Preparation:

Begin by ordering copies of a daily newspaper for the classroom. For less than the cost of a single textbook, newspapers can be delivered to your school. In most communities, the newspapers will be dropped at the front door of the school, ready to be picked up when you arrive in the morning.

This project works best with a ratio of no more than 3 students per single newspaper. Sections of the newspaper, such as sports, lifestyle and entertainment, can be divided among the students, but the focus of many of the activities in this unit are on the news pages – the front section.

Before distributing the newspapers it’s a good idea to remove any advertising flyers. The ads can be too distracting when you want students to focus on the news of the day. Tuck the ads away and save them for a math lesson.

This unit begins with reading and understanding what a newspaper is all about. It’s important to build awareness of the content of a news story before assigning any writing. For some of your students, this will be the first time they will read a newspaper.

How to Use this Lesson Planner:

The lessons in this media literacy unit are designed around Language Arts curriculum expectations for Intermediate grades.

Preparation time has been kept to a minimum, so teachers can focus their energy on students, not on paperwork. The culminating activity is the design of a front page, with all stories, photographs and headlines written by the student. If you’re pressed for time, you may not get to the final activity. No matter. This unit allows you to choose where and when to wrap up without compromising the integrity of the lessons.

Each individual lesson includes a suggested time period, a materials list and step-by-step instructions. Some lessons also include suggestions for cross-curricular activities to help you make the most of instructional time.

Highlighted titles indicate that a lesson has a student handout ready for copying. Rubrics and other marking schemes are provided.