Making a classroom newspaper

CREATING A CLASSROOM NEWSPAPER
Co-sponsored by the American Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation and the International Reading Association

To the Teacher
Join us for NIE Week Celebrate Newspaper in Education Week with an adventure that will help your students become aware of the world around them, make decisions, plan with their classmates and become producers as well as consumers ofthe written word. NIE Week will transform students into news readers…news gatherers…and news writers. Creating a Classroom Newspaper enables you to combine reading and writing activities every day during NIE Week. The week’s lessons culminate with student production of a classroom newspaper. From kindergarten to high school, students will become newspaper publishers. Newspaper in Education Weekis sponsored at the national level by the American Newspaper Publishers Association Foundation and the International Reading Association. The week is celebrated by classroom teachers in the United States and around the world. NIE programs are offered by more than 700 newspapers in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The goal of Newspaper In Education is tointroduce educators to the use of the newspaper as a powerful and cost-effective instructional tool. Newspapers are being used by thousands of teachers to improve students’ reading skills, to extend knowledge in the content areas and to enhance thinking skills. The newspaper provides opportunities for students to see writing and reading connections. It bridges the gap between school-sponsoredwriting and writing in the real world. Rational for Creating a Classroom Newspaper The activities in Creating a Classroom Newspaper are based on current research findings in reading and writing. Students who understand the structure of the text they are using, read with more understanding. Newspaper text structure is predictable. It is concise and well written. It can become a model for studentwriting. Students who write, read. Newspaper in Education activities help students practice skills they learn in language arts programs. Newspaper activities provide many opportunities for students to collaborate with the classmates. Students working together to achieve a common goal develop social skills as they learn to accept and appreciate differences in others. Here are some pointers to help makeyour NIE Week program more meaningful: • Allow time for free reading of the newspaper every day • Instruct students in the use of writing folders to store and organize their newspaper writing activities • Collect examples of styles of newspaper writing • Refer to the writing styles and genre of the newspaper frequently in your teaching • Read interesting news stories to your students every day •Talk with your students about the news: follow one story for several days with them • Use the newspaper as a stimulus for stories your students write • Invite newspaper personnel to visit the school and talk to your students 1

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Acquaint students with the use of journals so that writing becomes a part of the classroom routine Provide a safe, predictable environment where students canwrite every day Newspapers can be used as an integral part of the instructional program throughout the year, not only during NIE Week.

Organization of the Lessons This guide is designed for five days of instruction. It allows your class to practice, prepare and create its own newspaper. Each day’s work has been organized with a teacher’s lesson plan, student worksheets labeled Reporter’s Notebookand ideas for additional activities call “On Assignment.” These components are described below: • Teacher’s lesson plan Each lesson introduces the teacher to the newspaper element to be studied. Student objectives are stated next, followed by a list of pre-organizing strategies. Next, learning activities outline steps to help students learn about newspaper writing or design. The final section...