 |  | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2008 BRIGHT IDEAS LESSON PLANSElma Rood The Connecticut Connection Category: ESE (K-1-2) Diana Sulzbach Newsworthy Reference Book I created a template page for students to complete in order to compile a word book. The type of book can vary depending on the area of study. You can use weekly spelling words, sight words, word wall words, content area vocabulary from social studies, science, math, reading story of the week, etc. The possibilities are endless! Students complete multiple pages and add to the class book throughout a specified time period. It could be a unit of study or all year long. The front of the page contains an area for the student to draw pictures of their words and list their words. They can cut the whole words out of the newspaper or use separate letters to spell out the words. Next they find additional letters to demonstrate how each word is divided into sounds. On the back of the page they write the number of syllables in the word and again use letters cut from the newspaper to show how the word is broken up into syllables. Next, they describe which part of speech the word is and explain why. Lastly, they write a definition of the word. The students enjoy the hands on activities of cutting, gluing and manipulating the letters numerous times. Some students with severe reading and fine motor difficulties write out the parts of speech utilizing a computerized Write Outloud program, and cut and paste that printed information onto the page. The students take pride in their finished product. It has especially been helpful with math vocabulary words as we prepare for the FCAT. It becomes a classroom reference book for anyone to use. Category: K-1-2 Lisa Hess Tear & Rip We do a lot with newspapers in our classroom. When we have finally finished with them, students take them home to share with their parents or we recycle them at the school. Category: Twist (Middle) Becky Ling Technology in the Real World Students were asked to peruse the newspaper and identify any article, picture or advertisement that was a result of, or related to, technology. They were encouraged to find as many items as possible. They cut the items from the newspaper and put them together on a large sheet of paper, making a collage of the pictures. After going over seven sub-categories of technology, the students took their collage and labeled each of the pictures, articles and advertisements, making sure their collage had all seven sub-categories. It was a great way to review the sub-categories and to demonstrate the impact technology has on our world today. Category: 3-4-5 Karen Potter Making Real-World Connections I use the newspaper each week in numerous ways to facilitate the academic achievement of my students. The first semester we read the weekly story “Fox Tails.” My students kept a journal of their thoughts and predictions, and drew what they thought the protagonist and antagonist of the story looked like. They also enjoyed working on the Mini Page. This semester we are using the paper for locating parts of speech. For example, we cut out pictures of singular and plural nouns. Another week we highlighted figurative language in an article. Just this week was our 5th graders’ 1000th day of school since kindergarten. We cut out 1000 pictures and made a collage. We also use the advertisement page for completing comparison shopping. This month we are looking for local and global African-Americans in the news. We enjoy tracking the weather in the news and making a graph of the weekly changes in weather. We have made comparison charts of recyclable and renewable resources. There are numerous ways we utilize the newspaper in our classroom to touch in all areas of academia, and the kids love being able to use ‘real world’ materials and make connections to our educational learning. Category: ESE (High) Rhonda Adams, Julie Mitchell, Sandra Telemaque, Kimberly Pertler News on My Mind Students chose a story from the headlines that caused them to think seriously about a topic or issue. They followed that story in the paper as long as it ran, supplementing their research with the Internet and televised news segments. The students made “conversation bubbles” (like you see in the comics) and used words cut from newsprint to compose an essay/editorial concerning the story and their thoughts and feelings in response to the story. We displayed these bubbles around the room and shared one daily as a conversation starter for history and biology. The students loved the creative aspect of finding the words/phrases they wanted to use and piecing them together. It was like a scavenger hunt. Many students continued to add to their “bubbles” after they initially turned them in as finished. A really good idea is never finished! News Is My Life: “My Anewsing Life” The newspaper covers just about everything affecting our lives in the world around us. We read the paper daily and decided to create a visual representation of the impact the paper had on us as people. We decided to make us, as people, out of the news stories that impact us daily. We read the paper and sculpted it into life-size replicas of ourselves. We used math concepts to estimate, calculate and proportion our “bodies” to size. We covered our paper bodies with “skin” made from the articles closest to our hearts. The students loved putting “themselves” together and choosing articles to laminate for “skin.” They naturally fell into helping each other and working together. Conversation was lively, to say the least. Category: High Stephen M. McPherson The Victorian Salon Experience: Poetry in the News! Objective:
Setup:
Materials Required:
Lesson Background:
Procedures:
1. At the first station, students will analyze and use musical devices as a technique to write their own original poem.
2. At the second station, students will analyze and use figurative language as a technique to write their own original poem.
