Creating
a group is a great way to teach students many skills, such as how to
cooperate with classmates and how to write an informative essay. By
having the students create a newspaper as a group, and give students
some fun and fantastic topics for articles, you can engage them in
writing while still teaching them about how to enter quotes, facts, and
write in a tone appropriate for a formal published article. This
task is the most appropriate for JUNIOR high or early, but can also be
used with younger students are just learning to write.
Prepare The Assignment
Separate your students into groups of five. Give them a list of five situations to choose from (a sample list is included below). Each situation must include quotes and two facts that students should put in each essay. Do they start by choosing who is going to write a story. After that, they have decided on a name for the newspaper and started designing the layout. Where the story will go on the front page? Where the story is going to end up the paper? After the layout has been decided, it's time for the students to work individually to write their articles.
The possibility for a situation of News Stories
For younger students, it is important not to give too much freedom with this task. After
all, you want them to be sure to include citations and two facts in
their articles so that, to avoid using too much time having students
create or find their own quotes or facts, you can give them a list. This
makes it easier and less time consuming for them to write, and easier
for the teacher to check that the skills being executed correctly. Here is a list of possible situations for students to write about:
1) Bigfoot has been seen!
Quote: ". I saw a trail on land was so big, I could lie down in it! "-Bob Noone, townsperson
Fact:
Bigfoot has been seen three times in the last ten years.
No one has ever photographed.
2) opened a new restaurant in the area!
Quote:
"we are very excited to be opening our restaurant today is an honor to
be a part of this city."-Sheila Crabb, restaurant owner
Fact:
Due to complications, it took three years to build a building for a restaurant.
The restaurant has served more than 300 people on the first day.
3) A sports team has won the championship game!
Quote: "it was the most exciting game I have ever played."-Joe Johnson, sports stars
Fact:
The team has made it to the championship game the sport for four years.
The team just got new jerseys at the start of the season.
4) a celebrity has been spotted!
Quote: "I really hope he becomes higher."-Maggie Sue, people who see the celebrities
Fact:
Celebrity sightings are very rare in this area.
Maggie Sue unfortunately does not have a camera with him to photograph celebrities.
5) volunteers have cleaned up a local park!
Quote: "this really makes me feel good to do something like this for the community."-Donnie Eastman, volunteer
Fact:
Clean-up crews disposing of trash and garbage in thirty recycling two cans.
A set of swing donated to the Park by local charities.
The Assembly of the newspaper
After a draft of all the articles written, have students assemble the newspaper. The title of the newspaper that they decided in advance to be on the front page, and the date and the cost of newspapers. It must also look nice so people will want to buy it. If they then make a final draft of their article in their newspaper format. Each article should also include pictures, like most articles in newspapers do. You can have students assemble the paper by hand, or with a computer if they are available.
Additional Options
If there's time, students may proofread draft articles their newspaper before the creation of the end. Also,
if you want to strengthen the skills of oral presentations, each group
may present newspapers, with each individual that presents articles he
wrote. If you want to emphasize research skills,
you can have your students, choose from the list of current events and
have them find their own quotes and facts from other articles.
