Since the College Board Advanced Placement exam requires students to use their knowledge of current events, the newspaper is an important tool for them. I give students the AP prompt (written at the end of this post) from the free response section of released exams. We discuss what is meant by “appropriate evidence” and how to write an argument that takes into account the opposing positions. Students find specific examples of information related to the topic in the newspaper. They write their first draft of this essay using the information provided in the newspaper to support their assertion. I continue to use the newspaper over the course of the year, and I remind the students that the information they are getting can be helpful to them on the actual exam in May.
The following passage is taken from the AP Central website
Contemporary life is marked by controversy. Choose a controversial local, national, or global issue with which you are familiar. Then, using appropriate evidence, write an essay that carefully considers the opposing positions on this controversy and proposes a solution or compromise.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Student Lesson for the Newspaper - Ojeda Middle School
6th Grade Reading- Ms. Rocha- Ojeda Middle School
The following lesson was submitted by Daisy Del Bosquez, 6th grade, Pre-AP Reading:
Pick one article that you think is interesting. Read the article, then write if the sentences are interrogotive, imperative, declarative, or exclamatory. Pick another article and write a summary about it. The summary has to be at least 15 words.
The following lesson was submitted by Kayla Augustus, 6th grade, Pre-AP Reading:
For the warm up: I would have the class look in the newspaper and find 2 short stories that are somewhat alike depending on the title that also has a picture. Read them both and write down 1 difference about which one of the stories is most important in the economy or in the community. Then write down 2 things that are the same in both stories. One of the similarities would have to do with it's lead topic the second similarity would be about the picture's angle. Then if some students did it on the same stories then I would pair them up and let them pair and share with each other's answers.
For the class work: I would have the class read a story in the paper of their choice. I would give them a sheet of notebook paper. Then I would have the students write a report on why they read that selection and after reading that story in the newspaper would you make that your favorite selection why or why not.
The following lesson was submitted by Daisy Del Bosquez, 6th grade, Pre-AP Reading:
Pick one article that you think is interesting. Read the article, then write if the sentences are interrogotive, imperative, declarative, or exclamatory. Pick another article and write a summary about it. The summary has to be at least 15 words.
The following lesson was submitted by Kayla Augustus, 6th grade, Pre-AP Reading:
For the warm up: I would have the class look in the newspaper and find 2 short stories that are somewhat alike depending on the title that also has a picture. Read them both and write down 1 difference about which one of the stories is most important in the economy or in the community. Then write down 2 things that are the same in both stories. One of the similarities would have to do with it's lead topic the second similarity would be about the picture's angle. Then if some students did it on the same stories then I would pair them up and let them pair and share with each other's answers.
For the class work: I would have the class read a story in the paper of their choice. I would give them a sheet of notebook paper. Then I would have the students write a report on why they read that selection and after reading that story in the newspaper would you make that your favorite selection why or why not.
Front Page News Activity -by Ms. Rocha -Ojeda Middles School
I had to modify this activity due to time and computer availability. When we looked at the newspaper that day (article on president-elect Obama--sorry don't have the issue date!), students were able to compare that article to other newspapers around the country. We used Newseum and saw the Atlanta, Georgia Newspaper, a newspaper from Alaska, and another one from Long Beach California. The students immediately noticed that the newspaper from Alaska had a smaller picture of Obama and a much shorter article. We discussed this and the students stated that Palin was from Alaska and Obama is probably not liked as much there as he is in Georgia or Austin. In the California newspaper, Obama wasn't even mentioned that day. However, one article was the same in all three papers...loan to auto companies GM/Chrysler.
Student Powerpoints about the Newspaper - 6th grade, Ojeda MS
My students created powerpoints for what they read about, but I am not able to post them to the blog. Sorry, folks. :(
(Sadly) Reading a Newspaper is Not So Cool, Apparently...
I modified the lesson for "Reading a Newspaper is Cool, and Here's How I Do It" for my students so that they had to create a visual image, collage, or drawing demonstrating what they do, think about, look for, or read when they get a newspaper in class. A few of the students did write their opinions on their projects, but no one wrote a report. Writing is not their strong point, after all! I am planning to bring the artwork to the culminating event this evening. The projects are a bit depressing.
-Jessica
-Jessica
Jessica Mitchell's Student and Teacher Lesson Plans
Student created assignments--9th Basic English--Austin High School--Special Education Dept.
1. Submitted by Cynthia Perez--Basic English I.
"I want students to read the obituaries t0 see what information makes up the obits and to determine the purpose of having obits in the newspaper. Students will have to name one thing each obit has in common and also determine why people would write obits and put them in the paper."
2. Submitted by Junior Esco--Basic English I.
Students will read the comic strips and find all comics that make a reference to a cultural topic. What comment is that comic strip making?
3. Submitted by Destiny Marin--Basic English I.
Students read their horoscope and complete the following tasks:
a. summarize your horoscope in your own words.
b. do you agree with your horoscope for today? why or why not?
c. Find a sign of your best friend and read their horoscope.
d. summarize your friend's horoscope in your own words.
e. will you share your friend's horoscope with them? Why or why not?
f. Create your own horoscope by writing like the author of the horoscopes in the paper.
Jessica Mitchell
Special Education English Teacher
Austin High School
Follow a Lead
Objective: Students will collect information published over a set amount of time about a particular topic and will interpret the development of that information throughout the given timeframe.
Lesson: Students will either be assigned a particular topic or will choose a topic of interest to them that they can read about in the paper daily for a set amount of days, weeks, months, etc… Students might want to follow a story about a court case that receives national attention or about a particular sports team that they are interested in following for example. At the beginning of class daily, students will be responsible for finding information about their chosen topic and for updating a log with the new information learned from the newspaper on that day. If there is not a reference to their chosen topic in the paper they have in class on a given day, students must research other papers (online or in the library) in order to find something that has been written on the subject for that day to add to their logs. If newspapers stop reporting on the selected topic, students can write an opinion statement indicating why the topic is no longer being written about. As students read about their chosen topic day to day, they should take note of new information included in the write-up, the varying opinions that are surfacing in the paper about the topic, and the location of the information within the paper from day to day (lead story, blurb in a different article, etc…).
I See, You See
Objective: Students will compare and contrast two or three articles written about a topic that have been printed in different newspapers.
Lesson: Students will choose an article of interest to them within the Austin-American Statesman. They will then search for articles written about the same topic in other newspapers around the state, country, or world (depending on the topic chosen). Students will compare and contrast the articles, taking note of similarities and differences in style, placement, point-of-view, opinion, word choice, headline, etc…Students then write opinion pieces explaining why they believe the coverage of that topic differs from one paper to another.
1. Submitted by Cynthia Perez--Basic English I.
"I want students to read the obituaries t0 see what information makes up the obits and to determine the purpose of having obits in the newspaper. Students will have to name one thing each obit has in common and also determine why people would write obits and put them in the paper."
2. Submitted by Junior Esco--Basic English I.
Students will read the comic strips and find all comics that make a reference to a cultural topic. What comment is that comic strip making?
3. Submitted by Destiny Marin--Basic English I.
Students read their horoscope and complete the following tasks:
a. summarize your horoscope in your own words.
b. do you agree with your horoscope for today? why or why not?
c. Find a sign of your best friend and read their horoscope.
d. summarize your friend's horoscope in your own words.
e. will you share your friend's horoscope with them? Why or why not?
f. Create your own horoscope by writing like the author of the horoscopes in the paper.
Jessica Mitchell
Special Education English Teacher
Austin High School
Follow a Lead
Objective: Students will collect information published over a set amount of time about a particular topic and will interpret the development of that information throughout the given timeframe.
Lesson: Students will either be assigned a particular topic or will choose a topic of interest to them that they can read about in the paper daily for a set amount of days, weeks, months, etc… Students might want to follow a story about a court case that receives national attention or about a particular sports team that they are interested in following for example. At the beginning of class daily, students will be responsible for finding information about their chosen topic and for updating a log with the new information learned from the newspaper on that day. If there is not a reference to their chosen topic in the paper they have in class on a given day, students must research other papers (online or in the library) in order to find something that has been written on the subject for that day to add to their logs. If newspapers stop reporting on the selected topic, students can write an opinion statement indicating why the topic is no longer being written about. As students read about their chosen topic day to day, they should take note of new information included in the write-up, the varying opinions that are surfacing in the paper about the topic, and the location of the information within the paper from day to day (lead story, blurb in a different article, etc…).
I See, You See
Objective: Students will compare and contrast two or three articles written about a topic that have been printed in different newspapers.
Lesson: Students will choose an article of interest to them within the Austin-American Statesman. They will then search for articles written about the same topic in other newspapers around the state, country, or world (depending on the topic chosen). Students will compare and contrast the articles, taking note of similarities and differences in style, placement, point-of-view, opinion, word choice, headline, etc…Students then write opinion pieces explaining why they believe the coverage of that topic differs from one paper to another.
Vocabulary Builder - Ms. Cajigas, Ann Richards School
Objective:
1. Students will learn and practice vocabulary.
2. Generate examples of words to reinforce learning.
3. Promote independent learning as they read the newspaper.
Procedures:
1. Give students 5 minutes to read the paper and underline any unfamiliar words.
2. On a large index card, have each student write down one unfamiliar word and its meaning, using a dictionary. If you see a duplicate word, have the student select another.
3. Have students create a word wall by posting their index card on a large board. Before posting, make sure spelling and grammar is correct.
4. Do a variety of activities to review words so that students automatically spell, read and understand the meaning.
Note: "Grammar Lesson Plan by Bryce Pub", and "Print Media Lesson Idea" are from Ann Richards students.
1. Students will learn and practice vocabulary.
2. Generate examples of words to reinforce learning.
3. Promote independent learning as they read the newspaper.
Procedures:
1. Give students 5 minutes to read the paper and underline any unfamiliar words.
2. On a large index card, have each student write down one unfamiliar word and its meaning, using a dictionary. If you see a duplicate word, have the student select another.
3. Have students create a word wall by posting their index card on a large board. Before posting, make sure spelling and grammar is correct.
4. Do a variety of activities to review words so that students automatically spell, read and understand the meaning.
Note: "Grammar Lesson Plan by Bryce Pub", and "Print Media Lesson Idea" are from Ann Richards students.
Kate Weidaw-West Visits Ms. Rocha's 6th Grade Pre-AP Class
Kate Weidaw-West, KXAN reporter, Visits Ojeda Middle School
Students planned ahead for her visit. They worked in groups. Each group came up with a name (name of their newspaper) and a set of questions to ask Mrs. Kate Weidaw-West. Students would hold up a sign that read "QUESTION" so that our guest would know which group had a question. The students were nervous and shy, but overall did awesome. The groups then gathered the information from their interview and wrote an article for their newspaper. Here is the one I selected out of the 5:
The Green Machines
11-14-08
"A Reporter’s True Face"
By: Team Three
In an interview with a KXAN T.V news reporter, Kate Weidaw-West, we asked her some questions and made some comments every now and then. She said to one of the questions, that she loves being a reporter and that she has been a reporter for about ten years now. “At first” she said, “I was a little nervous, but now I think I’ve gotten over that and I don’t get nervous anymore when I’m in front of the camera.” To get her doctorate (PHD) for being a journalist she has to attend college and take a class related to journalism or communications. She did an internship and recommends it a lot so you can get a job when you graduate from college.
11-14-08
"A Reporter’s True Face"
By: Team Three
In an interview with a KXAN T.V news reporter, Kate Weidaw-West, we asked her some questions and made some comments every now and then. She said to one of the questions, that she loves being a reporter and that she has been a reporter for about ten years now. “At first” she said, “I was a little nervous, but now I think I’ve gotten over that and I don’t get nervous anymore when I’m in front of the camera.” To get her doctorate (PHD) for being a journalist she has to attend college and take a class related to journalism or communications. She did an internship and recommends it a lot so you can get a job when you graduate from college.
Mrs. Weidaw-West said that her schedule is very tightly packed together because she is a very busy person. To turn in a story she has to hurry up because a news reporter like her has only two hours to do it and turn it in. When she is reporting live or has to tape her story from a place she has to gather the camera crew and gather all the information that she can possibly get. “When you report a news story on T.V you only have one minute and thirty seconds,” she said, “so you have to be very fast and accurate.” She gets home at about 11:30 A.M because she is in the morning turn, she has to wake up at 2 A.M so she can be ready at 5 A.M, when the news are on T.V. She said that she likes the time that she arrives at home because she has all the afternoon free.
Mrs. Weidaw-West said that her hobbies after she comes back from the news station are to go to college because she is a PHD student. She also said that this would take about four years to finish. Her favorite things to do include playing tennis, and relaxing by walking her dog. One of the most memorable things about school is her college professor that was a reporter in Chicago and he taught them how to shoot an edit picture. She also stated that, “In the news you have to do your own make up.”
Team Three
Adelina González, Karina Casas, Mario Gomes, and Bryan Sandoval
Author's Style - by Ms. Rocha (John P. Ojeda MS, 6th grade Reading)
Students learn to color code the parts of speech:
NOUNS- yellow
VERBS- orange
ADJECTIVES - blue
ADVERBS- purple
Prepositions- green
Using this color scheme students find a newspaper article and color code it. By looking at the color coding students are able to literally see the writer's style. Some writers use more adjectives and some use more prepositions/prepositional phrases. We attempt to use articles by the same reporter so that we can figure out that reporter's writing style.
We look at the sequencing of the story by filling out an outline using the story and write a 15 word summary.
