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I am always looking for ways to incorporate the newspaper into reading activities that will reinforce the important reading skills my students need to know. One of my reading response activities included recreating the front page of a newspaper to tell about the story they had read. We used The News-Journal to explore the general setup and how articles answered the basic who, what, when, where, why, and how questions. We also discussed how information can be enhanced to draw the reader in like using headlines. Students then created articles to describe some of the literary elements found in their book such as, plot, characters, setting, and theme. The articles were then placed on paper to resemble an actual front page of a newspaper. This project gave my students the creativity of responding to a book in a different way. It also afforded them the opportunity to explore language as they reviewed actual news articles and looked for various ways to write articles that would express their message and appeal to readers.

Editorials:

The newspaper provided a great opportunity for my students to learn about an author’s perspective, point of view, and weak vs. strong arguments. We spent some time looking at editorials in The News-Journal and discussed just what an editorial was. We also explored persuasive texts, logical and illogical texts as well as ethical and unethical statements. As we brainstormed examples, my classes were also able to see how influential the media can be and how careful we must be with word choice. I asked my students to think of a topic that they had a strong opinion about. They were asked to read articles and watch the news for ideas. I also provided some topics. Students then teamed with another person to state reasons for their opinion, back it up with facts in an effort to persuade readers to agree with them and then offer solutions for dealing with the topic. I ended up with some wonderfully well thought out editorials. I approached our TV production coordinator to see if we could implement a weekly editorial segment to showcase some of the editorials. Creekside now has a weekly segment dedicated to showcasing student editorials. The feedback has been wonderful. I’ve even had students, other than my own, asking if they could write an editorial for the show.

Advertising Unit:

I use The News-Journal to prepare my students for an advertising unit in which they explore the many methods media uses to persuade. My students look through newspapers for advertisements that feature specific techniques used by the advertising industry to appeal to their target audience. They locate ads that feature logos, personality symbols, price appeal, emotional appeals, testimonials, bandwagon, and many more. These advertisements are then compiled and targeted audience is discussed. With this information in hand, my kids are ready to create their own advertisement for a fictitious product that can be used in a newspaper or magazine. Technology is incorporated as students create their advertisements using PowerPoint, Publisher, or Word. This activity is fun for the students and covers so many important skills that fall under the Sunshine State Standards.

The Media Literacy Unit my students completed involved understanding how media can enhance or manipulate information. Students started by learning how persuasion techniques are used in advertisements found in newspapers, magazines, and television. We also discussed how headlines for news can entice us to read certain articles or even stop to buy a newspaper. We then discussed how advertisements target a certain audience so they know just the right persuasion techniques to use. After using newspapers and magazines to identify types of persuasive techniques and targeted audiences, students then created their own fictitious product using the technology of their choice. The final product (advertisement) was to clearly identify the product, its name, and an idea as to what it did. Students were also asked to provide information on the audience they were trying to sell to and the types of persuasive techniques they used in their ad. Some used multiple persuasive techniques such as personality symbols, testimonials, and price appeal. In the final presentation, each student had to tell the class how their ad attracted attention, aroused interest, created desire, and caused action. These four components were discussed with every advertisement example we reviewed in class. Many of the presentations contained animation, sound, movement, and use of font changes to enhance the advertisement. This can’t be seen in the hard copy that students provided, but many of them were quite clever with their special effects, which only enhanced the effectiveness of their ad.

Deborah Croak
7th,8th Grade Reading
Creekside Middle

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