Especially for Teachers

Bright Ideas Lesson Plans

Let´s Get Organized

The best thing I did this year was in the area of organization. In the back of my lesson plan book, I selected and wrote what I thought were the best ways to use the newspaper in the classroom for the 2 classes in which I use newspapers. For example, I teach Social Studies and Career Education for high school ESE students. So, I have 7-8 tried and true interesting and worthwhile activities to select from.

For instance: SOCIAL STUDIES:

1) Find a story about an event you think will make history. First predict the effects of the story on the American people. Then write a brief summary of the event as it might appear one day in a history book.

2) A.) Find the # of casualties in Iraq
B.) What is the top headline in the World?
C) Top headline in the Nation?
D) State?
E) County?
F) City?
G) Sport?

The students write these in a spiral notebook and are graded; we often discuss one or more of the headlines, sharing opinions and ideas.

3) Etc.

CAREER EDUCATION:

1) Find and circle the name of a job mentioned in each of the following sections of the newspaper:
a) Front page
b) Accent
c) Area
d) Comics etc.....

2) Clip 5 headlines that mention 5 different jobs. Paste on a sheet of paper with the job requiring the most skill on the top and the one requiring the least on the bottom.

These examples are sample ideas I got from NIE lesson plan ideas.

By organizing my newspaper ideas in the back of the lesson plan book as I have...I can simply write what we will do that day by writing, See newspaper activity # 2 (or whatever) rather than having to explain/write everything over and over.

Mary M. Peterson
ESE Social Studies & Career Education
New Smyrna Beach High

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