NOUNS- yellow
VERBS- orange
ADJECTIVES - blue
ADVERBS- purple
Prepositions- green
Using this color scheme students find a newspaper article and color code it. By looking at the color coding students are able to literally see the writer's style. Some writers use more adjectives and some use more prepositions/prepositional phrases. We attempt to use articles by the same reporter so that we can figure out that reporter's writing style.
We look at the sequencing of the story by filling out an outline using the story and write a 15 word summary.
Gauging Students' Voc. Level - by Ms. Rocha (John P. Ojeda MS, 6th grade Reading)
Actually sitting down and thinking about a lesson plan was not easy to do even though I have used the newspaper in my classroom for years!
One of the activities that helps me gauge the extent of my students' vocabulary involves a context clues lesson.
One of the activities that helps me gauge the extent of my students' vocabulary involves a context clues lesson.
- Warm-Up: (select a paragraph from a lead story in the newspaper--I seat students in pairs for this activity and give each group two sticky notes) Students, draw a box around the words that you do not know and underline the words that you do know. If your partner has a box around a word that you underlined pair/share your definition for the word. If both you and your partner have the same words boxed, write the word/words on the sticky note.
- As a class we discuss the words on the sticky notes (sticky notes are placed on a bulletin board next to my door as students leave---I review the notes to see how many words written down were the same/different)
- Pass out newspapers--each pair picks a story and does the same thing. I then use the document viewer (ELMO) to show the class each group's story (they don't know what story belongs to each group). I then lead into our new vocabulary activity about context clues.
- When students have learned/practiced context clues strategies, we revisit the newspaper stories and see the difference of the students' understanding now that they have new strategies under their belt.
Grammar Lesson Plan by Bryce Pub
When we were prompted with the task to come up with a lesson plan incorporating the newspaper it took me a long time. I finally came up with something, and I hope it is useful to whoever wanted me to do this. When students are starting to learn the use and meaning of verbs, adjectives, and nouns it might be helpful to be able to locate them and visually see the use of them. So you could give a student a newspaper and then ask them to find a few examples of each in the newspaper. It would advance their understanding of these types of words (verbs, adjectives, nouns, etc.)
Print Media Lesson Idea...
My idea for a lesson plan is to teach about altering a newpaper layout to make it more attractive, to make it more interesting for younger target audiences. You could add more color, turn the texts at different angles and introduce different fonts and font styles, and add different color effects to pictures. It would make the articles more interesting to read, as well as bring in younger audiences.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Bill Minutaglio/Taylor High School/Magdalena Zavala
Magdalena Zavala at Taylor High School is doing wonderful work keeping the fires of journalism burning bright -- with her extensive background in news, her passion for the profession and the high energy she brings to the classroom. And the journalism students at Taylor should give great hope to anyone who wonders about the future of journalism -- they ask good questions, are smart and attentive, and many of them should help to keep the news business very alive and vibrant in years to come.
I'm reminded of this by my high school daughter - the technology is changing all the time.
But, talking to the great students at Taylor reminded me of something else -- some time-honored things (like the responsibilities of journalists and pursuing the truth, fairness and justice . . . and, oh yeah, meeting deadlines) will never change. The future journalists from Taylor will be gathering and delivering the news in ways we can't imagine right now -- but I have a strong sense that they will do it with those everlasting ideals that still form the bedrock of journalism.
Some researchers have suggested, as we move more firmly into a world of "citizen journalists," that journalism become a required course in every high school. Seems like there are already some proactive students and educators at Taylor High who are getting ready to tell the stories, gather the news. -- Bill Minutaglio
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
UT Journalism Professor Bill Minutaglio visited Taylor High School
UT Journalism Professor Bill Minutaglio visited Taylor High School and talked with about 80 students in a period of 2 hours. Taylor High Journalism teacher Magdalena Zavala said the following about the visit to Taylor High:
“Mr. Minutaglio is so refreshing and easy to talk with. Students from other classes also joined our journalism and photojournalism students. We had plenty of questions prepared. Mr. Minutaglio shared about his 15 year-olddaughter, being a journalist, and being curious as a high school student. He described himself as having ants in his pants which led him to a very successful career as a journalist. His sharing caused students to wonder about what possibilities are out there for young graduates to follow.
Mr. Minutaglio’s words opened new windows of possibilities and opportunities. Thank you for sending such an inspirational speaker to our school. We appreciate your attention to our students’ life endeavors.”
Taylor High Finds First Amendment in News Stories
Students in Magdalena Zavala’s class at Taylor High explored how the First Amendment was reflected in the Statesman. Most students agreed that the First Amendment showed up in the story, "Seton may require staff to mute ink, piercing" and in John Kelso’s column “We could learn from inmate’s cell phone etiquette."
This is what students said:
“We feel that the Austin American-Statesman does a superb job of obeying the principles of journalism. This issue will reach a wide audience by providing a variety of community coverage. The story Seton may require staff to mute ink, piercing expressed the issue related to the First Amendment by making nurses and other staff cover their tattoos. It made us question and realize that tattoos represent self-expression and that the newspaper really addresses issues relating to the First Amendment every day.”
We all enjoyed the story, "We can learn from inmates cell phone etiquette." We thought the story was funny.
Tattoos do not change the person; they only decorate the body. It does not matter what you wear it doesn’t change who you are.
The story, "Texas basketball won the world vision title" showed that anyone can express themselves in the sport that they love and no one can stop them.
This is what students said:
“We feel that the Austin American-Statesman does a superb job of obeying the principles of journalism. This issue will reach a wide audience by providing a variety of community coverage. The story Seton may require staff to mute ink, piercing expressed the issue related to the First Amendment by making nurses and other staff cover their tattoos. It made us question and realize that tattoos represent self-expression and that the newspaper really addresses issues relating to the First Amendment every day.”
We all enjoyed the story, "We can learn from inmates cell phone etiquette." We thought the story was funny.
Tattoos do not change the person; they only decorate the body. It does not matter what you wear it doesn’t change who you are.
The story, "Texas basketball won the world vision title" showed that anyone can express themselves in the sport that they love and no one can stop them.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Reading the Newspaper
Name: Jordan Gardner
School: Ann Richards
I personally don't like to read the newspaper.
In yearbook we read the paper once a week.
When we read the paper, I usually read the front page first,
then, I look for the comics.
Today, I read the front page, then flipped to comics,
and then flipped to horoscopes,
and finally I read the advice column, before turning my paper into an airplane.
-Jordan
School: Ann Richards
I personally don't like to read the newspaper.
In yearbook we read the paper once a week.
When we read the paper, I usually read the front page first,
then, I look for the comics.
Today, I read the front page, then flipped to comics,
and then flipped to horoscopes,
and finally I read the advice column, before turning my paper into an airplane.
-Jordan
Reading the Newspaper is Cool!
By: Autumn Martinez
Ann Richards School
When I first begin to read the newspaper, I first look for the Sports section which is usually in the third section of the newspaper. I mainly just skim through it until I find news that affects my favorite teams such as the New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox and/or USC. I also take a glance at the headline news on the front page to see what's going on in the community. For example, there was an article about the Texas Longhorns taking third spot in the BCS and that is important because there is controversy over it. Many Austinites are Longhorn fans, therefore they will respond to this article that took up about 2/3 of the front page. I'm not the type of reader that takes time to read the beginning all the way to the end. I mainly just skip through anything that doesn't look appealing or doesn't look interesting to me. A few things that I am not immediatley attracted to would probably have to be the Life & Arts section, and the Business section.
randi -ann richards school
The pagees with more collor and more space popped out to me more than the pages that were less roomy. i usually hurry through the pages and skip to pages that have action or pictures like comics or feature pages. i don't often read the paper but if i were to do so i think i would read it alone in my room or outside. you know somewhere quiet.
Reading The Newspaper (IS BORING)
Name:Jesse Pub
School: Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders
First I read is well the first page. Because most likely that's where the most interesting stories are. Then I'll probably read the Life & Arts section because I like creative things! Everything else is usually something I don't feel like reading. I read the comics too. Sometimes. If those aren't boring either.
I try and get through the newspaper fast to make it as painless as possible. Why? Because I hate to put down your profession, but the newspaper is boring.
Also it smells weird and its very bland. The pictures don't help it at all. I really wish you guys could make it a different color. Like pink or purple to make it more oh whats the word... cool.
I don't have a special reading spot. I don't read the paper at home. But if I did it'd probably be in my room. My friend Bryce Pub keeps me updated on current events. In other words I don't read the paper. Or watch the news.
-Jesse Pub
School: Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders
First I read is well the first page. Because most likely that's where the most interesting stories are. Then I'll probably read the Life & Arts section because I like creative things! Everything else is usually something I don't feel like reading. I read the comics too. Sometimes. If those aren't boring either.
I try and get through the newspaper fast to make it as painless as possible. Why? Because I hate to put down your profession, but the newspaper is boring.
Also it smells weird and its very bland. The pictures don't help it at all. I really wish you guys could make it a different color. Like pink or purple to make it more oh whats the word... cool.
I don't have a special reading spot. I don't read the paper at home. But if I did it'd probably be in my room. My friend Bryce Pub keeps me updated on current events. In other words I don't read the paper. Or watch the news.
-Jesse Pub
Reading a Newspaper is Cool (Not) and Heres How I Do It
Name: Bryce Pub
School: Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders
1.) First I search for and actually read is the comic section. I enjoy the cartoons and "larger" easier to read text. Next I look at the Television today section. That is usually all I read. I read quickly and do not spend a lengthy amount of time on either of the sections. I do not like to read the paper because I personally find it boring. The context is too hard for me and the print is too small for me (consider larger text or double spacing) to feel comfortable reading (plus it has an unidentifiable smell.) The papers bland grey appearance gives it a boring look. If it was more colorful, it would make it more child friendly and make me feel more welcomed and at ease reading it.
2.) I hurry through the paper for reasons listed above.
3.) I don't believe in wasting so much paper on something I won't and don't want to read. I keep up with current events through CNN. If I wanted to read the paper though I would look it up on line.
I do not like reading the paper and find it boring, thus the title of the blog. Thanks!
School: Ann Richards School For Young Women Leaders
1.) First I search for and actually read is the comic section. I enjoy the cartoons and "larger" easier to read text. Next I look at the Television today section. That is usually all I read. I read quickly and do not spend a lengthy amount of time on either of the sections. I do not like to read the paper because I personally find it boring. The context is too hard for me and the print is too small for me (consider larger text or double spacing) to feel comfortable reading (plus it has an unidentifiable smell.) The papers bland grey appearance gives it a boring look. If it was more colorful, it would make it more child friendly and make me feel more welcomed and at ease reading it.
2.) I hurry through the paper for reasons listed above.
3.) I don't believe in wasting so much paper on something I won't and don't want to read. I keep up with current events through CNN. If I wanted to read the paper though I would look it up on line.
I do not like reading the paper and find it boring, thus the title of the blog. Thanks!
Reading the Newspaper is Cool and Here's How I Do It
Name: Mariah Pub
School: Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders
The first page that catches my attention is obviously the cover. Then I start to skim through the different articles on the cover and move onto the comics.
I don't really pay attention to the other parts unless there is an article that has some celebrity that I like. Other than that I just rush through the paper, it doesn't catch my attention much. I would rather listen to the news on TV instead of reading the newspaper, it's a quicker way.
I don't like reading the newspaper because the font in every article are really tiny and not everyone can read it, I can read it but it is difficult at times when it shouldn't have to be. It would be nice if the font was a normal size. The newspaper is also too plain, it needs more color, more creativity! But then again, the newspaper isn't meant to be like a magazine.
I don't read the newspaper at home, I watch the TV news (like I mentioned earlier). So the paper obviously isn't interesting to me, more on the boring side. (no offense)
School: Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders
The first page that catches my attention is obviously the cover. Then I start to skim through the different articles on the cover and move onto the comics.
I don't really pay attention to the other parts unless there is an article that has some celebrity that I like. Other than that I just rush through the paper, it doesn't catch my attention much. I would rather listen to the news on TV instead of reading the newspaper, it's a quicker way.
I don't like reading the newspaper because the font in every article are really tiny and not everyone can read it, I can read it but it is difficult at times when it shouldn't have to be. It would be nice if the font was a normal size. The newspaper is also too plain, it needs more color, more creativity! But then again, the newspaper isn't meant to be like a magazine.
I don't read the newspaper at home, I watch the TV news (like I mentioned earlier). So the paper obviously isn't interesting to me, more on the boring side. (no offense)
Reading the newspaper is cool and here's how i do it
Trevino pub.Ann richards school.
The pages that got my attention is first the cover,comics, and sports because they interested me.
I hurry through the pages.
I only read the newspaper here at school and i read at my table.
The font is tiny and it makes it seem like it is boring to read. I usually don't read the newspaper at home because to be honest i don't really like it because it should have more things that catch the eye instead of just a whole bunch of little print that anyone could barely read. I get most of important info from the news channel. Although i think that the newspaper in more sufisticated but the news on t.v. is more appealing.
The pages that got my attention is first the cover,comics, and sports because they interested me.
I hurry through the pages.
I only read the newspaper here at school and i read at my table.
The font is tiny and it makes it seem like it is boring to read. I usually don't read the newspaper at home because to be honest i don't really like it because it should have more things that catch the eye instead of just a whole bunch of little print that anyone could barely read. I get most of important info from the news channel. Although i think that the newspaper in more sufisticated but the news on t.v. is more appealing.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Front Page News--11/24/2008 & 11/25/2008
Jessica Mitchell
Special Education
Resource English I.
