Exploring Journalism with Students
from NCTE INBOX 5-28-08

On June 1, 1980, CNN debuted as the first television news network. Take advantage of the anniversary to explore journalism activities in the classroom.

Elementary students can explore and write op-ed pieces, using the resources in the Language Arts article "Exploring Inquiry as a Teaching Stance in the Writing Workshop" (E). The article includes a "snapshot" of a fifth-grade writing workshop and its study of op-ed writing to show inquiry in action. Remember that these pieces are not limited to print publications. Local television stations and radio stations offer "talk back" options.

If you work with middle level students, try writing letters to the editor using ideas from the Voices from the Middle article "Going Public: Letters to the World" (M), which includes criteria for effective letters and an exploration of how student writing benefits from writing for a public audience. Try a similar project with secondary students with the ReadWriteThink lesson Persuading an Audience: Writing Effective Letters to the Editor (S). Don't limit the letters to print publications. Check cable and network news websites for ways to submit students' letters to the news programs.

Whether you're advising an extracurricular newspaper or working on a class newspaper project, the English Journal article "So You've Been Asked to Advise a Student Publication" (S) outlines the structures students can use for learning to find, research, develop, respond to, and reflect on story ideas.

The Teaching English in the Two-Year College article "Using Journalism Writing to Improve College Composition" (C) explores news gathering and news writing techniques common to feature writing and outlines a profile writing project. Students might then film YouTube videos of their news stories or post blog entries on the latest information.