Other
Smekens: Integrate Information Across Diverse Media Formats
Read about strategies to help students integrate information across diverse media formats. Includes video. [4:18]
Edutopia
Edutopia: Establishing a Culture of Questioning
This article discusses establishing a culture of questioning. When students consistently ask meaningful questions, they get comfortable taking the risks that lead to learning. SL.11-12.1c Questions/Part
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
U.s. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Guidelines for Oral History Interviews
Speaking to people with firsthand knowledge of an event is an important way to gather information. Use these guidelines to help prepare for an oral history interview.
Other
Medium: Helping Students Ask Better Questions by Creating a Culture of Inquiry
We want to see kids asking tons of questions. This is how students grow into creative, critical thinkers. This article by John Spencer gives multiple ways teachers can foster an environment in which students feel comfortable asking...
Edutopia
Edutopia: Teaching Students How to Ask Productive Questions
This article gives insight into how to improve engagement, comprehension, and critical thinking by teaching students the process of asking insightful questions. Included is a comprehensive, metacognitive framework of questioning skills...
The Washington Post
Washingtonpost: Rewriting the Rules
Washington Post article dealing with ethics and guidelines of journalists reporting hard news. Provides material for debate and discussion. Interesting article.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: Writing About Issues in the Media
For this lesson students analyze media coverage of current issues and present their findings in a formal research paper and class presentation.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Lesson Plan: Effective Interview Questions
Explore effective interview questions. By choosing questions that are open-ended and important to them, students can learn great interview skills that can be helpful in future college and job interviews.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Organizing Information Quick Guide
Organizing information questions ask you to understand and analyze how a passage works to make an argument. What is the progression of ideas in the passage? or What is the purpose of a specific paragraph?
Other
Public Relations Writing: How I Grade a Press Release.
Specialized but useful rubric geared towards examining journalistic style writing. Provides evaluation guidelines that one teacher uses, with a rubric to evaluate.
Other
Newswriting for Radio
Students and writers can get pointers on improving writing skills for newscasts. Click through all the tabs to get the most out of this tutorial. This site also links to other radio journalism websites.
Other
Ten Rhetoric of War Writing Projects
Created by a teacher responding to the events in Kosovo, this list is a great start for a media literacy class project. Good discussion-starting questions are included with each item on the list. Requires some independent research to...
Other
In Time: Evaluating Media for Bias
This site provides a checklist, especially helpful for teachers, that details the way to check media elements to be used in the classroom for biases. This site provides six questions to help evaluate the effectiveness of the media in...
Other
Beginning Reporting: Getting Organized
Here are five quick tips to help you get organized for writing your story, from a professional newspaper reporter.
Other
Beginning Reporting: Story Structure, Three Options
Three structures for newswriting are explained here, along with the strengths and weaknesses of each.
PBS
Pbs News Hour: Vanishing Verbs
Ever noticed how tv news reporting sounds so different from conversation and from academic writing? Explore this topic with your students using the resources and plans at this site. Handouts, discussion questions and vocabulary practice...
Other
Learning Enrichment:reading Skills in the Social Studies
Discussion of the critical reading skills needed in Social Studies, although the skills discussed can apply to a variety of areas. This is part of a larger site containing numerous lesson plans for Social Studies, and this page is really...
Other
School Journalism: Basic Interviewing and Reporting
Need a way to start off your journalism class for the year? This class period unit for High School Journalism can start you off on the right foot.
Other
Frank Baker: Information Literacy Exercise
Using an article from Dateline Hollywood, this lesson explores a media message and examines its content.
Intel Corporation
Showing Evidence Tool: Analyzing and Evaluating Information
If you're looking for a way to engage students in analyzing and evaluating evidence, rather than simply piling up information, this tool may be a boon. Students can use it to construct an argument, rate the quality of resources, and...
Other
Expert click.com: Yearbook of Experts
This site, which is provided for by Expert Click.com, gives an online encyclopedia of sources for journalists and broadcasters.
ClassFlow
Class Flow: Features of a Newspaper
[Free Registration/Login Required] A flipchart that examines the way in which newspapers and articles are constructed. The end of the flipchart focuses specifically on the battle of Glencoe, but the majority of the flipchart has much...
Other
Thinking Skills in Education: Comparing Four Frameworks
An interesting article that discusses various types of thinking skills and why they are important in education.
PBS
Iowa Public Television: Explore More News
Investigate an issue related to genetic engineering, energy, working landscapes or water quality. Write several articles that define the issue, describe the different views on the issue and explain why people should be interested in this...