Austin High School
I had a class set of papers delivered yesterday but was not able to get to the activity for the week until today. We compared the front page of Monday's Statesman to several other front pages from around the world. My students loved looking at pages from other countries; and they were particularly intrigued by the idea that a newspaper in Hamburg, Germany would be carrying the same lead story (and picture) as _La Frontera_, a newspaper in McAllen, TX, among others. The story was about the economic situation in the US and Obama's financial advisors. Some of my students couldn't imagine why "our news" matters to the rest of the world. That led to a great "teaching moment" as we discussed why certain countries would cover news from the US and which countries might not focus upon us as much.
As for the front page they liked the best, they chose _The Times_ from Johannesburg, South Africa (Tuesday 11/25/2008; http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=SAF_TT&ref_pge=gal&b_pge=1) for the following reasons:
1. The picture on the front is eye-catching and immediately made the students wonder what the story was about.
2. The headline was simple enough for them to read without effort yet enticing because it obviously applied to the picture of the man that had first caught their attention. The byline and inset also caught my students' attention ("ANC youth leader finally apologises for 'kill for Zuma' comment" and "We'll never incite violence...we are law abiding citizens of this country'").
3. The front page contained just enough writing and stories to make it informative without being intimidating (like _The New York Times_) or uninteresting/sparse (like_Daily Journal_ from Tupelo, MS).
4. They also were drawn to the fact that the banner at the top of the paper contained pictures of people's faces (including an attractive singer) and easy-to-read headlines.
5. An observation I've made while writing this post is that my students overwhelmingly were drawn to front pages with pictures of people of varying ethnicities, rather than those papers with pictures they believe they usually see (politicians in suits or smiling white people like the "uninteresting" picture/headline on the front page of the _Daily Journal_). I mention this because I think my students are, perhaps subconsciously, looking for frontpage news with which they can identify (visually, at least) while simultaneously looking for news that differs from what they think they see all the time in the news (the "boring stuff" they don't think is relevant).
Overall, it seems that the most interesting front pages were the ones with the most color, the largest, most direct headlines, and intriguing pictures. Too many unfamiliar words or acronyms in the headlines deterred the students as did photos that were posed rather than candid shots.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Special Education
Resource English I.
Austin High School
I had a class set of papers delivered yesterday but was not able to get to the activity for the week until today. We compared the front page of Monday's Statesman to several other front pages from around the world. My students loved looking at pages from other countries; and they were particularly intrigued by the idea that a newspaper in Hamburg, Germany would be carrying the same lead story (and picture) as _La Frontera_, a newspaper in McAllen, TX, among others. The story was about the economic situation in the US and Obama's financial advisors. Some of my students couldn't imagine why "our news" matters to the rest of the world. That led to a great "teaching moment" as we discussed why certain countries would cover news from the US and which countries might not focus upon us as much.
As for the front page they liked the best, they chose _The Times_ from Johannesburg, South Africa (Tuesday 11/25/2008; http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/hr.asp?fpVname=SAF_TT&ref_pge=gal&b_pge=1) for the following reasons:
1. The picture on the front is eye-catching and immediately made the students wonder what the story was about.
2. The headline was simple enough for them to read without effort yet enticing because it obviously applied to the picture of the man that had first caught their attention. The byline and inset also caught my students' attention ("ANC youth leader finally apologises for 'kill for Zuma' comment" and "We'll never incite violence...we are law abiding citizens of this country'").
3. The front page contained just enough writing and stories to make it informative without being intimidating (like _The New York Times_) or uninteresting/sparse (like_Daily Journal_ from Tupelo, MS).
4. They also were drawn to the fact that the banner at the top of the paper contained pictures of people's faces (including an attractive singer) and easy-to-read headlines.
5. An observation I've made while writing this post is that my students overwhelmingly were drawn to front pages with pictures of people of varying ethnicities, rather than those papers with pictures they believe they usually see (politicians in suits or smiling white people like the "uninteresting" picture/headline on the front page of the _Daily Journal_). I mention this because I think my students are, perhaps subconsciously, looking for frontpage news with which they can identify (visually, at least) while simultaneously looking for news that differs from what they think they see all the time in the news (the "boring stuff" they don't think is relevant).
Overall, it seems that the most interesting front pages were the ones with the most color, the largest, most direct headlines, and intriguing pictures. Too many unfamiliar words or acronyms in the headlines deterred the students as did photos that were posed rather than candid shots.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Presidential Election Coverage--Long Overdue!
Jessica Mitchell
Austin High School
Special Education
Basic English I.
Hi folks,
My students and I discussed election coverage on the Monday before the election. I took notes on their responses and am now getting a moment to type them up. I teach Resource English I. at Austin High School, and most of my students are unmotivated and/or disenchanted with school/life. I had to brainstorm ways to modify the assignment for the Election week since most of my students had not been reading or paying attention to election coverage. I knew it was also going to be difficult to get them to read election coverage in the newspaper for ten minutes on Monday morning. So, I started the class period by giving them a survey about election information to complete. Ignore the first few questions, as they were Halloween questions that I knew the students would want to answer (since the 3rd was the first day back since Halloween). We then discussed the answers to the survey, which led to a fairly engaging discussion of election news. I then asked the students to look through the paper for headlines and articles that dealt with the next day's election. In groups, they were to record the headlines of the articles they found. Then, because they love the comic strips, I asked them to count how many comic strips had to do with the election.
If nothing else, this assignment let them see just how much information the paper included regarding the election and hopefully impressed upon them the strong impact this election was having on those around them.
I ended the class by asking students as a class to prepare a letter to the editor of the Statesman regarding the Presidential candidates' views they were most interested in knowing more about. The students didn't know one way or another if these views had been covered in the paper, because, as I said, they hadn't particularly been paying attention to the coverage before the election at all. But, I got some interesting responses about what they most wanted to know about the candidates. I also enjoyed being able to discuss with my students how the President really can have an effect on their lives.
Here's what we came up with as a class:
"We have been looking at Presidential Election coverage, but we haven't seen much in the Monday November 3rd paper that matters to us. We want to see what the candidates think about the things that affect teenagers like us. Some of these topics are the high cost of college and the rising cost of public transportation and food. We want gas prices to stay as they are now and not go up again like they did earlier this year. We also want to hear much more about the candidates' opinions on illegal immigration. We want to know how the candidates plan to offer help for those in need in this country and in Africa. We also want to hear the candidates' views on lowering the legal age for voting, driving, and drinking. We want to know what each candidate would do as president to stop the way some families abuse food stamp usage, while others go hungry. How would they help homeless people who live in ditches and under bridges? What are their plans for improving technology in our country and in our schools? And what about lowering taxes for war veterans?"
We ran out of time to finish our letter, but I was pleased with the fact that most of the students left class with a deeper understanding of the fact that the federal government really does have an impact on their lives.
I will post more soon on the things we have done in the past two weeks. I am also attaching the Election Survey in the comments section.
Austin High School
Special Education
Basic English I.
Hi folks,
My students and I discussed election coverage on the Monday before the election. I took notes on their responses and am now getting a moment to type them up. I teach Resource English I. at Austin High School, and most of my students are unmotivated and/or disenchanted with school/life. I had to brainstorm ways to modify the assignment for the Election week since most of my students had not been reading or paying attention to election coverage. I knew it was also going to be difficult to get them to read election coverage in the newspaper for ten minutes on Monday morning. So, I started the class period by giving them a survey about election information to complete. Ignore the first few questions, as they were Halloween questions that I knew the students would want to answer (since the 3rd was the first day back since Halloween). We then discussed the answers to the survey, which led to a fairly engaging discussion of election news. I then asked the students to look through the paper for headlines and articles that dealt with the next day's election. In groups, they were to record the headlines of the articles they found. Then, because they love the comic strips, I asked them to count how many comic strips had to do with the election.
If nothing else, this assignment let them see just how much information the paper included regarding the election and hopefully impressed upon them the strong impact this election was having on those around them.
I ended the class by asking students as a class to prepare a letter to the editor of the Statesman regarding the Presidential candidates' views they were most interested in knowing more about. The students didn't know one way or another if these views had been covered in the paper, because, as I said, they hadn't particularly been paying attention to the coverage before the election at all. But, I got some interesting responses about what they most wanted to know about the candidates. I also enjoyed being able to discuss with my students how the President really can have an effect on their lives.
Here's what we came up with as a class:
"We have been looking at Presidential Election coverage, but we haven't seen much in the Monday November 3rd paper that matters to us. We want to see what the candidates think about the things that affect teenagers like us. Some of these topics are the high cost of college and the rising cost of public transportation and food. We want gas prices to stay as they are now and not go up again like they did earlier this year. We also want to hear much more about the candidates' opinions on illegal immigration. We want to know how the candidates plan to offer help for those in need in this country and in Africa. We also want to hear the candidates' views on lowering the legal age for voting, driving, and drinking. We want to know what each candidate would do as president to stop the way some families abuse food stamp usage, while others go hungry. How would they help homeless people who live in ditches and under bridges? What are their plans for improving technology in our country and in our schools? And what about lowering taxes for war veterans?"
We ran out of time to finish our letter, but I was pleased with the fact that most of the students left class with a deeper understanding of the fact that the federal government really does have an impact on their lives.
I will post more soon on the things we have done in the past two weeks. I am also attaching the Election Survey in the comments section.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Steven Kreytak’s visit to Aimee Finney's Austin High communications class
I admit I was nervous. I have spoken to college students several times but never to a high school class. It didn’t help that Ms. Finney warned me that her class has its share of cut-ups, including a group of boys at the front table who have a habit of making laugh-type noises at random times.
But the class of about 30 students seemed nice. As I told them that I worked for the Statesman covering courts and have been a reporter for about ten years they appeared engaged. (Well, all of them besides the big guy in the back with his headphones on and the girl in front with her head pressed to the books on top of her desk.)
We discussed the principles of journalism and the students suggested some principles that matched my own. Tell the truth to readers. Be fair. I was pleased with their participation, and their answers.
I asked them to read a story I wrote about two years ago about a woman who lived in “a prison of fear” because of her ex-boyfriend’s stalking. He had been indicted in Travis County on felony wiretapping and burglary charges after he was caught sneaking under her house to change the tape in a listening device he had attached to her phone. The story reported that he struck a plea bargain to plead guilty in exchange for ten years probation.
I asked the students what they thought of the deal. Their responses varied. One thought probation was appropriate, because the ex-boyfriend was never violent. Another thought he should go to prison. They appeared to really be thinking about the case.
This was my favorite type of story, I explained, one in which it is not clear what is justice. This is the type of story the community needs to know about, I told the students. This is the type of story that would not be debated outside the courthouse walls if I did not track it down and put it in the paper. This is what I do as a reporter.
Then I gave them the ending. After my story ran the judge in the case refused to accept the plea bargain and set the case for trial. He was easily convicted and at sentencing two decades of the defendants’ ex girlfriends testified that he had previouslly harassed them too. He had sneaked into one of their homes; he put sugar in another’s gas tanks.
The jury gave him five years in prison.
I had little time to ask the class about their impressions of the paper. One student said he was frustrated that so many movie reviewers gave two or three stars (out of five). He wants to know if a movie is good or bad, not whether it’s mediocre. Another student said she goes straight to the cops and courts stories. I am going to tell my editor about that.
After the bell rang Ms. Finney told me I did great and asked if I had ever thought about teaching. Now that I have made it through a class with 30 high schoolers, anything feels possible.
But the class of about 30 students seemed nice. As I told them that I worked for the Statesman covering courts and have been a reporter for about ten years they appeared engaged. (Well, all of them besides the big guy in the back with his headphones on and the girl in front with her head pressed to the books on top of her desk.)
We discussed the principles of journalism and the students suggested some principles that matched my own. Tell the truth to readers. Be fair. I was pleased with their participation, and their answers.
I asked them to read a story I wrote about two years ago about a woman who lived in “a prison of fear” because of her ex-boyfriend’s stalking. He had been indicted in Travis County on felony wiretapping and burglary charges after he was caught sneaking under her house to change the tape in a listening device he had attached to her phone. The story reported that he struck a plea bargain to plead guilty in exchange for ten years probation.
I asked the students what they thought of the deal. Their responses varied. One thought probation was appropriate, because the ex-boyfriend was never violent. Another thought he should go to prison. They appeared to really be thinking about the case.
This was my favorite type of story, I explained, one in which it is not clear what is justice. This is the type of story the community needs to know about, I told the students. This is the type of story that would not be debated outside the courthouse walls if I did not track it down and put it in the paper. This is what I do as a reporter.
Then I gave them the ending. After my story ran the judge in the case refused to accept the plea bargain and set the case for trial. He was easily convicted and at sentencing two decades of the defendants’ ex girlfriends testified that he had previouslly harassed them too. He had sneaked into one of their homes; he put sugar in another’s gas tanks.
The jury gave him five years in prison.
I had little time to ask the class about their impressions of the paper. One student said he was frustrated that so many movie reviewers gave two or three stars (out of five). He wants to know if a movie is good or bad, not whether it’s mediocre. Another student said she goes straight to the cops and courts stories. I am going to tell my editor about that.
After the bell rang Ms. Finney told me I did great and asked if I had ever thought about teaching. Now that I have made it through a class with 30 high schoolers, anything feels possible.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Joshunda Sanders' Mills Elementary Visit to Suzanna Ammenheuser's class
I had the good fortune this morning of addressing the very astute and intelligent 3rd graders in Suzanna Ammenheuser's class at Mills Elementary School. They had prepared questions for me on index cards, and I'd prepared my notes on an index card, so we already had one thing in common aside from an interest in newspapers.
When I arrived, I spoke with the students about the purpose and principles of newspaper journalists. I told them that our main goal is to inform our fellow citizens while remaining accurate, timely and objective. I provided context about this from the perspective of a crime reporter who contributes both to the web and print iterations of the Statesman.
