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The juniors and seniors at the Advanced Technology Center in Daytona Beach engaged in a fall, semester-long hunt for newspaper articles that contained themes relevant to what they were studying--not only for their core English class, but also for their technology fields.

Once a week students brought in and discussed articles centered around such personalized titles as the following: "Article Support/Concern for Some Aspect Of My Tech Field", "Environmental News that Affects My Health, Lifestyle or Career", "Editorial Challenge of a Popular Social or Political Custom", "An Article that Altered My Opinion", and after September 11th, we added such topics as, "Heroism of a Particular Person, Place, Principle or Ideal", and finally, the most popular choice: "What It Means To Me To Be An American."

When presenting their articles to the class, the students first related the newspaper´s name, article title, author, section, and date of publication before detailing the content of, "Who," "What," "Where," "When," and "How." To lure the students beyond the front page, and entice them to the splendors of its entirety, the articles they selected could not duplicate any other classmate´s. To avoid this, many came prepared with two or three back-up pieces. Additionally, to ensure their selections were unique, the more enterprising ferreted out atypical sections, or diligently scoured older editions. By the end of the first semester, each student was well acquainted with all facets of the newspaper.

This quest for creative, but specific print proved to be one of my most motivating curricular units. All of the students found some topic or area of discourse that interested them. Further, they enjoyed the challenge of comparing and contrasting a variety of credible information focused on a central theme. By December, these analytical thinkers were not only discussing current events on an objective, coherent level, but also in a fashion that clearly evinced their historical, political and personal views.

Jill Hawkins
11-12th Grade
Advanced Technology Center

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