Sgi Journalism Proposal Revision

Jesse McLean Alexis Bunka Sandi Stupica Jeremy Whiting

SGI Journalism Proposal Rationale: For our small inquiry group we are focusing on Journalism, and within that the balance teachers need to make to educate their students in the subject but also give them the experience of creating their own production (whether it is a newspaper, yearbook or news show). One consideration for how to develop a balance between instruction and production in the journalism classroom is multiple learning diversities. Due to a large range of visual and writing capabilities, journalism instructors must find a way to implement students’ creative abilities. Thus, one question we have asked ourselves is “How do teachers acclimate diverse learners into the field of journalism?” It is the group’s goal to research this in-depth through interviews and other resources. For our project we propose to hold a lesson to show some of what we have learned, as well as pass this along information to our peers.

Objectives: We want our peers to understand explore production in a classroom and the ties between English and Journalism instruction and production techniques. We also want them to get a sense of what current journalism teachers are saying and doing in their own classrooms to reach diverse learners. Lastly,commay we want to show that how limited instruction and incorporating journalism (production?)production can help diverse learners. Tasks: We are going to split the class into groups of 3 or 4 people per group. We’ll have each group look at a piece of Romeo & Juliet and have them create a pseudo-front page regarding the part of the play they are focusing on (some options may be to cover the start of the play, mid-coverage, or the end – after the tragedy occurs). We’ll have them place a photo within the page. They will be writing a story as well as placing stories on the page based on newsworthiness. Before class our peers will receive an e-mail explaining the basics of journalism writing, layout and newsworthiness to help out with our lesson. Break down of lesson: Presentation:

Introduction (5 8 mins): Introduce the idea of journalistic writing (maybe pointing out the differences from standard “English” writing?) as well as newsworthiness for use in the upcoming activity.

Introduction to Activity (3 mins): have students split up into groups of ¾3 or 4people and choose a photo before we introduce the topic and explain the lesson. Activity (20 mins): Have peers write a pseudo R & J story (placed in the middle, end, or beginning of the play) and place a photo for their story. They will also place two other stories that we supply on the front page of a newspaper in order of newsworthiness. Summary (5 mins): Ask peers how they felt they could relate journalism and production to English. Ask how this would connect to diverse learners. Show clips of advisers displaying their love for journalism and how they run their classroom with diverse learners. Assessment: We can confirm that the students learned the objectives depending how they completed the assignment and through the dialogic discussion. Regarding the activity, the root of it is to realize that this is one way to allow their future class to analyze and interpret rather than simply “fill-in-the-blanks.” Juliet and Romeo did not just go to a masked ball, fall in love, etc. Rather, students should analyze and interpret the events of the play, and relate them to readers in a way that is clear, concise and accurate. Therefore, the activity can help make the play come “alive” with quotes and specific details. Not only does the story come alive through words, but also through the use of organization and photographs. It is our hope that the class hones these journalistic tools, as well as observes that the combination of these things can be used as a powerful learning tool to appeal to diverse learners. Our group can assess that this point is clearly conveyed during the dialogic discussion. Students have a wide range of writing and visual capabilities, and journalistic writing can grab certain groups’ attention with the demand to critically think as they tell the story of Romeo and Juliet. If the class can observe that these characteristics of journalism can be paralleled with which English classes teach, then the objective was met.

References: Pam Bunka – Fenton High School Roger Smith – Lake Orion High School Lydia Cadena – Novi High School

Questions for our Peers:  Can you see a connection between English and journalism?  Would this be something you could use in your classroom?  Are there journalism writing techniques you wouldn't want your students to practice in an English classroom?