> SOME  BASICS

for a PRINT EDITION

 

LOTS OF  LETTERS (Basic level)

• Cut out the letters from the newspaper to make your name. Paste them on a card and tape it to yourself! 

• Circle all the kinds of M’s (for Maine) on a newspaper front page and make a Monster Alphabet by connecting them.   

 

LOTS OF NUMBERS  (Basic and higher level)

• Cut out 20 different numbers in as many styles as possible. Put these numbers in correct order, starting with the lowest number. Older learners can find ten numbers that are written as words. 

• Do the same with them as you did with the numbers you cut out. Then do these assignments: • What do all these numbers add up to? • What is the difference (in numbers) between the highest and lowest number you found?  

 

LOTS OF PICTURES 

(Basic level) 

• Find a picture you like, paste it on a sheet and write underneath why you like it.    

• With the help of an adult as needed, learners can find a number and a picture of “one” of something. Continue to do this to 10 or to as high as you can go, or something in between. Paste the number and picture on a card — then cut the card in half ... practice matching the two halves together. 

• For a slightly higher-level variation, the learner can find numbers written as a numeral and the same number written as a word. 

(Higher level)

“• Have students select a photograph in the newspaper and pretend they are at the scene depicted. What is happening? What do they see? Hear? Smell? How are they feeling? Write down the answers to the questions. - Bonnie Hess, Burnett Middle School, Hillsborough County

“• Have students look through the newspaper and find pictures whose subject could represent a question mark (?), an exclamation point (!) and a period (.) I ask them to cut out the pictures and create an imaginary story for each picture. This enhances both imagination and creative writing skills. - Jeanette Lewis, Entirety K-12, Hernando County

​

A NEWSPAPER RACE FOR ANY AGE - THE ULTIMATE OLDIE BUT GOODIE

​

This activity works wonderfully with any age group, including teachers new to News in Education: Teams find, cut out with scissors or a ruler and paste onto a large sheet a minimum number set by the teacher (such as half of the overall number of items) from an overall list of elements from the newspaper. Allow no more than 15 minutes to find five or six things with the winning team yelling N-I-E when they are done. It makes a great initial ice breaker or mid-session energizer.

 

“One of my favorite memories for this kind of activity was in a REALLY boring media literacy conference where the organizers had thought it was a good idea to have a class of 10-year-olds sit through the proceedings. Then News in Education specialist Solomon Ofori did a real-time Newspaper Race with the students and their teachers that totally invigorated the atmosphere while pointing out that the learning could be fun." – Aralynn McMane, Global Youth & News Media, France.

 

Some ideas for a Newspaper Race list: 

(One  can certainly go a good deal crazier and also use a magazine.)

​

GENERAL SEARCH

A number greater than a thousand

A number smaller than one

Something that makes you happy

A type of food or drink

A game being played

A face with glasses

Something to play with

A vehicle other than a car

A news story/article you’d like to read

An entertainment news story/article

The name of a country or city in big letters

A successful woman

Part of a news story/article that is about a child

A human rights abuse story

A local news story/article you may describe as being unfortunate

A picture of someone you admire 

 

ELEMENTS OF NEWS IN PRINT AND ONLINE

The name of the newspaper or news site and day of publication

A byline (the name of the journalist who writes the story)

A  headline (the title over the story)

A picture caption (the text by a picture that explains it)

A cartoon

An editorial (the opinion of the newspaper)

A commentary or opinion item by an individual

A letter to the editor or comments by a story (opinions of readers sent to the newspaper)

Something about looking for a job

A display  advertisement about something you or your family already owns (stand-alone text and sometimes an image publicizing the products from one company or organization) 

A classified advertisement that would interest someone you know (small mostly text advertisements arranged by category such as For Sale, Help Wanted)

The publisher’s name (the top business boss)

The editor-in-chief’s name (the top journalistic boss)

The price of a printed newspaper

​

​

​​​CIVIC LESSONS (Basic)

PRINT AND DIGITAL

 

 

SCAVENGER HUNT OF THE NEWS

(works on other levels as well)

 

“Learners work in groups of four or five and use the day’s news to create a scavenger hunt of questions that can be answered by reading articles, looking at headings and examining captions below pictures. 

