I. Introduction
Lights, camera, action!You are the newscasters!It’s your job to report on what’s
going on locally and nationally.You will work with your news team to create a 15
minute “broadcast” to be performed in front of the class.
II.Task
Upon completion of this project, you will have a newscast to perform in front of the
class.You will collect information about the world around you, both locally,
nationally, and internationally.You will read newspapers, magazines, and watch news
broadcasts.Additionally, you will conduct interviews with members of the
community.
III.Process
You will work in teams of four to produce your show.The roles are as follows:
International Reporter, National Reporter, Local Reporter, and Weather Personality.
In alphabetical order of your group members’ last names, assign the roles in the order I
have given.Each person must contribute a story for each category.So there will be
four small international news stories, four small national news stories, and four small
local news stories.The international reporter finds information on big international
weather stories (such as hurricanes or volcanoes).The national reporter finds
information on a national weather story (for example, how a drought is affecting the
wheat or corn belt in the U.S.), and the local reporter finds local weather information.
The weather personality must come up with a forecast for the coming days as well as
report all weather stories.
·First, you will conduct research at school using the Internet, visiting the sites I will sendyou to.
·Second, you will conduct research at home by watching local, national, and
international newscasts.
· Third, you will each conduct one interview with a member of the community regarding your area of expertise.
·Fourth, you will work with your news team to give each reporter all of the information each person has found.
·Finally,
pull it all together and put it into a news show.
IV.Resources
Internet:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids
Text:
Read articles from this week’s classroom copy of Newsweek
Read articles from this week’s local paper
Read articles from this week’s USA Today.
Television
Watch one broadcast NBC local news
Watch one broadcast from ABC national/international news
Watch Dateline, 20/20, or 60 minutes.
Interviews
Interview one community member
V. Evaluation
I will evaluate this exercise based upon how well you know your subjects in your
newscasts.I will grade the entire group the same on the cast because it is your
responsibility to help each other.The whole group contributes to each person’s
individual dialogue.Another grade will be given individually based upon how I see
you working on this project during class time this week, and also on a self evaluation
in which each member evaluates him or her self as well as all of the other members of
the group.
VI.Conclusion
Each student will write something like this:
I completed the newscast with my group which included name, name, and name.
We learned (whatever you learned) about teamwork.We learned (whatever you
learned) about how the news works.I was enriched in this way about the world
that is around
me: (elaborate here).[G1]