They were curious about how I became a reporter, what the job was like, the differences between a hard news story and a feature and about how much money I make (all very good questions! I should've asked those when I was still new to the biz). The students said they love reading the comics, and the sports section. They called the advertisements "boring" and said they disliked negative stories.
They were particularly affected by the recent story of a mother who abused her children in public. I was moved by their compassion and thoughtfulness related to this story. Like some adults who read it, the third graders wondered why no one had done anything when Ms. Gallardo threw her little one against a car. It was difficult to remain unbiased about that answer, but they picked up on the difficulty of being unbiased and objective when writing about difficult topics.
They seemed interested in the kinds of stories I like to write, and I mentioned to them that I enjoy writing profiles, like this one about an 109-year-old black woman whose father was a slave. She mailed in her ballot for President-Elect Barack Obama after witnessing decades of discrimination. One student asked a particularly thoughtful question about whether I ever "make things up in order to make my stories more interesting," to which I replied that a reporter's worth is in part determined by his or her credibility, so it's important not to damage one's reputation by fudging the truth.
I enjoyed hearing from young Statesman readers. They were very engaged and intelligent.
I have to admit I did feel a little ancient when they informed me that they were mostly born in 2000 - the year I started my career in newspaper reporting. It was great to see them scribbling on their index cards while I spoke and they had no shortage of questions. Should they choose a career in newspapers, that inquisitiveness and penchant for note-taking will serve them well.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Kate Weidaw's visit to Ojeda Middle School
Over the years I've given many talks to students, but never have I received such a warm welcome as I did from Ms. Rocha's 6th grade class at Ojeda in Del Valle. As I waited in the office I noticed out of the corner of my eye a group of students walking down the hall with a giant handmade poster saying "KXAN welcome to Ojeda". And that was just the beginning of this wonderful experience.
Once inside the classroom I gave the students a short synopsis of what it's like to be a TV reporter and showed a few slides from my station as well as a resume tape so they could see what you need to make in order to get a job. Knowing the students had taken time in their newspaper groups to come up with questions, I opened it up to them. I found these 6th graders had very intelligent and insightful things on their mind when it came to journalism. So many times the one question I get is, "So who does your hair and make-up?". Not one person asked that which lead me to believe they are truly interested in what it takes to be a journalist and not just someone on television.
I think all of Ms. Rocha's students have a bright future as journalists and I hope they take me up on my offer to come visit KXAN one day.
Once inside the classroom I gave the students a short synopsis of what it's like to be a TV reporter and showed a few slides from my station as well as a resume tape so they could see what you need to make in order to get a job. Knowing the students had taken time in their newspaper groups to come up with questions, I opened it up to them. I found these 6th graders had very intelligent and insightful things on their mind when it came to journalism. So many times the one question I get is, "So who does your hair and make-up?". Not one person asked that which lead me to believe they are truly interested in what it takes to be a journalist and not just someone on television.
I think all of Ms. Rocha's students have a bright future as journalists and I hope they take me up on my offer to come visit KXAN one day.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Presidential Election Coverage
We are a little behind in our discussions, but today (Friday 11/14) we talked about the current newspaper coverage on the aftermath of the election. We readthrough the paper looking for articles that discussed Obama, McCain, or activities that were occurring as a result of the election.
The article that most intrigued my 3rd graders was the article titled "Suddenly, Obama's everywhere - on T-shirts, mugs, buttons" on page A4. We discussed the importance of the articles and several interesting opinions emerged:
- because he is the first black President
- because he is one of our youngest presidents
- because the Republicans have held the office for 8 years and now there is a change
- because his supporters are so excited that he won
- because he has promised hope and change
I was surprised and impressed with their strong statements and explanations for why people are buying up items with Obama's image on them.
I also pulled up Ben Sargent's cartoon from Nov. 5th from the Statesman's website to talk about political cartoons. We discussed what a political cartoon was and how it was different than a comic. The students looked at the cartoon and we talked about what it meant. They quickly saw the images in the cartoon and recognized the storm aftermath, Uncle Sam, the storm cellar, and they saw that the rising sun was "Hope and Change".
Again, I was impressed by how well they are making connections and learning about how the newspaper can communicate and share information with the public.
We are not following all of the lessons exactly, but we are learning about the importance of news and newspapers during our reading and discussions.
The article that most intrigued my 3rd graders was the article titled "Suddenly, Obama's everywhere - on T-shirts, mugs, buttons" on page A4. We discussed the importance of the articles and several interesting opinions emerged:
- because he is the first black President
- because he is one of our youngest presidents
- because the Republicans have held the office for 8 years and now there is a change
- because his supporters are so excited that he won
- because he has promised hope and change
I was surprised and impressed with their strong statements and explanations for why people are buying up items with Obama's image on them.
I also pulled up Ben Sargent's cartoon from Nov. 5th from the Statesman's website to talk about political cartoons. We discussed what a political cartoon was and how it was different than a comic. The students looked at the cartoon and we talked about what it meant. They quickly saw the images in the cartoon and recognized the storm aftermath, Uncle Sam, the storm cellar, and they saw that the rising sun was "Hope and Change".
Again, I was impressed by how well they are making connections and learning about how the newspaper can communicate and share information with the public.
We are not following all of the lessons exactly, but we are learning about the importance of news and newspapers during our reading and discussions.
Austin High Election Coverage
Austin High Students find coverage strong, but a few weaknesses. One of the more interesting comments made by more than one of my students is that the coverage did not really explain how the results of the election would affect the Austin and surrounding areas. We only read the paper once a week, but they wanted more "home town impact." One of the recommendations from the students is to offer an explanation for the editorial cartoons. Several of the kids said that they thought the cartoons were sometimes funny, they were unsure why they were funny. What an interesting idea, offer an explanation of the cartoons so that everyone would be able to enjoy them. On that note, the students are often asked to read and analyze editorial cartoons as a way to get ready for the TAKS test. I think the kids would appreciate being able to understand the cartoons.
LBJ High School with Mr. Cedric Golden
Mr. Cedric Golden, spotswriter for the Austin American Statesman visited my AP English III class on Tuesday the 11th. We all want to thank him for coming to talk with us. He was engaging and my kids loved him. Rather than try to find a strong article written by only one of my kids, I am going to post direct quotes from their responses to his visit.
I will also say that out of 22 kids in attendance that day, I received nothing but positive comments. The only one that I can possibly see as a negative is the one from the young lady who wanted to know why he only spoke about sports. I hope I cleared that up for her.
He is welcome in my class whenever he wants to come by. The quotes from my students follow.
"The hardest part of his job was writing the first few sentences."
"He gave us tips on what to expect working in the real world."
"What I remember most is that even though he has met lots of people, he still has some more he wants to meet."
"He seems like he has great advice for young writers."
"If LBJ beats Lake Travis, he said he would be up here on Monday morning to talk to the team."
"I like how he said writing can take a reader to new places."
"The two people he most wants to meet are Charle Barkley and Muhammed Ali."
"He seemed like he really enjoyed his job."
"He started his career when he was 11 or 12 years old on a school newspaper."
"I honestly can say I will start reading the newspaper more."
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Visit to Ann Richards School
This morning I had the pleasure of visiting the yearbook class at Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders.
I talked to the girls about my job as a reporter at the Statesman, explaining the watchdog role of reporters who cover the Texas Capitol and the use of multimedia by newspapers. I also explained how an idea becomes a story and shared with them a recent series of articles I wrote in India about medical tourism (Statesman.com/medicaltourism).
The girls were bright and engaged students who were great listeners and had some good questions for me. They asked me if I've ever been scared before an interview (yes!), how I decide what the beginning of my stories will say and when I knew I wanted to become a journalist.
Then, it was my turn to ask the girls questions. They told me about their work on the yearbook. This is their school's second year of existence and the first year to have a yearbook class. One of them just finished an article about the significance of best friends. As for news habits, one girl said she doesn't tune into the news because it's often sad and depressing.
Thank you to teacher Vilma Cajigas and to the girls of the yearbook class! Here is a picture from my visit. I'm in the back center and Ms. Cajigas is on the right.
- Corrie MacLaggan, reporter, Austin American-Statesman
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Austin-American Statesman Tour -Oct. 2008 - John Kelso
After the tour of the Austin-American Statesman, we met several reporters. We had the pleasure of meeting John Kelso (John Kelso's column is printed on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays). He was telling our group about his story in his column of "Lipstick on a Pig".
(More pictures will be posted by the end of the week of the tour.)
Week 4: Nov. 3, 2008 -Time to Evaluate 2008 Presidential Election News Coverage
Ojeda Middle School - 6th grade Reading (Pre-AP)
Students discussed in their groups the most important issues discussed in this election:
- The Iraq War
- Gas prices
- The Economy
All 5 groups recommended that when covering future Presidential elections, the newspaper should include students in a mock election (per school), results being posted in the newspaper so students see that their input is valued. Also, negative comments should not be printed. Presidential election coverage should be to the point and not about who did what or how they voted in the past, but rather what are they going to do different from the present President of the United States. Elections are complicated enough. Students want coverage that sticks to the point.
Students found "Now It's Time to Choose" Section A-1 interesting because it featured pictures of both candidates with a few details mentioned. Students also found "Obama's Grandmother Dies in Hawaii" - Section A-3 interesting. The comments made in several of the groups were of how Obama would be able to focus on the campaign when going through such pain. Sympathy was shown even by nonsupporters of Obama.
The groups came to a consensus about issues being discussed at home that were not discussed much in the presidential elections. (Students were asked to watch presidential debates in order to discuss this.)
Issues being discussed at home:
- Education--funding/scholarships for college, public school funding
- Immigration
- Health insurance for everyone (that made sense to students)
Some students recommended getting students to be "reporter of the week" and cover presidential elections at the campus level and printing their story in the newspaper.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Week 3: October 27, 2008: The Many Faces of a News Story.
Ojeda Middle School/ 6th grade Reading (Pre-AP)
If students were the editor of the newspaper and had to decide which story would be the featured story or column, they would select
If students were the editor of the newspaper and had to decide which story would be the featured story or column, they would select
- "Man Charged in Death at Club" by Laura Heinauer (Section B- Metro&State page 1) or
- "Ugly But Effective: Defense Puts Cowboys Back on Winning Track" by Jaime Aron (Section C -Sports page 1)
Criteria they used to select these stories:
- Stories were about topics familiar to them (first one is about a place that a lot of my students know about because it is in their neck of the woods/second one--many are Cowboy fans)
- Wording of bylines ("death" and "winning track")
- Second article --picture caught reader's attention
When discussing news story vs. feature story vs. editorial vs. column, I requested that the groups find examples of each in the newspaper and then we discussed how each one was written and which was more interesting. Students gravited toward the feature story rather than the news story because there wasn't too many facts to remember in the feature story examples and they were more interesting to read. The editorial and columns were not as interesting because the issues being discussed were not familiar to the students. The discussions I heard among the 5 groups were engaging and ran rather smoothly. Each group had a scribe, a time keeper, a spokesperson, a reader and an editor that paraphrased or summarized the groups comments into 10-15 words.
Week 1 / Week 2 Free Reading Choices/Engaging Stories
I apologize for the lateness of my postings...been dealing with dear ones passing away, children sick, etc. They say they come in threes! The first week I had some difficulty in getting my newspapers, but Debra Debra Waugh Joiner (Newspapers in Education Manager Austin American-Statesman) quickly made sure that my newspapers arrived by that Friday.
Ojeda Middle School/ 6th grade Reading Pre-AP
Week 1 / Week 2 Activities - October 16, 2008 newspaper edition (completed on Friday, Oct. 17th):
When students were given time to free read, most students read the comics or the horoscopes. Mostly boys read the comics. When they discussed in their groups why they made these selections, they responded that they chose comics/horoscopes to read because it wasn't related to school and it made them laugh.
When asked to read an engaging story...4 out of the 5 groups read "In Final Debate, Attacks Overshadow Issues" and "McCain Keeps Obama on Defensive, But Will That Be Enough to Win the Race?" (found on the front page of the first section of newspaper).
The 5 groups discussed what would be the lead story and came up with the following criteria for choosing a lead story:
*Title is the biggest print on the front page of section
*Issue being written about is something readers need to know about immediately
*Lead story has a picture or graphic organizer.
The lead stories were the same as the engaging stories read.
Ojeda Middle School/ 6th grade Reading Pre-AP
Week 1 / Week 2 Activities - October 16, 2008 newspaper edition (completed on Friday, Oct. 17th):
When students were given time to free read, most students read the comics or the horoscopes. Mostly boys read the comics. When they discussed in their groups why they made these selections, they responded that they chose comics/horoscopes to read because it wasn't related to school and it made them laugh.
When asked to read an engaging story...4 out of the 5 groups read "In Final Debate, Attacks Overshadow Issues" and "McCain Keeps Obama on Defensive, But Will That Be Enough to Win the Race?" (found on the front page of the first section of newspaper).
The 5 groups discussed what would be the lead story and came up with the following criteria for choosing a lead story:
*Title is the biggest print on the front page of section
*Issue being written about is something readers need to know about immediately
*Lead story has a picture or graphic organizer.
The lead stories were the same as the engaging stories read.
Paula Poindexter on Historic Election and Upcoming Visits to mynews@school classrooms
The 2008 Presidential Election is now in the history books. The election of the first African-American President was a major reason this election made history but it wasn’t the only reason. The 2008 Presidential election also was historic because it was the most expensive ever and for the first time since the implementation of a public financing system after Watergate, a Presidential candidate bypassed public funds and spent $650 million to his opponent’s $85 million publicly financed dollars.