3. At the third station, students will analyze and use the Haiku form of poetry as a technique to write their own original poems.
4. At the fourth station, students will analyze and use the Shakespearean sonnet as a model technique to write their own original poem.
5. At the fifth station, students will analyze and use narrative and dramatic poetry as a technique to write their own original poems.
6. At the sixth station, students will be given the opportunity to share their best poetry with their team members.
Category: Twist (Middle) Kimberly Whitaker Economic Regions in the News When studying the 5 economic regions of the U.S. I like to give students an opportunity to practice identifying states and the regions they belong to by using Section A of The News-Journal. The objective for this particular activity is practice, so the students have already read the text, made written economic profiles and created a small map of the 5 U.S. economic regions. It is safe to say that the students have a working knowledge of the 5 regions. Category: Twist (Middle) Jane Peters Personal News-Journals on Video I am a media specialist at Hinson Middle School and teach a multi-media production class. My goal with the class has been to utilize and reinforce skills my students have learned in their core classes while teaching them how to integrate various types of technology into a project. One of the activities I have done with my students is to have them create a personal newspaper about their “world.” We began the process with The News-Journal: We identified parts of the newspaper and looked at how different journalists presented different types of news, what types of information were included and how advertising was used to promote various products and services. We looked at The News-Journal Online and compared and contrasted the elements presented in an electronic format with the print version. The students then decided what “section” of the paper they would like to produce and what family or personal elements would work for their projects. The first task was to gather information for their stories and type them up, ready to be pasted into their papers. After the stories were complete they created a storyboard, figuring out how many pictures, graphics and fillers they would need to complete their “section.” When the storyboards were complete they began creating their paper using Microsoft Publisher. They learned how to take well-thought-out shots with the camera and download them to the computer, how to set up columns and insert text and pictures and how to use graphics and many other features of the program. I think that their favorite part of the project was taking and utilizing the digital pictures they had taken. Category: Twist (Elementary) Kari Nagus
The News on iPod The 5- and 6-year-old students in my class are able to hear to interesting news articles by listening to the iPod. Interesting articles are clipped from the paper and placed in a News-Journal binder. I or fifth graders read the articles into the iPod for the children to listen to in small groups. This project enhances community awareness and promotes a love for reading. As you can see from the picture at right these four children are listening to articles about dogs. They really enjoyed the bright pictures and funny stories about the dogs. Category: Twist (Elementary) Pollidia Houghham Cartoons and Onomatopoeia I am a fourth-grade teacher so teaching the elements of good writing is essential. To help my children understand dialogue and the use of onomatopoeia we use cartoon strips. I take the cartoon strips and “white out” the dialogue that the characters in the strip are having. I photocopy a selection of these cartoon strips. I pass them out or put them in a center and the students choose one of the cartoon strips. The students then insert their own dialogue for the characters in the strip. They must use quotation marks. They must also use onomatopoeia. This is a fun activity that they have always enjoyed doing and teaches them how to use dialogue and onomatopoeia. Cartoon Characters for President With this being an election year I thought it would be fun for the children to choose a cartoon character to run for president. Each group chose a cartoon character. They had to write speeches that would persuade others to vote for their character. They also had to choose a character that would meet the qualifications for being a US president. They made posters and badges that represented their character. They group had 10 minutes to read their speeches and try to convince other students to vote for their character. When we finished the students all voted for which cartoon character they thought should be president. They learned to write a persuasive speech, the qualifications for being president and a little about glittering