Newspaper+Reading+and+Creation-+Carolyna+Vasquez

//“Before flying out the door, a reporter should consider the range of his story, its central message, the approach that appears to best fit the tale, and even the tone he should take as a storyteller."- William Blundell //

__1. Why is media literacy important to teach?toc__
According to the Ontario Curriculum Grade 9-10 English, there are four overall expectations for students within Media Studies and they are (p. 52) :
 * Understanding Media Texts: students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of different types of media text
 * Understanding Media Forms, Conventions, and Techniques: student will be able to distinguish between media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques are connected to them to create meaning
 * Creating Media Texts: students will be able to create mixture of media text for several audiences and purposes using media forms, conventions and techniques
 * Reflecting on Skills and Strategies: students, as interpreters and creators, will be able to reflect and recognize their weakness and strengths and develop strategies they find helpful in understanding and creating media text

As educators, it’s important to examine how different types of medium work and how each one is shaped differently to convey a message to a targeted audience. To carefully examine and critique the media, students should ask: 1. Who created the message? 2. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? 3. How might different people understand this message differently than me? 4. What values, lifestyle and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? 5. Why is the message being sent? media type="youtube" key="wtJmbuE2qOs?fs=1" height="307" width="384" align="center"

__2. Qualities of Good Writing__
There are criteria for Newsworthiness :
 * Timeliness- Is it a recent development
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Proximity- Is the story relevant to local readers?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Conflict- Is the issue developing, has it been resolved?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Eminence and Prominence- Are noteworthy people involved?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Consequence and Impact- What effect will the story have on the readers?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Human Interest-Does it contain unique, interesting elements?

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__3. Robert Gunning: Ten Principle of Clear Writing__
<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Gunning is a former consultant for more than 100 newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal or the United Press International. He suggests that there are 10 priniciples that a writer should consider when writing :
 * 1) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Keep sentences short
 * 2) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Prefer the simple to the complex
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Prefer the familiar word
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Avoid unnecessary words
 * 5) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Put action into your verbs
 * 6) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Write the way you talk
 * 7) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Use terms your reader can picture
 * 8) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tie in with you reader's experience
 * 9) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Make full use of variey
 * 10) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Write to express, not to impress.

//"Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a sociey strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon...The secret of good writing is to strip every sentences to its cleanest component"-William Zinsser//

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__4. Summary Lead- Inverted Pyramid__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">﻿ ﻿ The majority of newspapers use the inverted pyramid style because: <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">- it allows writers to start at the end, rather than the beginning <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">- writers can identify and rank the most newsworthy elements of the story <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">- it allows the reader to be informed in just 2-3 paragraphs <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">- it permits for the writer to tell a story in a direct, concise and clear manner

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The lead summarizes the main points of a news sport. While the second paragraph and each succeeding paragraphs contains secondary or supporting information in order of descending significance.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Within the summary lead the writer tell it's readers 6 primary elements, the five W's and H﻿ :


 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What- happened in the event?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Who- the event happened to?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">When-it happened?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Where-did the event occured?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Why-did the event took place?
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How-it happened?

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__5. Assessment: Writer's Checklist__
<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">﻿This questions are great for assessment to make sure students are on track:
 * 1) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is the lead right?- Does the lead provide the most significant points? The 5W's and H?
 * 2) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Does the writing appeal to the reader?- Is it written with direct language?
 * 3) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is there another side to the story?- Is your story bias?
 * 4) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How about sentences?- Are your sentences limited to one complete though?
 * 5) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Have you included quotes?- Is there a human voice?
 * 6) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is there a smooth transitions?- Is the reader able to reader smoothly one idea to the next?
 * 7) <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is your tone?- Is your message clear?


 * Good resource for Assessing Media Literacy:** []

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__6. Teaching Activities__

 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">Title || <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Grade Level ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">News and Newspaper: Across the Curriculum || <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">3-8 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Writing a Newspaper Article || <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">6-9 ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Newspaper Ads || <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">2-6 ||

===<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__7. Digital Age__ <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">media type="youtube" key="-V2e0T2IGuM?fs=1" height="268" width="448" ===

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__8. Glossary__
<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Beat reporter:** Reporter who covers a specific subject area <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Breaking news:** News that is available immediately for publication <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**City editor:** Editor who runs the city desk and is in charge of city-side general assignments <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Closed-ended questions:** Questions that is structured to elicit a short, precise answer. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Code of Ethics:** Guideline for journalists developed by national groups <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Gag order:** Judicial mandate that requires the press to refrain from disseminating specific information or prohibits those associated with the trail to discuss the case with the press. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Hourglass style:** A style of writing in which the major news of a story is reported in the first few paragraphs and then proceeding paragraphs are introduced in a chronology order. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Independent clause:** A clause that makes complete sense when left standing alone. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Journalists' privilege:** Journalists have a priviledge, under certain conditions, not to reveal information seeked by a court or grand jury. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Libel:** Legal offense of publishing a false story that damages a person's reputation by holding him or her up to public ridicule. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Question lead:** Lead that asks a question. The key is to answer the question as quickly as possible in the following paragraph. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Shield Law:** Statutes that allows journalists who are questioned by gran juries or under other circumstances to protect their sources under certain circumstance. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Transition:** Word, phrase, sentence or paragraph that ushers an audience from one area of a story to another.

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__9. Resource__

 * 1) //News Writing and Reporting for Today's Media// by Bruce Itule and Douglas Anderson
 * 2) //The Ontario Curriculum//, Grade 9-10: English by the Ministry of Education
 * 3) //The Canadian Press Stylebook//, 16th Edition, edited by Patti Tasko
 * 4) Media Awarness Network: []
 * 5) []

Inverted Pyramid: [] Writing Skills: [] School Kids: []
 * Pictures used:**

<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__10. In the Press__
<span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">User fees adding to the cost﻿ of Ontario high schoolParentcentral.ca- By: Kristin Rushow, August 31, 2010 <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Excess TV, computer video games linked to poor attention in classroom: studyParentcentral.ca- By: Sheryl Ubelacker, July 6, 2010 <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is iPad the next big toy for toddlers?Parentcentral.ca- By: Nicole Baute, June 17, 2010 <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What every parent needs to know about FacebookParentcentral.ca- By: Nancy J. White, April 30, 2010 <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Interactive whiteboard shakes up teaching: educators New technology is re-energizing the professionThe Ottawa Citizen- By: Matthew Pearson, September 6, 2010 <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif;">JK to Gr. 12: ‘It’s a model that works’The Ottawa Citizen- By: Joanne Laucius, November 30, 2009