Posted on: Thursday, March 3, 2005
Newspapers educational on many levels
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer
Current events and art projects aren't the only uses for newspapers in the classroom.
At Island Pacific Academy in Kapolei, Liz Riviere uses the newspaper daily to help her fifth-grade students learn about things happening around the world. Along the way, they learn how to pick out the main points of an article and paraphrase it, as well as strengthen their oral and written communication skills.
Each day, a class member shares an international, national, local or inspirational story with the class, summarizing the "who, what, where, when, why and how" and answering questions from fellow students.
"We study a lot of U.S. history, and I want them to be involved in the present-day aspect of the news," Riviere said.
The students also have taken field trips to The Honolulu Advertiser's Kapi'olani Boulevard newsroom and Kapolei printing press.
"I wanted to have them see how we get the news and what the background of the newspaper is, and they really enjoyed both tours," Riviere said.
With Monday marking the beginning of Newspaper in Education Week 2005, teachers might want to think of other creative ways to incorporate the newspaper in the classroom. The NIE program provides tips about how to expose students to current events, community issues, geography, technology, history, art and more.
For example, students can use the weather map to determine latitude and longitude, rewrite headlines into complete sentences, practice math skills by doubling or tripling recipes or use the statistics in the sports section to create graphs.
For more information about The Advertiser's Newspaper in Education program, visit www.honoluluadvertiser.com/subscribe/nie.html.
Reach Treena Shapiro at 525-8014 or tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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| TIPS FOR USING THE NEWSPAPER IN CLASS
With the Hawai'i State Assessment test just around the corner, teachers can help students prepare by taking advantage of the range of content in the newspaper. Comprehension process Assessment tests will ask students to respond to literature, informational and functional pieces. Use the newspaper to teach students strategies within the reading process to construct meaning. One reading strategy: S = Survey, preview, skim and scan. Look at the whole: headline, picture, caption Q = Question. Turn the headline into a question by adding the word "because." R = Read. R = Recite, retell, review. Retelling and summarizing are bridges to comprehension. Sample question: Write a one- to three-word headline for each of the four paragraphs. Response Help students respond to texts from a range of stances: Initial understanding: Summarize this story. What is the main idea? What is the point? Developing interpretations: What do you think it means? Students need to synthesize and analyze. Critical stance: What are the pros and cons of that decision? Sample question: How do you feel about that? Why? Do you think this was a good article? Vocabulary words Students will apply knowledge of the conventions of language and tests to construct meaning. Help students apply knowledge of suffixes, prefixes and word parts as meaningful cues to words. Sample question: In this story, _______ means ... Source: The Honolulu Advertiser Newspaper in Education Department |
