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LESSON PLAN

DATE: October 23, 2012. TIME OF DAY: Afternoon DURATION: 45minutes for purpose of observation, but 95 minutes in total (used to commence a unit/class project)

SCHOOL: Orchard Elementary School CYCLE and GRADE: Cycle 2 Grade 4 LESSON: Creation of a Newspaper

FOCUS of LESSON: In this lesson, students will produce a class newspaper. Students will create a newspaper article based on their school community, stemming from what they have been presented with in previous lessons.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this Language Arts lesson is for the students to begin to comprehend media production; furthermore students will begin to become more aware of the various stages and responsibilities of the media and expressing oneself in the public eye. At the end of this lesson, students will be able demonstrate their understanding of media through the creation of their very own newspaper.

MATERIALS

A SmartBoard Newspaper Articles (The Montreal Gazette) An electronic copy of a newspaper Newspaper Template Hand-out of expectations (checklist) Rubric Biased/Unbiased Formal/Informal Headline Journalist Editor Index ______________________________________________________

VOCABULARY

MELS COMPETENCIES

Competency #1: To read and listen to literary, popular and informationbased texts. To construct her/his own view of the world through reading and listening to literary, popular and information-based texts Competency #2: To write self-expressive, narrative and information-based texts. To use writing as a system for communicating and constructing meaning Competency #3: To represent her/her literacy in different media. To follow a production process in order to communicate for specific purposes to a specified audience

Competency #4: To use language to communicate and learn. To interact in collaborative group activities in a variety of role ________________________________________________ CROSSCURRICULAR COMPENTENCIES Competency #1: To use information. To put information to use. To imagine possible uses. To formulate questions. To answer his/her questions using the information

TIME

LESSON Introduction To begin, I will explain that we will be starting a class newspaper project, but in order to do so we must first explore what creating a newspaper entails. I will ask the students to look at the hand-outs they have been given and to explain what explain: o the types of stories covered o how the article is written o the order of the stories presented I will then pull up an electronic copy of a newspaper and ask: o What are we seeing here? o What are the stories we are reading about?

10 minutes

15 minutes

Development Following this I will lead the class in a group discussion about the specifics about what is present in a newspaper. o Do you think that all current events are brought to our attention through newspapers? o What classifies a story as being news worthy or worthy of reporting? o In what way are the stories written? I will explain the words biased/unbiased here. I will also explain the words formal/informal here. o Do you think the way by which those writing about the news appear and speak makes a difference in the news itself and an individuals trust in it? Would the reader have the same feeling toward the newspaper is the author wrote in another manner? o What are some of the other forms of receiving the news? As the discussion is going on I will take notes in the form of a concept map on the Whiteboard. The concepts to be covered include: o topics covered daily in a newspaper o topics covered in this specific newspaper o other forms which the news is brought to our attention o the roles in the creation of a newspaper I will explain the different roles in the newspaper (i.e.: journalist, editor). I will also further explain the different sections of a newspaper (i.e.: headline, cartoon strip, weather, classifieds, etc.). Next, the class will be divided into teams of three or four depending based on the amount of students in their assigned seating arrangements. They are to create a mini newspaper using the given template. o Each team is to plan a newspaper including the elements presented in this lesson. Through their newspapers, the students will address events or issues

10 minutes

30 minutes

TIME

LESSON existing in their community, the Orchard Elementary community that is, (i.e.: first day of classes, the peace assembly, peer mediation, or even the common bee stings occurring on the playground, etc.). o Students are told to grab the readers attention and to do so by making the subject approachable and one of interest. o The students must also come up with an original name for their newspaper. o For this issue, each student will be responsible for editing the groups newspaper, but this will eventually change. In order to monitor the students progress and assess their participation, the newspaper issue will first be edited by the students and then again by the teachers. Closure Finally each group will present their newspaper and the class will vote on which articles will be put in the first issue of the class newspaper. Whats next? (Extension) The continuation of this activity would be quite interesting. After the students are introduced to the initial elements of a newspaper, they will begin to write articles individually which will be voted on once again. Eventually, I intend to convert the work to an online newspaper in order to put emphasis on the importance of the use of technology and to create a newspaper, which is even more relevant to the students and parents alike.

30 minutes

Newspaper Assignment
Youve got it (4) Purpose of Articles Most of your articles establish a very clear purpose in the lead paragraph and demonstrate you had a clear understanding of the topic. Your product shows a large amount of original thought. The ideas are creative and inventive. You discussed ideas with the group regularly and appropriately. You contributed to the discussion and all are listened to respectfully. You made no spelling or grammar errors after one or more people Almost there (3) Most of your articles establish a clear purpose in the lead paragraph and demonstrate you had a clear understanding of the topic. Your product shows some original thought. The work shows some old ideas, but with new insights. You discussed ideas with the group regularly and somewhat appropriately. You contributed to the discussion and are listened to respectfully the majority of the time. You made no more than a couple of spelling or grammar errors after one Getting close (2) Some of your articles establish a clear purpose, but also confuse the reader. You have some understanding of the topic, but were not fully prepared. Your product is appealing, but there is little evidence of original thinking. Take another look (1) None of your articles establish a clear purpose and tend to confuse the reader. You have some understanding of the topic, but were not prepared.

Originality

Your product uses other people's ideas and fails to give credit for such ideas.

Contribution to Teamwork

You discussed ideas with the group, but did not contribute to the discussion much. You listened respectfully some of the time. You made no more than 3 spelling or grammar errors after one or more

You did not take part in the group and spoke off topic some of the time. You listened in somewhat of a respectful manner.

Grammar and Spelling

You made several spelling or grammar errors even after the newspaper had been edited.

read and edited the newspaper.

or more people read and edited the newspaper.

read and edited the newspaper.

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