generalities. When the students voted it was interesting that they did not just vote for their candidate, but had been persuaded to vote for other candidates. Category: ESE (Middle) Christina Brown-Basnet Exciting Extra Credit My ESE students read on a third-grade level. I have them look through the newspaper and, for extra credit, find something that will relate to anything we learned during the week. The students fill out a paper telling me the title of the article, where the event is taking place and the main point of the article. I give them 5 points for each article; I will use these as bonus points in any area that they need extra credit towards their final grade. My students who do this love it. After the FCAT, I will also be introducing life skills. I will have them find such things as rent cost and jobs. Next week I will have students find articles about African-Americans for Black history month. I will have them create a poster using the articles they find. Category: Twist (Elementary) Justina Thomas-Smith Mini Me My students use The News-Journal daily. We have incorporated the paper into all areas. What students find most rewarding is our twist to the buddy read, “Mini Me.” “Mini Me” - pair 4th graders with 1st grade class to read articles that the 1st graders choose to work on. Students later come back to class and identify the main idea and author’s purpose. Then the 1st graders may choose a picture from the paper, cut and paste it on a separate sheet of paper and write their own stories. We place the stories in a center where the groups can add details. This is a great source for writing. The 1st graders are working on basic sentence structure and storytelling, and my 4th graders have the opportunity to do more mature writing/ elaboration. Before and After- I know this is working because when we have author’s chair the class will be quick to point out any sentences that are “babyish”. Category: Twist (High) Ruth Crawford Olympic Reading Students don’t think about what they are reading as they are reading so their comprehension levels suffer. I had an idea wherein I could get them to pause and think about what they read after a short time of reading. If I had them do this four times in a row then they might be inclined to keep up the habit. I call this activity Olympic Reading because as I explained to my classes you have to practice something often in order to get good at it, just like people in the Olympics. Category: Twist (Elementary) Susan VanEngen Re-Use the News I use the Mini Page of The Daytona Beach News-Journal to build reading readiness skills with my Kindergarten students, and to introduce them to reading the newspaper. I have laminated a set of six Mini Pages of interest to the children such as: Animal Mothers & Babies, Bicycles, Soccer, etc. I have a typed list of words, numbers and punctuation for the students to find, stored with each set of papers. I include high frequency words, color words, number words and children’s names. The children work in small groups to find the words on the list. They use dry erase markers to circle those words they can find. When they are finished, the newspapers can be wiped clean with tissue so they are ready to be used by another group! Category: Twist (High) Carole Prior Presidential Candidate Speech Before class begins, the teacher selects 20-30 words from The Daytona Beach News-Journal that are pertinent to the unit. In this case, because students are running a campaign as if they are one of the presidential candidates, most of the terms will be directed toward that goal. Depending upon the unit, one can direct vocabulary toward those specific areas. (ex: a different set of words has been selected centering around the Super Bowl.) The students love to read all sections of the newspaper and I tie together elements of literature, politics, art and society with any unit or topic we are studying. List of words for today’s assignment:
ASSIGNMENT: TODAY, THE RACE IS ON! PRIZE FOR THE FIRST TEAM of STUDENTS TO LOCATE EACH WORD, HIGHLIGHT THE WORD and UNDERSTAND THE WORD. All words are from Section A of The Daytona Beach News-Journal, Wednesday, February 6, 2008. NEXT CLASS: PRIZE FOR USING THE MOST WORDS, IN CONTEXT, IN YOUR CANDIDATE’S SPEECH. In your notebook, copy WORDS, phrases, sentences or headlines that demonstrate the context and the meanings of the chosen words. SUPPLIES: HIGHLIGHTERS, PENCILS/PENS, NOTEBOOKS READ the articles. Note how some of the words are used. If you are unfamiliar with a word, look up the definition. In order to understand the content, determine how the words fit in with the context of the surrounding sentences or phrases. HEADLINE your own PAPER with the following:
DETERMINE TYPE of ARTICLE or SOURCE, i.e., EDITORIAL, LETTER to the EDITOR, WRITER from a DIFFERENT NEWSPAPER, STAFF WRITER. SUMMARIZE the COLUMN: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY. Answer as many of the FIVE W’s as possible. UNDERLINE the “FOUND” WORDS Create & Write a short speech from the SUMMARY. Pretend you are the CANDIDATE speaking on these VITAL and IMPORTANT ISSUES. Use as many words from the word list as possible! REMEMBER:
This assignment was used in conjunction with the ongoing activities as follows: ASSIGNMENT: WEEK of JANUARY 21, 2008 Research the ISSUES the CANDIDATE of CHOICE supports. Select THREE MAIN ISSUES or TOPICS to discuss (as per The News-Journal listing a few weeks ago). Research the OPPOSING CANDIDATE’S VIEWPOINTS about these same THREE TOPICS. PAIR with a student who has the opposing viewpoints on these THREE TOPICS. DISCUSS and DEBATE these issues within the classroom as an INFORMAL DEBATE. WRITE a five-paragraph speech that introduces these issues. *Note: SEPARATE EACH PARAGRAPH WITH EITHER AN INDENTATION OR SPACE BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS INTRODUCTION. FIRST/SECOND/THIRD POINTS in SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS. CONCLUSION. Final PARAGRAPH POINT out how your opponent stands on one or two of these issues and why your own viewpoint is stronger. MARK your SPEECH: HITS/PAUSES/PREGNANT PAUSES. DELIVER your SPEECH to the CLASS. DEFEND your POSITIONS. ACTING LESSON PLAN: The Headliners! Power Point Presentation For ACTING, we take the HEADLINES and mix them up with a DIFFERENT STORY, THEN use the LINES for IMPROVISATION. We use the CHARACTERS’ NAMES LISTED as CHARACTERS for a SKIT. Students must create a complete analysis of the character (PRE-THINK: WHERE might this person have been PRIOR to the story? WHAT happened to make the CHARACTER get involved in this story? WHEN did the ACTION first OCCUR? HOW are these characters related or HOW MIGHT they be RELATED--IS there a RELATIONSHIP THERE? CREATE a RELATIONSHIP as in ‘SIX DEGREES OF SEPARATION. FILL in the BUSINESS (business=any action an ACTOR brings to a CHARACTER that is not written in the story or play. Ex: “How many different ways can a person enter a room, answer a phone, drive a car while putting on makeup or talking on a cell phone, react to a policeman who issues a speeding ticket, etc.) to make a story more interesting?” Category: Twist (Middle) Daphne J. Berish Let's Make a "DATE" Say the word, “DATE” to any eighth grade student, and that child will react more actively than if a bag of Skittles were placed on each desk! It so happened that my lesson plan called for the “DATE” activity on a day when the only boy in my class was absent. Woe to him; “WHOA” to the girls!
When I had them frothing at the mouth, I told them the “catch!” ALL the information garnered on the final product (a glittery poster) would have to be culled from The News-Journal. I had to catch my breath when they said,” No problem! We can do THAT!”... And so, they did! The “D” section was a lesson in broadening outlooks and horizons. After, “What’s your sign” (from the Horoscope) or “Did you read “Garfield” (from the comics), they started looking for items such as weather reports, sports scores, natural disasters and political candidates’ victories that might bring more than a “yes” or “no” answer from this dream date! Lo and Behold! They were looking at ALL the sections of The News-Journal without my prodding! The “A” category was a pubescent girl’s dream come true! They cut out pictures of, and articles about, clothing for both themselves and their dates (“Look at this shirt! It’s 40% off at Dillards!”) “Look at that cute dress on the front page of the Accent section. They even tell you where you can get a cheaper version of it!”.) Accoutrements such as jewelry and transportation were included in this category. Remember, these girls were creating the TOTAL PACKAGE! The “T” area was a literal and figurative “piece of cake.” Since my students know that the Accent section is called, “Go!” on Fridays, they were deluged with “things to do, places to go”....including cruises around the world! P.S. Imagine.........on an eighth grader’s budget! Isn’t fantasy great?? Some could not decide on the cuisine, so they included a few restaurants, planning appetizers, main courses and desserts. The “E” presented the biggest challenge. Let’s start with the word, “etiquette.” Is it usually heard in the same breath as the phrase “middle schooler?” I don’t think so! After giving them a working definition of the word, we brainstormed about the qualities that would be found in a person who had been trained in etiquette. No burping, no bullying, saying “Please” and “Thank you” were pulled from their collective contributions. All of a sudden, “Dear Abby” was discovered, and she became a source of practical advice pertaining to etiquette. The Thursday supplement, “Score and More” also interviews teens and their