This campaign may also go down in history for its use of the Internet to the max, from mega-fundraising to e-mail and text messaging and Facebook and MySpace and YouTube and Twitter. The roller coaster ride that the big issues took may also be historic, with dramatic shifts from the Iraq War to energy to the meltdown of the economy, which may have been the real October surprise. Finally, this election may go down in history as not only the most exciting but also the one that re-connected young people with this most important civic responsibility.
I hope you had great Presidential Election discussions in your classroom. A special thank you to Paul Rials at LBJ, Mark Webber at Austin Jewish Academy, and Vilma Cajigas at Ann Richards School for posting their classroom discussions on Presidential Election news coverage. For those of you who haven’t posted at all or only once, please commit to posting during the remaining few weeks of the program. Communicating what’s happening in your classroom with the newspaper is a very important component of the mynews@school program. If you’re still having trouble posting, please send me an e-mail and I’ll post for you. Or from now through December, assign one of your groups the responsibility of posting or sending me an e-mail, which I will then post to the blog.
If you take a look at the weekly activities distributed during the kick-off, you’ll see that now is the time for a Statesman reporter or former journalist, now turned UT Journalism Professor or Ph.D. student, to visit your class. Last week, journalists and journalism professors/Ph.D. students met at the Statesman to discuss visiting your classrooms. The assignment sheet for classroom visits was e-mailed this morning and the activities for the Week of November 10 are below.
I have also asked the journalists and journalism professors/Ph.D. students to blog about their visits to your classrooms. But we also want your students to become Citizen Journalists for a day and blog about the visits, which brings us to another journalism fundamental: Be prepared. Just as Scouts must be prepared so must journalists so they can fully and accurately report a story. That’s why I asked Statesman reporter and blogger Corrie MacLaggan, whom you met at the kick-off to, give us some pointers on being prepared when covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker. Some of Corrie’s tips will help your students prepare for their guests so they can cover the visit as a Citizen Journalist, then post it at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/. It would also be terrific if your students would take a photo of their guest journalist and post it with their citizen journalism story. Jacie has posted instructions on how to upload a photograph on the blog.
Finally, please don’t forget that you and your students are invited to hear Michele Norris, NPR host of “All Things Considered,” November 20, 7 p.m., AT&T Center Ballroom, 1900 University Avenue. The program is part of the Mary Alice Davis Distinguished Lecture in Journalism and presented by the School of Journalism and College of Communication.
This campaign may also go down in history for its use of the Internet to the max, from mega-fundraising to e-mail and text messaging and Facebook and MySpace and YouTube and Twitter. The roller coaster ride that the big issues took may also be historic, with dramatic shifts from the Iraq War to energy to the meltdown of the economy, which may have been the real October surprise. Finally, this election may go down in history as not only the most exciting but also the one that re-connected young people with this most important civic responsibility.
I hope you had great Presidential Election discussions in your classroom. A special thank you to Paul Rials at LBJ, Mark Webber at Austin Jewish Academy, and Vilma Cajigas at Ann Richards School for posting their classroom discussions on Presidential Election news coverage. For those of you who haven’t posted at all or only once, please commit to posting during the remaining few weeks of the program. Communicating what’s happening in your classroom with the newspaper is a very important component of the mynews@school program. If you’re still having trouble posting, please send me an e-mail and I’ll post for you. Or from now through December, assign one of your groups the responsibility of posting or sending me an e-mail, which I will then post to the blog.
If you take a look at the weekly activities distributed during the kick-off, you’ll see that now is the time for a Statesman reporter or former journalist, now turned UT Journalism Professor or Ph.D. student, to visit your class. Last week, journalists and journalism professors/Ph.D. students met at the Statesman to discuss visiting your classrooms. The assignment sheet for classroom visits was e-mailed this morning and the activities for the Week of November 10 are below.
I have also asked the journalists and journalism professors/Ph.D. students to blog about their visits to your classrooms. But we also want your students to become Citizen Journalists for a day and blog about the visits, which brings us to another journalism fundamental: Be prepared. Just as Scouts must be prepared so must journalists so they can fully and accurately report a story. That’s why I asked Statesman reporter and blogger Corrie MacLaggan, whom you met at the kick-off to, give us some pointers on being prepared when covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker. Some of Corrie’s tips will help your students prepare for their guests so they can cover the visit as a Citizen Journalist, then post it at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/. It would also be terrific if your students would take a photo of their guest journalist and post it with their citizen journalism story. Jacie has posted instructions on how to upload a photograph on the blog.
Finally, please don’t forget that you and your students are invited to hear Michele Norris, NPR host of “All Things Considered,” November 20, 7 p.m., AT&T Center Ballroom, 1900 University Avenue. The program is part of the Mary Alice Davis Distinguished Lecture in Journalism and presented by the School of Journalism and College of Communication.
Q and A with Statesman Reporter Corrie MacLaggan on her reporting methods
Corrie MacLaggan is Health and Human Services Reporter at the Austin American-Statesman. As part of her reporting, Corrie conducts interviews with newsmakers and covers press conferences. When the Legislature is in session, Corrie writes a blog. mynews@school asked Corrie how she prepares for interviews and press conferences. mynews@school also asked how she gets her story ideas, the guidelines she uses for writing questions and using verbatim quotes. Finally, mynews@school asked about blogging vs. writing for the print edition of the newspaper.
Q: On TV, we sometimes see reporters asking questions at press conferences or interviewing newsmakers. Can you describe how press conferences and interviews are part of your work as a reporter?
A: Sometimes, press conferences are called in advance about a certain topic and we have time to prepare questions. Other times, a public official or state agency (such as the Office of Attorney General) will call a press conference but will not tell the media what the topic is. That makes it difficult to prepare questions, but I just ask the questions that pop into my head when I hear the news. Sometimes, press conferences will occur as news is developing. For example, when Hurricane Rita was heading towardTexas in 2005, I was assigned to spend a lot of time at the state emergency operations center in Austin. The governor and state emergency officials would hold press conferences to update the media on where the hurricane was and how they were preparing. In general, if you want to get your question answered at a press conference, you can’t be shy. You have to call out “Governor!” or “Senator!” and ask your question loudly, or you may miss the opportunity.
Q: Which format—press conference or interview—is best for generating news that you can write about? Why?
A: I don’t think the format makes a difference about whether I can write about it. If it’s important news, that will come across in either a press conference or an interview. Naturally, I prefer an interview — especially if it’s one-on-one — so that I get ample time to ask all my questions rather than having to jostle with other reporters to get my questions answered. But sometimes, officials like to speak to all the reporters at once.
Q: What are some of the other ways that you get news or ideas for reporting a story?
A: Talking to people: friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy bagging my groceries, the woman cutting my hair, the college student sitting next to me on the airplane.
Q: What research do you do in advance of covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker and how important is it to do advance research?
A: It’s important to do research but, as I mentioned above, it’s not always possible.
Q: Do you write your questions in advance for press conferences and interviews? Why or why not?
A: Yes, when possible. It’s good to have something to start with, though frequently other questions will come to mind during the press conference or interview.
Q: What guidelines, if any, do you use for writing questions for newsmakers?
A: Like others who cover state government, I always want to know things like: How many people does this affect? How much money does this cost?
Q: How important are verbatim quotes to your story and how do you determine which quotes to use in your story?
A: Very important. The best quotes convey emotion or colorful details or the person’s character rather than just facts. For example, there’s no need to use a quote from the mayor saying that a proposed city project will cost$50,000. You can include that information in the story — and attribute it to the mayor — without using a direct quote. But if the mayor says something like: “This is the most important project we’ve ever attempted in Austin,” that may be worth putting in the story. Even more important than what the quote says is the fact that you know it’s 100% accurate. If you aren’t absolutely sure the person used those exact words, you shouldn’t put those words between quotes.
Q: As a reporter, you also blog. What do you blog about and why do you blog? How is blogging different from writing a story for thenewspaper?
A: I blog along with the Statesman’s other state government and politics reporters at Statesman.com/postcards. Blog posts are usually shorter andwritten in a less formal style than newspaper stories. Our blog is especially important when the Legislature is in session. The newspaper comes out just once a day, but the blog can be updated all day long, so it’s a great tool to use when news is happening quickly, as it does duringthe legislative session. A hearing I covered last session lasted until around 2 a.m. By then, my last deadline had already passed for the print edition of the newspaper. But I could still update blog readers on what had happened at the end of the meeting. Also, blogs — and online stories —give readers the opportunity to give instant feedback by posting comments.
Q: On TV, we sometimes see reporters asking questions at press conferences or interviewing newsmakers. Can you describe how press conferences and interviews are part of your work as a reporter?
A: Sometimes, press conferences are called in advance about a certain topic and we have time to prepare questions. Other times, a public official or state agency (such as the Office of Attorney General) will call a press conference but will not tell the media what the topic is. That makes it difficult to prepare questions, but I just ask the questions that pop into my head when I hear the news. Sometimes, press conferences will occur as news is developing. For example, when Hurricane Rita was heading towardTexas in 2005, I was assigned to spend a lot of time at the state emergency operations center in Austin. The governor and state emergency officials would hold press conferences to update the media on where the hurricane was and how they were preparing. In general, if you want to get your question answered at a press conference, you can’t be shy. You have to call out “Governor!” or “Senator!” and ask your question loudly, or you may miss the opportunity.
Q: Which format—press conference or interview—is best for generating news that you can write about? Why?
A: I don’t think the format makes a difference about whether I can write about it. If it’s important news, that will come across in either a press conference or an interview. Naturally, I prefer an interview — especially if it’s one-on-one — so that I get ample time to ask all my questions rather than having to jostle with other reporters to get my questions answered. But sometimes, officials like to speak to all the reporters at once.
Q: What are some of the other ways that you get news or ideas for reporting a story?
A: Talking to people: friends, neighbors, relatives, the guy bagging my groceries, the woman cutting my hair, the college student sitting next to me on the airplane.
Q: What research do you do in advance of covering a press conference or interviewing a newsmaker and how important is it to do advance research?
A: It’s important to do research but, as I mentioned above, it’s not always possible.
Q: Do you write your questions in advance for press conferences and interviews? Why or why not?
A: Yes, when possible. It’s good to have something to start with, though frequently other questions will come to mind during the press conference or interview.
Q: What guidelines, if any, do you use for writing questions for newsmakers?
A: Like others who cover state government, I always want to know things like: How many people does this affect? How much money does this cost?
Q: How important are verbatim quotes to your story and how do you determine which quotes to use in your story?
A: Very important. The best quotes convey emotion or colorful details or the person’s character rather than just facts. For example, there’s no need to use a quote from the mayor saying that a proposed city project will cost$50,000. You can include that information in the story — and attribute it to the mayor — without using a direct quote. But if the mayor says something like: “This is the most important project we’ve ever attempted in Austin,” that may be worth putting in the story. Even more important than what the quote says is the fact that you know it’s 100% accurate. If you aren’t absolutely sure the person used those exact words, you shouldn’t put those words between quotes.
Q: As a reporter, you also blog. What do you blog about and why do you blog? How is blogging different from writing a story for thenewspaper?
A: I blog along with the Statesman’s other state government and politics reporters at Statesman.com/postcards. Blog posts are usually shorter andwritten in a less formal style than newspaper stories. Our blog is especially important when the Legislature is in session. The newspaper comes out just once a day, but the blog can be updated all day long, so it’s a great tool to use when news is happening quickly, as it does duringthe legislative session. A hearing I covered last session lasted until around 2 a.m. By then, my last deadline had already passed for the print edition of the newspaper. But I could still update blog readers on what had happened at the end of the meeting. Also, blogs — and online stories —give readers the opportunity to give instant feedback by posting comments.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Adding an image when you post
Here's the powerpoint file of using blogger.com again. If you take a look at slide #10, it shows you the screenshot of how to add an image. Please click here for a bigger view.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
ARS Week of Nov. 3: Media Critic of Presidential Election Coverage
Monday, November 3rd Newspaper
Students felt that there wasn’t enough election coverage, and that the republicans did not receive equal time. Students wanted to know more about Obama's and McCain's experience, and some students wanted to see more election stats.
Students felt that there wasn’t enough election coverage, and that the republicans did not receive equal time. Students wanted to know more about Obama's and McCain's experience, and some students wanted to see more election stats.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
LBJ Election Day
I replied to a couple of previous posts, but I guess I can toe the line and create the new post. My kids (11th grade) are really caught up in the election. Some fairly discerning reading, and some not-so-much. Several of my kids thought that there should have been more newspaper coverage devoted to voting irregularities and how they will be addressed. They discussed the 2000 election (which they have read about) and how they would like to see those issues mentioned. They hope there will not be a repeat of that drama. Others actually surprised me with the reasonable responses they gave for their choice for president. While the lines are very clearly drawn, the emotional aspects are not preventing the majority of my students from forming intelligent decisions based on their knowledge of the candidates. None of them are old enough to vote, but they all assure me that voter turnout will be huge in Austin. I did have one student say that the death of Barack Obama's grandmother was the most depressing thing he had read in awhile. The overall feeling for most of them is that change is coming. They are very excited and hope that the election is actually decided by the time they wake up tomorrow.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Mark Webber's Austin Jewish Academy Fifth Grade Class---Paula-although we are not strictly following the guidelines for time allowed in group/class discussions-My Fifth grade had some very lively classroom discussions regarding the issues in the campaign, methods used to put out the issues to the public, and their general vies regarding which media is most effective.
Now remember that I have 18 students, mostly white, mostly from affluent Jewish homes.
