Madison Public Schools
Journalism
Whether you are teaching a newspaper unit in language arts, covering the First Amendment and censorship in social studies, or focusing on writing ethics in journalism, a unit based on the foundations of journalism would be an excellent...
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The Learning Network: Re-envisioning Classic Stories
Readers reflect on enjoyable stories they know, brainstorm criteria that make a story "good," analyze a New York Times article about innovative children's performances, re-envision classics on their own, and peer edit drafts. Use this as...
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All in a Day's Work
Who is Herman Melville? Read and discuss "Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall-street." Then, discuss the film adaptations of Melville's work and translate a passage of the text into modern-day English. Discussion questions are...
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Hatching Chickens
Students observe chickens hatching in a classroom incubation environment In this egg-hatching lesson plan, students make observations of the hatching process and later care for the hatched chickens.
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Fun With Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Students read the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and listen to the musical tape. Then they make their own coconut trees, adding their own letters. They express and record their favorite parts. All are displayed on a bulletin board.
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Biographical Activity
Students particpate in discussion about biographies in order to become familiar with the term. They type their "Biography" using a word processing program and learn the cut/paste functions to transfer information from their document into...
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Concealed Weapons Law Editorials: A Study of Persuasive Writing
Students research Ohio's concealed gun legislation using provided resource links, read editorials and commentaries from Ohio's daily and weekly newspapers, and analyze these opinion pieces.
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Mannequin
Students participate in an activity designed to stimulate creative thinking, encourage cooperation, and help students get acquainted using newspapers and masking tape. Students must design and create an outfit for a member of their group.
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Now That's News To Me!
Students observe how newspapers help to build a sense of community. They identify the important events and people within their school community and create a newspaper page/section. They choose photographs or clippings to use on their...
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Circles, Squares, Triangles and Rectangles In Our World
Here is an engaging geometry lesson plan which has learners identify the properties of shapes and cut shapes out of magazines. They make cookies using cookie cutters in various shapes.
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Peace Corps Challenge—Solving the Water Quality Issue
Students create a Wanzuzu newspaper. In this Peace Corps lesson, students participate in a discussion regarding water pollution in Wanzuzu. Students conduct further research about the issue and create newspapers that detail the problems...
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Using Details from Text to Identify Author's Purpose
Explore writing techniques by analyzing newspapers and magazines with middle schoolers. They will collaborate in small groups to read local news stories and identify the main ideas and author's intent. They also utilize an information...
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A New Kind of News
Newspapers and broadcast news. Social media, blogs, and blogospheres. Class members generate a list of news sources they use to get information about events. The big idea here is to introduce the necessary vocabulary and to establish a...
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The Dirt on the Workplace
Students examine health and safety issues in the workplace. They, in groups, discuss how health and safety issues effect their lives.
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GROUP NEWSPAPER PRESENTATIONS
Students in groups are to develop their own newspapers while keeping to a World War I outline.
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The Mass Media and Politics
What effect do the prevalence of televisions in homes have on the American political stage? Challenge your students to consider this idea with these ten questions, both true/false and multiple choice. You could use this worksheet as a...
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Physical Activity Can Reduce Your Stress
Identify sources of stress in your students' everyday lives. They are introduced to ways in which they can relieve stress and consider the value of physical activity in overall health.
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The Front Page: Asking Geographic Questions
Students examine how to ask geographic questions. They read an article with details omitted, list possible geographic questions, and write a summary of the article.
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Combining and Rewriting Sentences
Learners practice combining sentences using the conjunction handout provided. They search magazines and newspapers to identify combined sentences that use conjunctions. Finally, these are rewritten again as two separate sentences.
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Fact V. Opinion
Young scholars use statements out of newpapers to distinguish between facts and opinions. They discuss these differences as well.
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Near v. Minnesota
Students discuss what free press means and what it would be like without this right. They read the summary from the Near v. Minnesota case. In groups, they analyze a problem and report to the class.
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Help Wanted: President of the United States
Students consider qualities and United States president should have. In this government lesson, students research the responsibilities of the president and use that information to create an advertisement that describes the job and...
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Career Connections: The Connection Corner
Students will create a career information center. In this careers lesson, students research careers on a local and national level and create a help wanted ad for an occupation of personal interest. Students create a...
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How Does News Influence Stock Prices?
Students examine how economic news and business events can change the price of a stock. They see that the unexpected events that benefit or harm the company in turn move the company's stock price up or down.