hear a pin drop! After everyone has finished reading, facillitate a whole group discussion. What do they think? Is it like they were expecting? Different? How does the newspaper work as a whole? What do they think of the online version? Will it reach their readers? Who are their readers? What would be gained and lost in using this medium? Return to the KWL chart used at the beginning of the unit. Have students comment on what they have learned. Where are the gaps in their understandings? What insights do they have now? How have their understandings about newspaper changed or grown? Students should pick up newspaper packets and distribute to points throughout the school and the community that they identified. A link to the online edition should be made on the school website, library website, and classroom websites.