Their take is that the economy is definitely the number one issue, followed closely by health care and the War in Iraq.
Naturally a very strong Pro-Israeli sentiment prevails and the safety of Israel was raised after some in the class noted the story on the front page of the paper today-“Two friends-two views of Zionism”.
Other issues raised included racism in the campaign, the environment, and the War in Afghanistan.
They said that they had learned about the issues from classroom discussions, on-line sources, and many cited specifically CNN-more generally TV news.
Sad to say most did not see the newspaper as a main or primary source-and I was stunned-because we usually use the paper in some way most days in class.
And for the most part they agreed that the front page of the paper-World and Nation-should have had more stories on the election and the campaign than stories focused on state or local events-
Interesting since when we as teachers got to meet with the editor-he mentioned that newspapers were a dying breed and that one way they were trying to maintain readers was to bring a spot light to local events. Oh well-
Mark Webber
Now remember that I have 18 students, mostly white, mostly from affluent Jewish homes.
Their take is that the economy is definitely the number one issue, followed closely by health care and the War in Iraq.
Naturally a very strong Pro-Israeli sentiment prevails and the safety of Israel was raised after some in the class noted the story on the front page of the paper today-“Two friends-two views of Zionism”.
Other issues raised included racism in the campaign, the environment, and the War in Afghanistan.
They said that they had learned about the issues from classroom discussions, on-line sources, and many cited specifically CNN-more generally TV news.
Sad to say most did not see the newspaper as a main or primary source-and I was stunned-because we usually use the paper in some way most days in class.
And for the most part they agreed that the front page of the paper-World and Nation-should have had more stories on the election and the campaign than stories focused on state or local events-
Interesting since when we as teachers got to meet with the editor-he mentioned that newspapers were a dying breed and that one way they were trying to maintain readers was to bring a spot light to local events. Oh well-
Mark Webber
Paula Poindexter says now is the time to evaluate Presidential Election News Coverage
Dear Teachers:
After every Presidential Election, many of us who teach Journalism, become media critics, dissecting the news coverage to determine how well Journalism has lived up to its purpose and principles and how well the public has been served. This week your students will have an opportunity to become media critics and evaluate how well the press did its job. One dimension of that critical analysis is directly related to coverage of the issues. In addition to the general activities for this week of November 3, I have listed some specific ideas about coverage of the most important issues to jumpstart the discussion on press coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election.
I also want to remind you that toward the end of this week, you’ll receive an e-mail from a Statesman reporter or UT Journalism professor who will visit your class next week to talk to your students about the purpose and principles of journalism. Please plan to arrange a time that is convenient for you and if possible on the day that your newspapers are delivered.
Don’t forget to post at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/.
Have a great Presidential Election week!
Paula Poindexter
mynews@school
UT School of Journalism
Additional Ideas for Group and Class Discussions: Evaluating News Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election
Over the course of the 2008 Presidential Election, the most important issues have changed. What have been some of the important issues during this Presidential Election?
The issues reported on the front page of the newspaper, as the lead story on the network evening news or in the most recent public opinion poll are not necessarily the most important issues being discussed around the kitchen table or among friends and neighbors.
Take an informal poll of your friends, schoolmates, teachers, coaches, and family to find out what they personally consider the most important issues in the 2008 Presidential Election. (Although your informal poll will differ from a scientific poll reported in the newspaper, it still will provide some insight into public opinion among those around you.) Other questions you might ask in your informal poll are: What is your primary news source and what grade would you give the news source for its coverage of the issue most important personally? What is the primary reason for the grade?
Discuss the findings from your poll with your group. As a group, evaluate news coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election. Compare your group evaluations with the new Project for Excellence in Journalism study on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage, which can be found at: http://journalism.org/node/13307.
What recommendations does your group have for covering future Presidential elections? What specific recommendations does your group have for including young people in the news coverage? Have a student-led class discussion on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage and recommendations for improvement. Include your top recommendations in a mynews@school blog post to the editor.
Week of November 3, 2008: Media Critic of Presidential Election Coverage.
1. Distribute newspapers with each student receiving a newspaper.
2. Discuss coverage of the Presidential Election—from news to opinion to charts to multimedia.
3. Students have 10 minutes of free reading on presidential election coverage.
4. For 5 minutes, students discuss presidential election stories that they found important and the reasons why.
5. For 5 minutes, students discuss aspects of the presidential election that are of interest to you and your family but are not being covered. Also discuss coverage that can be improved.
6. Write a comment for the editor.
7. Post comment to the mynews@school blog.
After every Presidential Election, many of us who teach Journalism, become media critics, dissecting the news coverage to determine how well Journalism has lived up to its purpose and principles and how well the public has been served. This week your students will have an opportunity to become media critics and evaluate how well the press did its job. One dimension of that critical analysis is directly related to coverage of the issues. In addition to the general activities for this week of November 3, I have listed some specific ideas about coverage of the most important issues to jumpstart the discussion on press coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election.
I also want to remind you that toward the end of this week, you’ll receive an e-mail from a Statesman reporter or UT Journalism professor who will visit your class next week to talk to your students about the purpose and principles of journalism. Please plan to arrange a time that is convenient for you and if possible on the day that your newspapers are delivered.
Don’t forget to post at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/.
Have a great Presidential Election week!
Paula Poindexter
mynews@school
UT School of Journalism
Additional Ideas for Group and Class Discussions: Evaluating News Coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election
Over the course of the 2008 Presidential Election, the most important issues have changed. What have been some of the important issues during this Presidential Election?
The issues reported on the front page of the newspaper, as the lead story on the network evening news or in the most recent public opinion poll are not necessarily the most important issues being discussed around the kitchen table or among friends and neighbors.
Take an informal poll of your friends, schoolmates, teachers, coaches, and family to find out what they personally consider the most important issues in the 2008 Presidential Election. (Although your informal poll will differ from a scientific poll reported in the newspaper, it still will provide some insight into public opinion among those around you.) Other questions you might ask in your informal poll are: What is your primary news source and what grade would you give the news source for its coverage of the issue most important personally? What is the primary reason for the grade?
Discuss the findings from your poll with your group. As a group, evaluate news coverage of the 2008 Presidential Election. Compare your group evaluations with the new Project for Excellence in Journalism study on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage, which can be found at: http://journalism.org/node/13307.
What recommendations does your group have for covering future Presidential elections? What specific recommendations does your group have for including young people in the news coverage? Have a student-led class discussion on 2008 Presidential Election news coverage and recommendations for improvement. Include your top recommendations in a mynews@school blog post to the editor.
Week of November 3, 2008: Media Critic of Presidential Election Coverage.
1. Distribute newspapers with each student receiving a newspaper.
2. Discuss coverage of the Presidential Election—from news to opinion to charts to multimedia.
3. Students have 10 minutes of free reading on presidential election coverage.
4. For 5 minutes, students discuss presidential election stories that they found important and the reasons why.
5. For 5 minutes, students discuss aspects of the presidential election that are of interest to you and your family but are not being covered. Also discuss coverage that can be improved.
6. Write a comment for the editor.
7. Post comment to the mynews@school blog.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Election Week Activities
Hello everyone,
The newspaper-based learning activities for election week (below) will be posted on the Newspapers in Education website on Monday (www.statesman.com/NIE)
Thank you and have a great weekend.
Debra Joiner
Recording election history, piece by piece, day by day
Newspapers, a famous editor once said, are the first rough draft of history.
What he meant was that every day’s newspapers report the latest history of the nation, its states and its communities.
Then, as new events take place, the next day’s newspapers update history with the latest information, making it clearer and more complete.
A presidential election puts a spotlight on this special role for newspapers, especially a fiercely fought election such as the one this year.
Newspapers, and TV news, have spent months informing the public about what the candidates were saying, and how voters were responding.
They have attempted to gauge the nation’s mood week by week through elaborate opinion polls that sometimes showed conflicting results.
And this week, they are working around the clock to make sense of what has happened in the election, sort out its meaning and inform readers of what it will mean for the future.
Key issues to be examined include the effectiveness of the Electoral College system (and whether it should be changed), the role of legal challenges and lawsuits in counting votes, and how any leader can unite a nation that has been deeply divided between parties and beliefs.
The importance of these issues reminds everyone why the nation’s founders valued a free press so much they guaranteed it in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Map the results
The key to winning the presidency is winning enough states to get the 270 electoral votes needed for victory in the Electoral College. This college is not an education institution. It is a group of leaders from each state who vote to determine the outcome of the election, based on each state’s results.
The Electoral College was created by the leaders who drew up the U.S. Constitution. When voters go to the polls in a presidential election, they’re actually voting for a slate of electors. The party with the most votes in a state gets to elect its electors. It’s a winner-take-all system in most states, which makes it possible for a candidate to win the popular vote nationally but lose the election by losing the Electoral College vote.
Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of U.S. Senators and Representatives it has in Congress.
After the nation votes on Election Day this week, use the newspaper and online resources to review where each candidate got his electoral votes.
In what states did Democrat Barack Obama do best? In what states did Republican John McCain do best?
Finding information
Information about election results comes in many forms in a newspaper. To explore this, break into teams and search the newspaper for election news in the following forms: a news story; a chart or graph; a photograph; a table of statistics or data; a map; an editorial cartoon. For each example you find, write a complete sentence describing what is good or helpful about getting information in that form.
Activities
1. Even with 24-hour news on cable TV and the Internet, newspapers and their Web sites remain the most complete, easy-to-use, written account of the elections and results. Starting with Wednesday’s paper, follow the coverage of election results and issues through the week. For each day, write out the top news in the presidential election, a statewide or district election and a local election. Compare findings as a class and discuss.
2. In this year’s presidential race, opinion polls got a lot of attention from newspapers and TV news. Use the newspaper or Internet to find the results of the last opinion polls before Election Day. How accurate were the polls? Why do you think that was the case?
3. Election results can help you learn some important things about numbers that appear in a series. MEAN is the average of all numbers in a series, MODE is the number that appears most often in a series and MEDIAN is the number that appears in the middle in a series. With the newspaper and other resources, study the state-by-state election results. What was the mean percentage achieved by Barack Obama in states he won? What was the mean percentage achieved by John McCain in states he won? What was the mode for each candidate?
4. When there are big stories like a presidential election, newspaper reporters interview local leaders to get their views. Search the coverage in today’s newspaper to find comments by local leaders on the election. Write a summary of the points made by three local leaders.
Debra Waugh Joiner
Newspapers in Education Manager
Austin American-Statesman
(512) 445-3590
dwaugh@statesman.com
www.statesman.com/NIE
The newspaper-based learning activities for election week (below) will be posted on the Newspapers in Education website on Monday (www.statesman.com/NIE)
Thank you and have a great weekend.
Debra Joiner
Recording election history, piece by piece, day by day
Newspapers, a famous editor once said, are the first rough draft of history.
What he meant was that every day’s newspapers report the latest history of the nation, its states and its communities.
Then, as new events take place, the next day’s newspapers update history with the latest information, making it clearer and more complete.
A presidential election puts a spotlight on this special role for newspapers, especially a fiercely fought election such as the one this year.
Newspapers, and TV news, have spent months informing the public about what the candidates were saying, and how voters were responding.
They have attempted to gauge the nation’s mood week by week through elaborate opinion polls that sometimes showed conflicting results.
And this week, they are working around the clock to make sense of what has happened in the election, sort out its meaning and inform readers of what it will mean for the future.
Key issues to be examined include the effectiveness of the Electoral College system (and whether it should be changed), the role of legal challenges and lawsuits in counting votes, and how any leader can unite a nation that has been deeply divided between parties and beliefs.
The importance of these issues reminds everyone why the nation’s founders valued a free press so much they guaranteed it in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Map the results
The key to winning the presidency is winning enough states to get the 270 electoral votes needed for victory in the Electoral College. This college is not an education institution. It is a group of leaders from each state who vote to determine the outcome of the election, based on each state’s results.
The Electoral College was created by the leaders who drew up the U.S. Constitution. When voters go to the polls in a presidential election, they’re actually voting for a slate of electors. The party with the most votes in a state gets to elect its electors. It’s a winner-take-all system in most states, which makes it possible for a candidate to win the popular vote nationally but lose the election by losing the Electoral College vote.
Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of U.S. Senators and Representatives it has in Congress.
After the nation votes on Election Day this week, use the newspaper and online resources to review where each candidate got his electoral votes.
In what states did Democrat Barack Obama do best? In what states did Republican John McCain do best?
Finding information
Information about election results comes in many forms in a newspaper. To explore this, break into teams and search the newspaper for election news in the following forms: a news story; a chart or graph; a photograph; a table of statistics or data; a map; an editorial cartoon. For each example you find, write a complete sentence describing what is good or helpful about getting information in that form.
Activities
1. Even with 24-hour news on cable TV and the Internet, newspapers and their Web sites remain the most complete, easy-to-use, written account of the elections and results. Starting with Wednesday’s paper, follow the coverage of election results and issues through the week. For each day, write out the top news in the presidential election, a statewide or district election and a local election. Compare findings as a class and discuss.
2. In this year’s presidential race, opinion polls got a lot of attention from newspapers and TV news. Use the newspaper or Internet to find the results of the last opinion polls before Election Day. How accurate were the polls? Why do you think that was the case?
3. Election results can help you learn some important things about numbers that appear in a series. MEAN is the average of all numbers in a series, MODE is the number that appears most often in a series and MEDIAN is the number that appears in the middle in a series. With the newspaper and other resources, study the state-by-state election results. What was the mean percentage achieved by Barack Obama in states he won? What was the mean percentage achieved by John McCain in states he won? What was the mode for each candidate?