 

“The learners create a variety of question types, including true/false, fill-in-the-blank and multiple choice. The students then switch their newspaper sections or website and scavenger hunt questions to another group and all groups work to find the answers! 

 

[EVEN MORE ADVANCED IDEA]: Groups are challenged to create bonus questions that must involve inferring in order to answer the question.] - Janet Acerra, Forest Lakes Elementary School, Pinellas County

 

WHO IS NOTABLE FROM MY NEIGHBORHOOD?

• Find a picture of a notable person from your area besides a sports figure. 

• What job does he or she do?

• Do you admire him or her? Why or why not?

​

YOU ARE THE MAGICIAN 

Imagine you are a magician who can make a newspaper report about a bad situation into a newspaper report that is good.

1. Search through the newspaper or news site and find a story that reports some bad or sad news.

2. Cut out the article and paste in on a piece of paper or save the url. 

3. Then retell the story into a one with a positive outcome. For example, imagine that an individual or group carries out an act of kindness that converts the situation into something good. Make sure your version includes the core information of a news story: the five W’s: Who, What, Where, When, Why.

 

GOOD AND BAD NEWS

In the news there is a lot of sad news but also stories about happy and funny things. Assignment: Make your own newspaper page with happy and sad news.  Look for photographs, articles and advertisements. If using a print newspaper, cut them out and put them together like a newspaper page. Indicate beneath each item if this is happy or sad news. If you are looking online, draw a picture for each story. Think of a title for your newspaper page.

 

GIVING A TALK

You must go to another county and give a talk about the area that you come from (your county, city, town, etc.). Cut out or reproduce on your powerpoint a photograph, an article and an advertisement that you are going to use during your speech. These items will have to say something about your area, therefore. Put them into your presentation (remember to note the source!) or cut them out and paste them on a new sheet of paper. Explain your choice. Think about how you could do this same activity using news from online.

 

MIDDLE SCHOOL

PRINT AND DIGITAL

 

SIMPLY READING NEWS IN PRINT

“At our school, we block out time each day for “Drop Everything and Read.” My students love grabbing the newspaper to read the comics or sports or even to do the crossword puzzle or check their horoscopes! When my students encountered the word zodiac in a fictional piece they were reading, I was able to have a teachable moment about the meaning of the word zodiac. My students learned their zodiac signs, and we read each other’s horoscopes and discovered traits that they share with each other and myself. They were excited for the knowledge they gained while simultaneously connecting as a community of learners. -- Audra Lewis, Young Middle Magnet School, Hillsborough County

  

REAL LIFE LANGUAGE

“Over the course of one week, students found articles in the news that demonstrate the language skills they were studying: determining an author's purpose in a text; analyzing cause and effect; summarizing a current event; and learning new vocabulary. Students then created presentations in a variety of formats, including PowerPoints, video skits, booklets and posters, to present to the class. This project fostered inquiry and required reading to research the skills we learned. - Susan Terry, Carwise Middle School, Pinellas County

 

PEER TEACHING

“One way I use the news for a peer teaching lesson project. Each student is given a copy of the printed newspaper [or they look at the day’s news feed]. They pick an interesting article and use it to teach a literary standard from the chart in our room. Students have taught vocabulary, content clues, cause and effect, inference, central idea, sequence of events, trace and evaluate the argument pros and cons. When students present their lessons, they have to be able to evaluate the learning by asking questions at the end or by highlighting the information in the text. - Susan Terry, Carwise Middle School, Pinellas County

 

THE US CONSTITUTION AND REAL LIFE - This can be adapted for other countries’ core documents or the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

“The news allows us to take civics concepts and turn them into real, picturable events. For example, I use the [day’s news feed (print or digital)] to help teach the purposes of government from the U.S. Preamble of the Constitution. Students have to find articles relating to each of the six purposes of government and describe why that article deals with that specific purpose. The goal of this activity is for the students to see how the purposes of government actually function. This activity takes about one to two days to prepare for (teaching the Preamble, identifying the meaning of the words, and explaining how to interact with the newspaper) and about 45 minutes for the students to complete. - Donald Whitaker, Inverness Middle School, Citrus County

 