attitudes about dating and dealing with awkward situations. I am not saying that these girls will bring their posters on their next dates (let’s hope not!), but they sure had a blast creating a dream scenario.......all compliments of The News-Journal. Oh, by the way, our lone boy returned the next day, and started his own project. He was, though, the “official judge” of the “Mrs. Berish Girls’ Academy DATE Poster Project!” Category: Twist (High) Kasey Lamb Around the World in 30 Days I have tried to make Intensive Reading more interesting for my high school students. To help my students make a connection between Intensive Reading and their content area classes, I try to teach the reading strategies and vocabulary through using social studies, science and mathematics for six weeks at a time. During the social studies unit I have students use newspapers on a daily basis to find current events that take place all over the world. When pulling articles from the newspaper I have students extend their knowledge by completing various tasks such as creating their own QARs (question and answer relationships), creating a 5 W’s and H chart, and other reading strategies. I also have the students pull out terms related to the social studies content and locate the location on our big, pull-down map. We pinpoint the location by using star stickers and discuss its relationship with the United States. Students pull the articles from the newspapers to create a binder full of the events. Through using newspapers, social studies curriculum and a map, students learn not only different reading strategies and vocabulary needed for the FCAT and everyday life, but also geography, current events and how to build a bridge between reading and other content areas. The newspapers offer so much to use for any content area. I have also used newspapers to reach out during teaching for science and mathematics. The students love the interaction and the use of other materials besides our reading curriculum. The great thing about this lesson is that it can be extended in many ways. Next year I plan to incorporate newspapers from other states and around the world. We will also complete character studies about famous people in various locations. The students always need new exposure to the world we live in and through a multitude of facets in which we all learn differently. Category: 6-7-8 Donald E. D’Orto Jr. Candidates and Primaries in Focus First: Read in The Daytona Beach News-Journal from January 28, 2008, Page A12: “GOP Candidates Focus on Economy as Fla. Vote Looms.” Second: Read and answer these questions from the article:
Homework assignment based upon the article we read above: Analyze, using The News-Journal from Wednesday, January 30, 2008 (online at www.news-journalonline.com, or in printed form) results from the Florida Democratic and Republican Primaries that ended January 29, 2008. Results should show:
Due tomorrow at the beginning of class. Be prepared to discuss these issues in an in-class analysis of the election results and state how you believe the candidates will fare in the Super Tuesday Primaries. Category: Twist (High) Sarah Altier An African Connection Newspapers and other media are mirrors to our society. By examining the percentages of newspaper stories devoted to sports, politics, war, etc., students can make generalizations about what is valued in a culture. I got the idea to do this activity last summer when I taught school in Namibia, Africa. Because books for the students to read were scarce, I ended up hiking to town on weekends to buy class sets of newspapers for them to read. When I returned to DeLand High I brought back many copies of the local African newspaper, “The Namibian” to use as a comparison to The Daytona Beach News-Journal. You may be asking, “What if I don’t have copies of another country’s newspaper to use for this activity?” – I believe that the online version of any national newspaper (many publish in English) could be used in lieu of having a paper copy. My classes really enjoyed exploring both the African and the American newspapers – and I think they were surprised at how similar they were. In general, my students found that the Namibian newspaper was much more devoted to crime and had fewer human interest stories than The News-Journal – which surprised them. Perhaps a variation on this project for next year would be for students to make predictions about how the two newspapers compare and contrast and then study both newspapers to see if their predictions hold up. WHAT DOES OUR MEDIA SAY ABOUT OUR CULTURE? Do newspapers mirror our values and our culture? They do serve as an important indicator of what we consider to be important, our daily lives and our society. Today you will compare two newspapers from very different cultures to draw generalizations about each.
