Day 1 What is News? lesson

Prepared by: Jami Williams, Mexico High School, Mexico, Missouri

TARGET
Students will identify and define the eight news values

EDUCATION METHODS

1. Brief lecture/PowerPoint presentation
2. Technology enrichment: Vine Vocabulary

OBJECTIVES

1. Level 1 (Basic) understanding of the eight news values

MATERIALS NEEDED

1. PowerPoint labeled What is News Day 1
2. Smartphone (1 per group of three students; student should have access to or should be able to download the Vine application)

VERIFICATION

Steps to check for student understanding

1. Teacher will do frequent comprehension checks in the form of Classroom Assessment Techniques (thumbs up, thumbs down; exit slip in the form of post-it note summary)
2. Formative assessment will be in the form of a student-created vine string tagged with the teacher-generated tag.

FLOW OF LESSON

1. Suggested bell ringer: What is the most important story in the news right now? (Do not specify any of the values that you will be teaching… allow the students the opportunity to share their honest feelings.)
2. Sharing of the bell-ringer with shoulder partner; each pair should make the decision as to what they will present to the class as the most important news story in their opinion
3. Teacher will listen and evaluate the stories, noting the merits (according to the eight news values that are relative)
4. Teacher will begin lecture notes included with PowerPoint presentation; students will be expected to take notes in the accepted manner that the teacher prefers.
5. After presentation, teacher should refer back to each students news story and ask them to explore the eight values of news that were represented with their story and share them with the class.
6. In order to reinforce the knowledge and committing to memory of the eight news values, students will participate in the following activity.

TECHNOLOGY REINFORCEMENT ACTIVITY – VINE VOCABULARY

1. Students will be split into groups of three.
2. Each group should have one student who has a smartphone or tablet device with the Vine app downloaded and ready to use.
3. Students will be given a list of the eight news values.
4. Each group must create a Vine video that gives a VISUAL representation along with a NO MORE THAN THREE SPOKEN WORD definition of the eight news values, one value at a time.
5. Students should take turns filming and acting out.
6. An example might be as follows: for IMPACT one student pretends to punch the other in the stomach and says the words “HITS HARD” and then introduces the word by stating “IMPACT.”
7. The teacher should create a common hashtag or @ address for the students to share.
8. The teacher can share the stream with the students and allow the students to talk about the definitions and their perspectives on the importance of the values.

ALTERNATIVE ACTIVITY

1. Students will be split into groups of three.
2. Students will be given a list of the eight news values.
3. Each group must create a short skit that gives a VISUAL representation along with a NO MORE THAN THREE SPOKEN WORD definition of the eight news values, one value at a time.

4. Students should take turns acting out.
5. An example might be as follows: for IMPACT one student pretends to punch the other in the stomach and says the words “HITS HARD” and then introduces the word by stating “IMPACT.”

6. When each group presents their skit to the class, the teacher can allow the students to talk about the definitions and their perspectives on the importance of the values.

WRAPPING IT UP

1. Exit slip: Which of the eight news values do you think is most important and why?