“I use the newspaper (print and e-Edition) to find articles that pertain to constitutional rights. I may ask the kids to read the article independently and identify words that may be new to them. We then discuss and define the terms together. Sometimes, I assign "GIMME 5" (find 5 facts and 5 opinions in the article). For group work, the students read the article, identify the constitutional right(s) in question, summarize the article and create a different headline. I also use the letters to the editor and the political cartoons in the editorial section when I teach about how congress works. Eventually, my students write a letter to congress and create their own unique political cartoon. - Helen Tait, Countryside High School, Pinellas County

 

 

SECONDARY SCHOOL

PRINT AND DIGITAL

 

GOOD NEWS 

“Students search for different positive news. For example: 1) Find an article about people helping others; 2) Find an article where a community was involved in a project; 3) Find an article where a student was recognized for something positive. I want the students to understand that there are a lot of positive things that happen every week even though front page news is often negative. It helps them to understand what others are doing for their communities – and maybe inspire them to do more in their own. - Sam Harmon, Hudson High School, Pasco County

 

NEWSPAPER DELIVERY 

“I teach a career class where my lower-level English as a second language students to "work" for the newspaper delivering print editions to the teachers that have ordered them. The newspaper delivery allows us the opportunity to work with my class on organization, teamwork and math. The kids work in groups where they organize and count papers for their routes. The kids then deliver the newspapers to the teachers while practicing being customer friendly and professional. - Kevin Harris, Dixie Hollins High School, Pinellas County

 

EMOJI TRANSLATION

“A fun way to take a break from the typical reading comprehension lesson is to choose an article from the news, have your students all read it and then summarize it by only using emojis. You can project all the answers at once so students can see what others came up with by using spiral.ac. - Thomasine Kennedy, Crystal River High School, Citrus County

 

RHETORIC

“Using editorials [and other commentary] provides a great way to teach effective use of rhetorical devices. After teaching students rhetorical devices, read an editorial together in class. Determine the writer’s point of view and identify evidence to support your answer. Then identify the rhetorical devices employed by the writer and evaluate their effectiveness. If no rhetorical devices were used, write one that could be added to the editorial to strengthen it. - Thomasine Kennedy, Crystal River High School, Citrus County

 

IT'S POETRY

“Students  “write” blackout poems that sum up the article or that express the student’s feeling about what they have read. First, ask students to skim articles looking for words or phrases that strike a chord with them. They should circle [or otherwise note] those words and phrases. If using a print edition, they can black out all the other words until all that is left behind are the circled words which sum up the story or express how the student felt. - Thomasine Kennedy, Crystal River High School, Citrus Count

 

“Have students create Headline Poems from print editions: Skim for headlines that interest you. Look for a number of headlines that could be developed into a theme or topic. For example: politics, crime, romance, natural disaster, the environment, etc. Then, decide on a theme or topic and, cut out approximately 10 to 15 headlines for that topic. These cut-out headlines will be phrasal, not single words or letters and they do not need to be complete sentences. You will be re-purposing authentic materials into a poetic framework. Next, arrange the headlines in an order that makes sense or states a message and glue them on a piece of paper. You do not have to use all of the headlines, but your poem should be a minimum of 6 lines. Finally, title your poem. - Virginia Oliva, Largo High School, Pinellas County

​

LEARNING FROM THE PAST

“I challenge students to find examples in the news of problems that may have been avoided with a better knowledge of history. Students had to choose an article about a current event and an explanation of how it connects to a part of history they have been learning about. I also post historical newspaper stories on my classroom walls (such as when women won the right to vote, Pearl Harbor, etc.) and my students suggest what current ones I should keep for the future, which shows me that they understand that they are living through history. - Sarah Hastings, Alonso High School, Hillsborough County

 

 A WAY WITH PICTURES

“My favorite way to use the printed newspaper in all my classes is a unit I call "Every Picture Tells a Story." This unit encourages creativity and thinking. Over a period of several weeks, I cut out about 25 photos from the newspaper and remove the captions. Each student chooses a photo and writes about what he or she thinks is happening in it. I encourage the use of dialogue and imagery. Later, I hang up the pictures with the corresponding captions and they have a chance to see what the real story was! - Tracey Keim, St. Petersburg High School, Pinellas County

 