4. When there are big stories like a presidential election, newspaper reporters interview local leaders to get their views. Search the coverage in today’s newspaper to find comments by local leaders on the election. Write a summary of the points made by three local leaders.
Debra Waugh Joiner
Newspapers in Education Manager
Austin American-Statesman
(512) 445-3590
dwaugh@statesman.com
www.statesman.com/NIE
Austin High finds error that leads to interesting discussion.
My students had a hard time choosing a story that they found most interesting today. One story had an error and it was a very interesting discussion about that. It was the story about the Bowie game and the story said one thing, and the story under the picture said another thing. The kids were able to talk about the importance of double checking the facts. This is something we encourage our students to pay attention to, and it is nice that they were able to come to the same conclusion by themselves.
Our Editorial was The spooky side of free speech. It was perfect timing, I just finished a unit on the freedoms that kids have on our campus, especially the freedom of speech. The article brought up a very important question, we have the right to our freedom of speech, but sometimes it is used in manners that are not OK. It was also an interesting discussion in the midst of all of the political news, to look at it from another focus. Have a wonderful weekend.
BEAT WESTLAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank You.
Aimee Finney
Austin High School English Department
Varsity Cheer Coach
Our Editorial was The spooky side of free speech. It was perfect timing, I just finished a unit on the freedoms that kids have on our campus, especially the freedom of speech. The article brought up a very important question, we have the right to our freedom of speech, but sometimes it is used in manners that are not OK. It was also an interesting discussion in the midst of all of the political news, to look at it from another focus. Have a wonderful weekend.
BEAT WESTLAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank You.
Aimee Finney
Austin High School English Department
Varsity Cheer Coach
October 31st ARS Selection
Feature Story: Town moves past real-life terror to take back Halloween night
Byline: Ramit Plushnick-Masti
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008
Section: World News, Page A10.
They felt it was important because of Halloween being today, and because it helped raise awareness. They also felt that stories about people are more interesting.
Byline: Ramit Plushnick-Masti
Date: Thursday, October 30, 2008
Section: World News, Page A10.
They felt it was important because of Halloween being today, and because it helped raise awareness. They also felt that stories about people are more interesting.
Update from Paula Poindexter
Dear Teachers:
When Jessica Mitchell at Austin High posted on the mynews@school blog that it was easier for her students to select an engaging story than a lead story, I wondered if that was because an engaging story is in the eyes of the beholder while a lead story is in the eyes of an editor? Or was it because as my journalism colleague Bill Minutaglio, who answered my questions about news story types, said the “front page of your paper is often home to the Hard News/Inverted Pyramid format”? (Please see the full Q and A with Bill Minutaglio below.) Unfortunately, the inverted pyramid format is not the most engaging way to write a story. Even so, it’s fascinating to read the blog posts at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/ to see what stories students found engaging. It’s also heart warming to read about the discussion taking place across mynews@school classrooms.
Next week will be one of the biggest days in journalism—covering the results of the presidential election. Regardless of which candidate wins, history will be made. That makes the 2008 Presidential Election an even bigger news story. How well has the press covered this big news story? Next week students will become media critics and answer that question. On Monday morning, I’ll send some ideas to get the group discussion going. You might find additional ideas to encourage discussion in the Presidential Election Guide posted on the Statesman’s NIE Web site at http://www.nieonline.com/austin/downloads/2008electing_the_president.pdf.
Have a Happy Halloween!
Paula Poindexter
mynews@school
School of Journalism
University of Texas at Austin
P.S. Please e-mail me if you’re still having trouble posting on the blog.
mynews@school Q and A with Bill Minutaglio and the Many Faces of a News Story
Bill Minutaglio is a UT School of Journalism Professor, the author of
First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, a former reporter for the Dallas Morning News, and a former bureau chief of People magazine. Minutaglio’s book, First Son influenced the director and screenwriter of the new film, W. In one interview, W’s screenwriter said: "In looking at George Bush Jr.'s earlier life, we were very influenced by Bill Minutaglio's First Son.” Oliver Stone directed W and the President is played by Josh Brolin. Check out what ABC News said about Bill Minutaglio and W at http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/Story?id=5879559&page=2.
mynews@school: Newspapers publish stories that vary in format and style. What are the different story formats that can be found in a newspaper and what are their key elements?
Minutgalio: Broadly speaking, many editors break down their stories into two large categories: Hard News & Soft News.
Hard News is often the news that is breaking, fresh, timely and needs to be relayed right away to the reader in a clear, straight, way – often emphasizing the most important news in the very first sentences of the story. New news about war, crime, elections, the economy, often fall into the Hard News format.
Soft News is often the news that is not pegged to rapidly breaking events, that sometimes does not have to run immediately, that can “entertain” rather than “inform,” that can lend itself to different writing styles, including introducing the “essential news value” of the story later in the story – not in the first sentences of the story.
More specifically, when editors talk about formats they begin to think of these types:
== Inverted Pyramid format: Where you have your most “newsy,” most important, information in the first sentence and paragraph. The story diminishes in “news value” in each subsequent paragraph. Often used with Hard News stories.
---- Features format: Where you abandon the Inverted Pyramid, you “delay” the specific introduction of the “hard news” in the story.
----Column/Essay format: Where you sometimes espouse an opinion
---Sidebar format: A companion piece that runs alongside another story, that serves to “add” information to that other story
----A Q&A format: Where you simply print questions and answers (perhaps introduced by a short paragraph that explains what the Q&A is generally about)
----Analysis format: Where you take a Big Picture look at an issue, theme, person and use some history, context, sweep, even statistics.
mynews@school: In general, how do you decide what format to use when writing a news story?
Minutgalio: First decide whether it is Hard News or Soft News: With your editor, you need to decide what the “news value” of your story is and when and where your story needs to run. If you and your editors say “hey, this is a story that everyone needs to know about Right Now,” then you probably will use the Hard News/Inverted Pyramid formats and the piece will go on Page One.
On the other hand, editors may see the story as an “evergreen” – a story that can run any day of the week. Then it is probably in the Soft News category – and you will choose from a feature, column, essay, analysis or sidebar format.
mynews@school: Are certain story formats more likely to be found in certain sections of the newspaper? If yes, which sections generally have what types of formats?
Minutgalio: The front page of your paper is often home to the Hard News/Inverted Pyramid format –the breaking news, the latest news, the most “newsy” material that readers need/want to know about as soon as possible. Those stories, of course, can also run on the Sports, Metro and Business sections. There could be a “big game” that is covered on the front page of Sports. A big corporate story on the front of the Business section. A big to-do at City Hall that needs to be mentioned on the Metro front page. Many times, stories referenced on the front page of the newspaper will be explored in other stories on the front pages of the inside sections.
Most newspapers also have “feature sections” – they are sections of the paper that often run Soft News, “evergreen” stories, stories that can run almost any day of the week, that are not exclusively tied to an immediate news event. You can find Arts sections, Food sections, Travel sections, etc. They will have feature formats, columns, essays, etc.
mynews@school: How is style of writing different from story format?
Minutgalio: Writing style refers to how you compose the story, how you write each piece. It has to do with tone, presentation, composition.
There are many writing styles: Some writers often use a “straight” or “hard news style.” It is usually not invested with “colorful writing” – it is often hard facts presented in a clear order (Who, What, When, Where & Why). You put the most important information in the first paragraph, the second most important information in the second paragraph, and so on, as the story diminishes in “news value.”
There are also several “feature writing” styles you can choose from: You “delay”” the introduction of the most important news (in order to draw the reader in, in order to make them “want” to “find out” what happens in the story). You do a first-person story, where you, the writer, is in the story. You can do a “narrative” – where you begin a story in a moment in time and watch events unfold over time (like a plot in a book or movie).
mynews@school: Once you’ve finished writing a story, who else is involved in the writing and what role do they play in the story that you’ve written?
Minutgalio: At good publications, you should have a copy editor looking at your work – someone who will go over each word, sentence, paragraph in your story and make sure grammar, language, punctuation are all in good order. You will have other editors who will take a Big Picture look at your story – suggesting ways to change the beginning, middle and end of your story. Suggesting additional reporting. Suggesting structural changes, changes in tone. If you are lucky to work with a photographer, they will have input on your story.
mynews@school: What are the major differences in writing for newspapers vs. magazines vs. online vs. blogs vs. books?
Minutgalio: Every publication is different. As a broad, broad rule, deadlines for newspapers and online publications are often a bit more intense. Newspapers don’t usually run stories that are as long as the ones you will find in magazines. Magazine editors sometimes have more time to work with you on stories. Online publications sometimes move briskly, quickly and ask for you to turn your material in sooner than later. Online publications sometimes lean a lot on multimedia components – that you provide links, audio, video. Again, every publication is unique. Some magazines will allow you to write 10,000 word stories. Some newspapers have their own magazines. Books & blogs are probably more varied. Obviously blogs lend themselves to essays, opinions, personal pieces. Books can be the “ultimate long story” – what I tell people is that books are very long feature stories. They have to have great reporting and an attempt at great writing. They require outlines, some sense of structure.
mynews@school: What role, if any, does your audience play when you’re writing a news story?
Minutgalio: It’s key. You have to understand your audience. You have to understand the readership for your particular publication. If you are writing for a sports publication, or a sports section in a newspaper, you should think about your audience. Ditto music magazines, etc. Most book publishers will ask you to really think hard about who will buy your book, who will read it, who you are writing for. These days, most editors want to know this: WHAT VALUE WILL YOUR WORK BRING TO MY PUBLICATION? In other words, how will your story reach my readers – and get me more readers.
mynews@school: When did you first discover that you were good at writing and how did you know?
Minutgalio: Not sure I’m good at it. (I’ve had plenty of critics tell me I’m not!). I like it and I always wanted to write for newspaper, magazines and books. One of my favorite writers when I was young was a newspaper columnist named Jimmy Breslin. I liked the way he would visit “ordinary people” – not famous people – and just hang out with them and write their stories. Those are called slice-of-life pieces – little windows into the worlds of real people. It was what I wanted to do. I was very, very lucky to have some editors who indulged me and who worked hard with me. A friend of mine once said that if you are insecure about your writing, it means you are doing it the right way – you care enough to worry about it. You can decide if you are good at writing in two ways: You tell yourself you are good . . . or other people tell you that your work is good.
mynews@school: What are the elements of good writing?
Minutgalio: There are a lot of them – and each story is different. But, generally, I would say that you need to have vivid writing (no clichés, no over-heated writing), colorful writing, dialog, a sense of events unfolding – you need some action in your stories. You need details, specifics, what I call “intimate details” – about the people you write about, about the places you write about. You have to “show the reader, don’t tell the reader” – show action unfolding, don’t tell readers that action is unfolding. Think of your stories as movies – with plot, color, mood, dialog, action. I love writing that has very specific details – and then can weave in Big Picture issues, thoughts, beliefs. I call it the marriage of the Micro & the Macro in your writing. You have details – and you have a sweep.
mynews@school: What are your recommendations for becoming a great writer?
Minutgalio: Writing is like riding a bike – you get better by doing it over and over again. Your writing improves by reading. Study the publications where you want your work to appear and study how the writers did their stories. Think, hard, about creating an outline of how you would structure your story. One simple thing is to gather as many “intimate details” as you can when you are doing your reporting: Look for specifics, look for dialog, make sure you really bring people to life – and that you really draw a picture of where events take place. And, as always, ask a friend to read your work --- see what they recommend. Finally, think outside the box – say to yourself, how do I make this story as fresh as possible, how do I do it in a new way, an interesting way, a way that will keep people reading? Stephen King says the scariest part of writing is just before you begin. Gay Talese says the pursuit of good writing is like driving with the lights turned off. Norman Mailer and others have said the secret to being a writer is . . . to go to your desk and begin writing. H.L. Mencken says it is a very, very lonely profession.
When Jessica Mitchell at Austin High posted on the mynews@school blog that it was easier for her students to select an engaging story than a lead story, I wondered if that was because an engaging story is in the eyes of the beholder while a lead story is in the eyes of an editor? Or was it because as my journalism colleague Bill Minutaglio, who answered my questions about news story types, said the “front page of your paper is often home to the Hard News/Inverted Pyramid format”? (Please see the full Q and A with Bill Minutaglio below.) Unfortunately, the inverted pyramid format is not the most engaging way to write a story. Even so, it’s fascinating to read the blog posts at http://mynewsatschool.blogspot.com/ to see what stories students found engaging. It’s also heart warming to read about the discussion taking place across mynews@school classrooms.
Next week will be one of the biggest days in journalism—covering the results of the presidential election. Regardless of which candidate wins, history will be made. That makes the 2008 Presidential Election an even bigger news story. How well has the press covered this big news story? Next week students will become media critics and answer that question. On Monday morning, I’ll send some ideas to get the group discussion going. You might find additional ideas to encourage discussion in the Presidential Election Guide posted on the Statesman’s NIE Web site at http://www.nieonline.com/austin/downloads/2008electing_the_president.pdf.
Have a Happy Halloween!
Paula Poindexter
mynews@school
School of Journalism
University of Texas at Austin
P.S. Please e-mail me if you’re still having trouble posting on the blog.
mynews@school Q and A with Bill Minutaglio and the Many Faces of a News Story
Bill Minutaglio is a UT School of Journalism Professor, the author of
First Son: George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty, a former reporter for the Dallas Morning News, and a former bureau chief of People magazine. Minutaglio’s book, First Son influenced the director and screenwriter of the new film, W. In one interview, W’s screenwriter said: "In looking at George Bush Jr.'s earlier life, we were very influenced by Bill Minutaglio's First Son.” Oliver Stone directed W and the President is played by Josh Brolin. Check out what ABC News said about Bill Minutaglio and W at http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Movies/Story?id=5879559&page=2.
mynews@school: Newspapers publish stories that vary in format and style. What are the different story formats that can be found in a newspaper and what are their key elements?
