News Reporting

Created by:

Matt Vongehr

Title/Role:

Teacher Librarian

Organization/School Name:

Tioga Middle School

Location:

California

Grade Level:

Type of Lesson:

Lesson in a unit

Type of Schedule:

Flexible

Collaboration Continuum:

Intensive

Content Area:

Educational technology

Social studies

Content Topic:

Research and Writing Across the Curriculum

Standards for the 21st-Century Learner

Skills Indicator(s):

1.1.7 Make sense of information gathered from diverse sources by identifying misconceptions, main and supporting ideas, conflicting information, and point of view or bias.

1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding.

Dispositions Indicator(s):

1.2.1 Display initiative and engagement by posing questions and investigating the answers beyond the collection of superficial facts.

1.2.3 Demonstrate creativity by using multiple resources and formats.

1.2.4 Maintain a critical stance by questioning the validity and accuracy of all information.

Responsibilities Indicator(s):

3.3.4 Create products that apply to authentic, real-world contexts.

Self-Assessment Strategies Indicator(s):

4.4.3 Recognize how to focus efforts in personal learning.

4.4.6 Evaluate own ability to select resources that are engaging and appropriate for personal interests and needs.

Scenario:

Tioga Middle School's staff has identified the critical need for students to develop better reasoning skills and higher level thinking. To help students develop these skills, lessons are designed to integrate research and writing across the curriculum. The teacher librarian collaborates with teachers in each subject area to create units of study, which provide students with focused opportunities to research, pre-write, draft, revise, proofread, and publish. During each unit, the teacher librarian will work with teachers and students in the Library Media Center Computer Lab. When projects are completed, each team presents its video to the class, and their peers, teacher, and teacher librarian assess each project with a rubric. Then, the work is discussed in reference to the rubric scores.

Overview:

Teaching students to brainstorm, create, and present news stories is a powerful and productive way to give them 21st Century Skills, as recognized by AASL and ISTE. Learning the techniques of researching, discussing, collaborating, writing, video recording, and reporting are important skills, which help students learn to study subjects in greater depth, which results in greater understanding. Student pairs will research a topic, which they believe will be of interest to their peers.

Final Product:

Each team will complete an historical multimedia news story.

Library Lesson:

Students will create a video using images, sound, and words to tell an historical news story to their peers. Student teams will present their stories in class and the teacher librarian will publish the stories on the Library Media Center website.

Estimated Lesson Time:

120 minutes

Assessment

Product:

Student pairs will create a video based on their research of a Civil War Battle. The videos will be evaluated with a rubric.

Process:

Students will be given adequate time to consider their topics. Teachers will be available for consultation. The school provides the following online resources: www.cicerohistory.com and 10 Gale Database subscriptions, including Gale Virtual Reference Library, Student Resources in Context, and U.S. and World History in Context.

Student self-questioning:

Is our topic interesting? Is our topic newsworthy? Is our information accurate?

Instructional Plan

Resources students will use:

Moving Image (i.e. animations, movies, tv program, video)

Software

Sound (i.e. music playback file, audio compact disc, recorded speech or sounds)

Resources instructor will use:

Projector

Laptop

White board

Smart board

Instruction/Activities

Direct instruction:

The teacher librarian will show an engaging historical news story: Too Late to Apologize: A Declaration http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZfRaWAtBVg Uploaded by soomopublishing on Feb 2, 2010. The instructors and students will discuss the video. What makes it interesting? What makes it newsworthy? The teacher librarian will present the News Report Rubric, and discuss the criteria in reference to Apologize.

Modeling and guided practice:

The classroom teacher and teacher librarian will introduce, demonstrate, and discuss the following points with students. What makes a good news report? Find the who, what, when, where, why, and how. The story needs to be factual. Find the emotion and pinpoint the public interest for the story. Why would fellow students be interested in this story? What video clips can you create to help tell the story? What audio can you use that will help tell the story? Are there other visuals that you can use to tell the story?

Independent practice:

Students work in pairs to brainstorm historical news topics. The teachers will work with student pairs to make a final topic selection. The teachers will monitor the class to check for understanding. Teams will work in the computer lab to research and gather information about a Civil War battle. Student pairs will work collaboratively to complete their video presentation.

Have you taught this lesson before:

Strategies for differentiation:

The teachers will assure all students that they will be given appropriate time and help to complete the assignment. Students will be paired to support their learning. As necessary, the teacher librarian will show students how to use the Gale audio reading features: download MP3 or ReadSpeak.