NMS 8th graders have short course on newspapers

Newcastle Middle School eighth grade students recently studied a unit on newspapers as part of their English classroom work. Along with the coursework, student Skyeleigh Wood, 13, discussed newspaper journalism with Newcastle Pacer editor Mark Codner in a taped interview.
The interview was later played back during the English classes and used for discussion and newspaper analysis.
“I was delighted when I found out the students at Newcastle Middle School were doing a short unit on newspaper journalism and wanted to interview me,” Codner said. “The newspaper industry has gone through a lot of changes and challenges in recent years, and it’s more important than ever for our young people to know the importance of writing, as well as the need for accuracy and unbiased reporting.”
English Language Arts/Reading teacher Denise Barry had set up the interview, which was recorded by Michael Wilson, seventh grade English/sixth-eighth grade digital media teacher. The interview was played back in Barry’s classroom, and also in the classrooms of English teacher Aubrie Floyd.
Barry said during the students’ coursework, they are introduced to the assignment with a Google slide presentation and notes over newspaper terms. They were then given a copy of the Newcastle Pacer or other area newspaper.
“They looked at each part of the paper, then chose one article to cut out and analyze,” Barry said. “The key items looked for were the headline, the byline, the lead paragraph (the lede), the main body, a quote, an image and caption (cutline). They also summarized the article they chose.”
Barry said the students worked in groups as part of a newspaper team to create their own newspaper. Each student was responsible for selecting two topics, writing interview questions using the five w’s and the h (who, what, why, where, when and how), and then interviewing a teacher, coach, counselor or principal. Then they wrote two articles based on the interview, working with the other members of their group to type their articles on a digital newspaper format created by Wilson.
The students were given a copy of the questions used for the interview between Skyeleigh and Codner, and as they watched, the video interview was stopped several times for discussion.
Some of the questions posed during the interview included: What does the average day look life in the life of a reporter? What are the various jobs available at a newspaper? What types of articles are published and who determines what news is published? What are the different parts of the local paper? And, what is the difference between an editorial and a news article?
“There were many more questions Skyeleigh and I discussed in the interview,” Codner said, “but my favorites included being able to explain the importance of training in ethics, accuracy in reporting, and the importance of keeping opinion out of news writing. I also enjoyed being able to explain that a good community newspaper should be a watchdog of local government and also a reflection of the community — both positive and negative.”
Skyeleigh’s interview is available for viewing online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TN5VwHCFcrs.
Barry said, “This unit provides an opportunity for the students to utilize expository writing in a real world way while allowing them to take pride and ownership in reporting the news in our school.”
She said the interview was an awesome way to make real world connections for the students, especially at this age.
Barry said, “Our students are preparing for high school and starting to think about career opportunities and how they can utilize their interests to help make those decisions.”