Category: Twist (High) Camilla Anne Coalson Writing Poetry from the News…Look beyond the Facts Students are provided with a newspaper article to read. Use a longer article, but not one that continues onto another page. The articles may be news, editorial, features or sports. Students are instructed to list words that are emotional or descriptive. Next, they scan the article and select words that create their own poetry by coloring out the words not used and highlighting the words chosen. It is a challenge for students to think beyond the facts of the article and create their own writing. The words selected must be in the order they appeared in the article and the form of the word may not be changed. The students thoroughly enjoyed sharing their poetry, so a read-aloud completed the activity! Category: Twist (Elementary) Rachel Goodnow and Myra Williams Florida Front Page History Our class has just completed a project in which they created a newsletter, or mock front page, highlighting the major events in Florida from the 1500's through the 1800's. (From Ponce de Leon's landing up to Florida becoming a state) Here are some samples of student work:
Category: Twist (Middle) Karen Haney A News-Journal Journey: Passport to Reading Success Overview of Correlated Resources:
One more way The News-Journal is a valuable resource for my students is to use it to combine reading programs already in use in my classes. Having just completed the Racing to Read program, and with the racing season starting, I had students choose a NASCAR race driver to follow for the rest of year--thus taking a “journey” with a driver via The News-Journal. Each student researched his or her chosen driver via the Internet thus also incorporating technology. Students found specific information about the driver they chose and that created an interdisciplinary twist to the program by bringing geography and mathematics into the activities. Students found out not only about their driver’s life, but also about the geographic areas the drivers come from. They plotted on a map the driver’s home base and where their driver traveled each week. Initially, the newspaper is used to find out information leading up to the start of Race Weeks by reading the many articles The News-Journal prints. Following the first race--the historic, 50th Daytona 500--students keep track of certain facts about their driver’s progress. Using The News-Journal, students bring math into the program by keeping track of how much money their driver makes according to how they placed in the previous weekend’s race, as well as the number of miles traveled from race to race each week. Students already had their own “passports” from the Genre Journeys program, so for each place their driver visits and they research, their passport gets a stamp. Finally, to further coordinate the Genre Journeys book-reading aspect with The News-Journal, students find articles, maps, photos, headlines, etc. that have something to do with their current book for Genre Journeys. They are creating a scrapbook of the things they find each week in the paper. They must show meaningful correlation to their books of what they find in the newspaper in order to enter it in their scrapbooks. The culmination of this unit in June will include the student’s driver who earned the most prize money, the driver who traveled the most miles, the “best” judged scrapbook contest and the passports with the most stamps. My students are excited about this reading program. They like the varied materials and independent as well as group activities. They are creative and each student is motivated by the hands-on approach and the use of a newspaper they are familiar with. I look forward to the progress and journey they will take the rest of this school year!
Category: Twist (Elementary) Tina Howard Career Search As a school counselor, I use the newspaper to provide real-world data during career lessons with 4th and 5th grade students. After identifying their individual interests through a career inventory, students discover which career clusters best fit their interests. Working in small groups, students then use newspapers to search the help wanted section for employment that fits their interests in that cluster. Each student has a specific task in the group. All group members search the paper for possible careers/jobs, then one student records the information and one reports. The recorder charts several jobs in that category along with requirements listed. The reporter then presents to the class information about career opportunities in their cluster, within our community. This activity always has a positive impact because it shows students what is available to them in our community by using the local paper. Students also enjoy working in cooperative groups with others who share their interests. When evaluating the success of this lesson, I look at what the students report back to the class. The information they share is specific to their chosen career cluster, and I can tell that they achieve an understanding of real-world work and how it relates to their personal interests. Category: Twist (Elementary) Evelyn Medina Propaganda Techniques Overview: Media has an enormous impact on the buying power of Americans. Students need to become aware of the influence used in advertisements to make them more appealing to the buyer. The purpose of this activity is to expose students to five different propaganda techniques. Student Objectives: As a result of the activity, students were able to:
Resources & Materials: The News-Journal, scissors, glue, writing implements Students were shown the five propaganda techniques generally used in advertisements:
After viewing advertisements in the newspaper and discussing marketing strategies, I assigned students to select commercials that they felt demonstrated propaganda. Students then jig-sawed within small groups, discussing what types of propaganda techniques were used in advertisements. Students were asked to select a product and advertise for it using one or more techniques. Assessment was based on student writing, teacher observation and persuasiveness to sell product. The lesson may be extended by videotaping student commercials to practice public speaking. Category: Twist (High) John Navarra Save Darfur, Again A column I wrote about the crisis in Darfur was published in the August 14, 2004 issue of The News-Journal. I won that year’s Bright Ideas Contest for using the article in my American history classroom. This year students in my international relations class learned about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. They were surprised that we didn't help Rwanda at that time. I taught them about the situation in Darfur and had them read my article. I said I was glad I had written the article but I’d had no response from the community that I knew of. The students wanted to do a project to help the people of Darfur. I knew that a fellow teacher, Angela Stephens had held a school assembly last year about Darfur. This year my students created Powerpoint presentations with the help of The News-Journal, myself and Mrs. Stephens’ Genocide Awareness Club. We had a week-long, save Darfur event. Our principal, Mr. Russell helped me invite Nicole Service of The News-Journal to cover the assembly. An article about our assembly appeared in the November 8, 2007 issue of The News-Journal. Students were very excited when the public reacted with great support and interest for our cause. The article made the front page of the local section of The News-Journal. Some of my students’ pictures were in the article. My students learned a lot about how to work with the newspaper industry to publicize a worthy cause. The events brought awareness and over $1,000 were raised to help the people of Darfur. One reporter even gave $20 of her own money to the cause. Category: Twist (Middle) Robert Voges So, What Are You Doing this Weekend? I want to share one of my students’ favorite lesson plans. It dawned on me to submit this as I gazed around the room and noticed ALL my students on task (in my toughest period)! I have attached the Student Assignment Packet. The activity is called “So, what are you doing this weekend?” Students are asked to browse the “GO!” section of the Friday News-Journal and create a weekend outing. Not only are students amazed at the many opportunities available in Central Florida, but they are bewildered by what it takes and how much it costs to organize a family outing. Even if they are attending a “free” event, I make them aware of the cost of transportation, lunch, and other incidental expenses they may incur. It is an eye-opener for them. In addition to meeting the SSS for my class (Computer Applications I), it complements one of our school-wide goals: increasing non-fiction reading. An excerpt from the lesson plan provides a summary:
* Itinerary: (eye-tin-uh-rer-ee) noun. A detailed plan of a journey. Sunshine State Standards (LA, MA, and SC): Rigor and Relevance (quadrant): Instructions to Teacher: Using the “GO/DO” Section from Friday’s News-Journal, have students plan an outing for the upcoming weekend. It can be a movie, concert, exhibit or anything that interests them. There are no limits, but make sure it is something appropriate for students their age. They should not be limited by the “realities” of transportation or cost, but should also not plan on going to an “R-rated” movie in San Francisco. Once they have researched their outing, they will create an itinerary in Microsoft Word following the instructions below. It may be helpful to define terms such as: Accommodations, Itemized, Itinerary and Template. Instructions to Students:
Instructions for Learning Styles Modifications: Can be done as a cooperative activity. Use ESOL strategies. Group discussion of instructions and intended results. Assessment for Activity: Teacher will review final student product and compare to template. Approximate Length of Time for Activity: One class period (45 minutes) Materials Needed: The Daytona Beach News-Journal (or local newspaper); student instructions and template to follow for itinerary. Resources Needed: Computers with Internet access and Microsoft Word. Category: Twist (Elementary) Debra Woody Good Citizens in the News Sunshine State Standards:
Using the newspaper to identify “good news” stories of ordinary citizens, students identify various character traits displayed. Students read and discuss the article with classmates. Students then write a summary paragraph about how the person in the article displayed at least After reviewing and editing the paragraph, each student creates an award poster to honor the citizen(s) in his/her newspaper article. The students present their posters to their classmates and they are displayed in the classroom to remind everyone of their duties as “good citizens.” Additional Information: Citizens in the News Writing Center
Pronunciation: 'si-t&-z&n-"ship (Function: noun)
1. Read the newspaper article about a good citizen.
Home | Workshops | Projects | Publications | Lesson Plans | Links | Bright Ideas |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2008 NIE WORLD (www.nieworld.com). All content copyrighted and may not be republished without permission. The News-Journal has no control over and is not responsible for content on other Web sites. Privacy Policy. |