Minutgalio: Broadly speaking, many editors break down their stories into two large categories: Hard News & Soft News.
Hard News is often the news that is breaking, fresh, timely and needs to be relayed right away to the reader in a clear, straight, way – often emphasizing the most important news in the very first sentences of the story. New news about war, crime, elections, the economy, often fall into the Hard News format.
Soft News is often the news that is not pegged to rapidly breaking events, that sometimes does not have to run immediately, that can “entertain” rather than “inform,” that can lend itself to different writing styles, including introducing the “essential news value” of the story later in the story – not in the first sentences of the story.
More specifically, when editors talk about formats they begin to think of these types:
== Inverted Pyramid format: Where you have your most “newsy,” most important, information in the first sentence and paragraph. The story diminishes in “news value” in each subsequent paragraph. Often used with Hard News stories.
---- Features format: Where you abandon the Inverted Pyramid, you “delay” the specific introduction of the “hard news” in the story.
----Column/Essay format: Where you sometimes espouse an opinion
---Sidebar format: A companion piece that runs alongside another story, that serves to “add” information to that other story
----A Q&A format: Where you simply print questions and answers (perhaps introduced by a short paragraph that explains what the Q&A is generally about)
----Analysis format: Where you take a Big Picture look at an issue, theme, person and use some history, context, sweep, even statistics.
mynews@school: In general, how do you decide what format to use when writing a news story?
Minutgalio: First decide whether it is Hard News or Soft News: With your editor, you need to decide what the “news value” of your story is and when and where your story needs to run. If you and your editors say “hey, this is a story that everyone needs to know about Right Now,” then you probably will use the Hard News/Inverted Pyramid formats and the piece will go on Page One.
On the other hand, editors may see the story as an “evergreen” – a story that can run any day of the week. Then it is probably in the Soft News category – and you will choose from a feature, column, essay, analysis or sidebar format.
mynews@school: Are certain story formats more likely to be found in certain sections of the newspaper? If yes, which sections generally have what types of formats?
Minutgalio: The front page of your paper is often home to the Hard News/Inverted Pyramid format –the breaking news, the latest news, the most “newsy” material that readers need/want to know about as soon as possible. Those stories, of course, can also run on the Sports, Metro and Business sections. There could be a “big game” that is covered on the front page of Sports. A big corporate story on the front of the Business section. A big to-do at City Hall that needs to be mentioned on the Metro front page. Many times, stories referenced on the front page of the newspaper will be explored in other stories on the front pages of the inside sections.
Most newspapers also have “feature sections” – they are sections of the paper that often run Soft News, “evergreen” stories, stories that can run almost any day of the week, that are not exclusively tied to an immediate news event. You can find Arts sections, Food sections, Travel sections, etc. They will have feature formats, columns, essays, etc.
mynews@school: How is style of writing different from story format?
Minutgalio: Writing style refers to how you compose the story, how you write each piece. It has to do with tone, presentation, composition.
There are many writing styles: Some writers often use a “straight” or “hard news style.” It is usually not invested with “colorful writing” – it is often hard facts presented in a clear order (Who, What, When, Where & Why). You put the most important information in the first paragraph, the second most important information in the second paragraph, and so on, as the story diminishes in “news value.”
There are also several “feature writing” styles you can choose from: You “delay”” the introduction of the most important news (in order to draw the reader in, in order to make them “want” to “find out” what happens in the story). You do a first-person story, where you, the writer, is in the story. You can do a “narrative” – where you begin a story in a moment in time and watch events unfold over time (like a plot in a book or movie).
mynews@school: Once you’ve finished writing a story, who else is involved in the writing and what role do they play in the story that you’ve written?
Minutgalio: At good publications, you should have a copy editor looking at your work – someone who will go over each word, sentence, paragraph in your story and make sure grammar, language, punctuation are all in good order. You will have other editors who will take a Big Picture look at your story – suggesting ways to change the beginning, middle and end of your story. Suggesting additional reporting. Suggesting structural changes, changes in tone. If you are lucky to work with a photographer, they will have input on your story.
mynews@school: What are the major differences in writing for newspapers vs. magazines vs. online vs. blogs vs. books?
Minutgalio: Every publication is different. As a broad, broad rule, deadlines for newspapers and online publications are often a bit more intense. Newspapers don’t usually run stories that are as long as the ones you will find in magazines. Magazine editors sometimes have more time to work with you on stories. Online publications sometimes move briskly, quickly and ask for you to turn your material in sooner than later. Online publications sometimes lean a lot on multimedia components – that you provide links, audio, video. Again, every publication is unique. Some magazines will allow you to write 10,000 word stories. Some newspapers have their own magazines. Books & blogs are probably more varied. Obviously blogs lend themselves to essays, opinions, personal pieces. Books can be the “ultimate long story” – what I tell people is that books are very long feature stories. They have to have great reporting and an attempt at great writing. They require outlines, some sense of structure.
mynews@school: What role, if any, does your audience play when you’re writing a news story?
Minutgalio: It’s key. You have to understand your audience. You have to understand the readership for your particular publication. If you are writing for a sports publication, or a sports section in a newspaper, you should think about your audience. Ditto music magazines, etc. Most book publishers will ask you to really think hard about who will buy your book, who will read it, who you are writing for. These days, most editors want to know this: WHAT VALUE WILL YOUR WORK BRING TO MY PUBLICATION? In other words, how will your story reach my readers – and get me more readers.
mynews@school: When did you first discover that you were good at writing and how did you know?
Minutgalio: Not sure I’m good at it. (I’ve had plenty of critics tell me I’m not!). I like it and I always wanted to write for newspaper, magazines and books. One of my favorite writers when I was young was a newspaper columnist named Jimmy Breslin. I liked the way he would visit “ordinary people” – not famous people – and just hang out with them and write their stories. Those are called slice-of-life pieces – little windows into the worlds of real people. It was what I wanted to do. I was very, very lucky to have some editors who indulged me and who worked hard with me. A friend of mine once said that if you are insecure about your writing, it means you are doing it the right way – you care enough to worry about it. You can decide if you are good at writing in two ways: You tell yourself you are good . . . or other people tell you that your work is good.
mynews@school: What are the elements of good writing?
Minutgalio: There are a lot of them – and each story is different. But, generally, I would say that you need to have vivid writing (no clichés, no over-heated writing), colorful writing, dialog, a sense of events unfolding – you need some action in your stories. You need details, specifics, what I call “intimate details” – about the people you write about, about the places you write about. You have to “show the reader, don’t tell the reader” – show action unfolding, don’t tell readers that action is unfolding. Think of your stories as movies – with plot, color, mood, dialog, action. I love writing that has very specific details – and then can weave in Big Picture issues, thoughts, beliefs. I call it the marriage of the Micro & the Macro in your writing. You have details – and you have a sweep.
mynews@school: What are your recommendations for becoming a great writer?
Minutgalio: Writing is like riding a bike – you get better by doing it over and over again. Your writing improves by reading. Study the publications where you want your work to appear and study how the writers did their stories. Think, hard, about creating an outline of how you would structure your story. One simple thing is to gather as many “intimate details” as you can when you are doing your reporting: Look for specifics, look for dialog, make sure you really bring people to life – and that you really draw a picture of where events take place. And, as always, ask a friend to read your work --- see what they recommend. Finally, think outside the box – say to yourself, how do I make this story as fresh as possible, how do I do it in a new way, an interesting way, a way that will keep people reading? Stephen King says the scariest part of writing is just before you begin. Gay Talese says the pursuit of good writing is like driving with the lights turned off. Norman Mailer and others have said the secret to being a writer is . . . to go to your desk and begin writing. H.L. Mencken says it is a very, very lonely profession.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
HCMS -- Week of October 27th
School/Grade: Hill Country Middle School (8th Grade Drama)
Headline: “KXAN Returns to Cable”By line/Author: Diane Holloway
Date Story Published: Thursday October 30th
Section of Newspaper: Front PagePage
Number Story Begins On: A1
Criteria for Selection: They are all excited about getting to watch “The Office” and “SNL” again.
The students were immediately interested in the front page news that announced their favorite T.V. shows would be back on air. They also wanted to talk about the World Series, and the Phillies triumph.
Their favorite picks were…
-- Feature: “Field Trip of Tormented Young Writers” (Pg 18 in the XL)
The students were really excited about the cool makeup featured in the story.
Some of them expressed wishes to start their own haunted house.
-- Column: “Design writers keep the tips practical” by Melanie Spencer
(Life and Arts Pg 1) They applied the ideas in the article to their lives.
-- Editorial: “How did attack story pass bloggers sniff test” by Leonard Pitts Jr.
(Pg. A13)
They thought it was interesting that someone who was “so out of control could get so much publicity”. They were curious why and how someone could do that sort of thing. It was interesting to hear the students discuss things that one might do to get attention at home vs. at school or even in their public lives and how much trouble they could get in for doing these things.
Headline: “KXAN Returns to Cable”By line/Author: Diane Holloway
Date Story Published: Thursday October 30th
Section of Newspaper: Front PagePage
Number Story Begins On: A1
Criteria for Selection: They are all excited about getting to watch “The Office” and “SNL” again.
The students were immediately interested in the front page news that announced their favorite T.V. shows would be back on air. They also wanted to talk about the World Series, and the Phillies triumph.
Their favorite picks were…
-- Feature: “Field Trip of Tormented Young Writers” (Pg 18 in the XL)
The students were really excited about the cool makeup featured in the story.
Some of them expressed wishes to start their own haunted house.
-- Column: “Design writers keep the tips practical” by Melanie Spencer
(Life and Arts Pg 1) They applied the ideas in the article to their lives.
-- Editorial: “How did attack story pass bloggers sniff test” by Leonard Pitts Jr.
(Pg. A13)
They thought it was interesting that someone who was “so out of control could get so much publicity”. They were curious why and how someone could do that sort of thing. It was interesting to hear the students discuss things that one might do to get attention at home vs. at school or even in their public lives and how much trouble they could get in for doing these things.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Engaging Stories Choices
My students found it easier to respond to the question about stories they found engaging than they did about stories that should be leads. Some students still did not read at all, unfortunately; but I'm not giving up hope yet! Hopefully, the lively conversations we had as a class regarding some of the stories students found in the paper will encourage the non-readers to try harder to read the paper when asked to do so.
Engaging Stories:
"Give it a whirl"
Section E page 1
Life and Arts
by Pam LeBlanc--Fit City Column
This article caught and held students' attention because of the pictures of the crazy bikes. They had a big debate about whether or not the shoe-tire bike could actually work and whether or not you could flip all the way over on the scorpion bike while pedaling.
"Slave descendant's milestone: at 109 a vote for Obama"
Section B page 1
by Joshua Sanders
Each student that found this story said that what initially intrigued them was the picture of Amanda Jones on the front page ("because she looked so old" as my students put it).
Then, they were drawn to the article because of the headline about a 109-year-old woman. Some of them also thought it was fascinating that her father had been born into slavery, while she was able to cast a ballot for Obama. Interestingly, one student could not see why this was news at all. I would love to explore his reaction in more depth, but he was absent today.
"UT-Tech tilt looms large in Lubbock: Gameday heads to Plains for first time as UT hype builds"
section C page 1
by Suzanne Halliburton
Most of my male students immediately went to the sports section and found whatever they could read about the Longhorns. They said they were drawn to the BCS standings box and the picture of the UT players huddled together in an action shot.
"Man charged in death at club: Shooting bouncer is 2nd fatal incident as La Rumba Disco this year"
Section B page 1
by Laura Heinauer
Students were struck by the detail in the article that this was the 20th murder in Austin in 2008. Many of them live near this club and so the headline caught their attention.
As you can tell, many of my students seem hesitant to look past the first page of each section. I think next week I'm going to change my strategy somewhat.
Jessica Mitchell
Special Education English and Reading
Austin High School
Engaging Stories:
"Give it a whirl"
Section E page 1
Life and Arts
by Pam LeBlanc--Fit City Column
This article caught and held students' attention because of the pictures of the crazy bikes. They had a big debate about whether or not the shoe-tire bike could actually work and whether or not you could flip all the way over on the scorpion bike while pedaling.
"Slave descendant's milestone: at 109 a vote for Obama"
Section B page 1
by Joshua Sanders
Each student that found this story said that what initially intrigued them was the picture of Amanda Jones on the front page ("because she looked so old" as my students put it).
Then, they were drawn to the article because of the headline about a 109-year-old woman. Some of them also thought it was fascinating that her father had been born into slavery, while she was able to cast a ballot for Obama. Interestingly, one student could not see why this was news at all. I would love to explore his reaction in more depth, but he was absent today.
"UT-Tech tilt looms large in Lubbock: Gameday heads to Plains for first time as UT hype builds"
section C page 1
by Suzanne Halliburton
Most of my male students immediately went to the sports section and found whatever they could read about the Longhorns. They said they were drawn to the BCS standings box and the picture of the UT players huddled together in an action shot.
"Man charged in death at club: Shooting bouncer is 2nd fatal incident as La Rumba Disco this year"
Section B page 1
by Laura Heinauer
Students were struck by the detail in the article that this was the 20th murder in Austin in 2008. Many of them live near this club and so the headline caught their attention.
As you can tell, many of my students seem hesitant to look past the first page of each section. I think next week I'm going to change my strategy somewhat.
Jessica Mitchell
Special Education English and Reading
Austin High School
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