COMMUNITY

In one lesson, I use a week's worth of the newspaper to introduce the word "community" for a problem-solving paper. The students work in groups to identify problems in a community in order to understand the many meanings of the word community: it can be your school, church, family, country or even a group which you are a member of. I introduce this unit by going through the news feed and showing different problems here and around the world. Then we talk about who is affected: children, adults, a neighborhood, a group, etc. We use the newspaper to identify types of communities, then each student identifies a problem within the community of their choice that is a current event. They then work on cause-and effect papers, ultimately offering a solution. They are assessed by participation and thoughtful writing to a rubric. - Tracey Keim, St. Petersburg High School, Pinellas County

 

HELPING WITH SPEECH

“As a Speech Language Pathologist, I use the newspaper to teach use of context clues, compare and contrast, defining vocabulary, and writing skills to 9-12 grade students who have language impairments. I make current events, news and newspapers relevant by connecting stories to students’ lives by first asking questions about their knowledge and experiences related to the topics, which allows for a great transition into an article related to the topic of discussion. I also make articles relevant by showing YouTube videos about the topic to give students a visual image about the subject we are discussing. All of my students benefit from auditory as well as visual imagery to improve comprehension. The newspaper is a “one stop shop” to teach grade level vocabulary and text and also infuse knowledge of current events! - Dr. Brenda Curtwright, Anclote and Gulf High Schools, Pasco County

 

FAHRENHEIT 451

“Each year, I use the newspaper as a resource when teaching Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury created a futuristic society plagued with war, technology and violence.  This society does not value education, and books are illegal. Some of the themes we discuss are war, reliance upon and obsession with technology, human desensitization, education and face-to-face communication. The news is a crucial part of our discussion and research. Many times, high school students wonder "What does this lesson have to do with my life?" or "When will I ever use this information?" This is where we to look to the news feed or newspaper to answer these questions. As the students investigate the themes in the novel, we discuss how these themes may be present in our society today. The students use the newspaper  to investigate and present real-world instances which parallel the themes in the novel through their own individual research. Some of the discoveries are eye-opening to all of us. - Dr. Tiffany Southwell, Steinbrenner High School, Hillsborough County

 

STATISTICS

“I use the newspaper on an ongoing basis in my statistics class. I link a topic/standard to an article from the news. Students must read the article, summarize it and describe its statistical significance. Is the information statistically sound? Students must also describe what the article infers and/or hypothesize on how readers will respond to the article. Statistics are everywhere, and I use the news to validate my point. For example, statistics are used in marketing strategies, developing plays for sports, deciding where to put energy substations, and determining the success of companies and programs. My students tell me that when they hear someone say, "15% of our readers," or "65% of American voters," they now look to read the details with specific statistical questions in mind instead of just taking the word of the person reporting the data. - Patrice Brown, East Bay High School, Hillsborough County

 

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE

“I use the news each week in my environmental science classes in order to incorporate current events pertaining to the environment, such as sustainability, human impacts on our environments and economic issues related to the environment. We use the news to do research and to do think-pair-shares, read alouds, presentations and posters, and debates. We also do hands-on activities with the news. For example, I have my students create children's books inspired by newspaper articles. Students collect information, write a short story about the information and illustrate the book with newspaper photos and/or original drawings. - Rachel Kingdom, Central High School, Hernando County

 

HEADLINES

“I use the headlines in the news to practice elaborative techniques. I give students only the headline and a picture or graphic from the article and ask them to write their reaction with a specific word count. Giving them limited information helps them brainstorm various possibilities of what could actually be in the article. The students enjoy it, especially when I reveal the remainder of the article. - Elizabeth Balcombe, Clearwater High School, Pinellas County

 

“Besides vocabulary, my favorite way to use the newspaper is to analyze headlines. The headline, subtitle and even the captions assist with understanding the text. Students search through the newspaper to find attention grabbing beginnings. Then, we will rewrite the attention grabber ourselves. If I am able to find another article written about the same topic, I will share the two headlines and it will be a Who Said It Best? discussion. It's great to further compare the articles, too. - Marci Williams, Wiregrass Ranch High School, Pasco County

​

​

Are you doing something

that someone else should try? 

​

Send us the details at info@youthandnewsmedia.net​