Julie Tiedens
ASNE Reynolds HSJ Institute
July 2011

Lesson Plan Assignment

District Background

The School District of Black River Falls serves the Black River Falls, Hixton, Hatfield and Millston areas in Jackson County, primarily. The district also covers small areas of Clark and Monroe counties.

Major employers in the area are the Ho Chunk Nation, Millis Transfer, the School District of Black River Falls, Lunda Construction, the Department of Corrections, Black River Memorial Hospital, Leeson, Jackson County, Walmart and Flying J.

Jackson County’s per capital personal income was 80 percent of the statewide average in 2009; it was 95% of the non-metropolitan statewide average in the same year. A study by the Department of Workforce Development noted that this is in part due to a higher than average number of persons receiving Medicare/Medicaid, Social Security benefits and public assistance. This in turn is due to a higher than average concentration of older residents.

The School District of Black River Falls is the largest district in Jackson County. We operate three elementary schools, a middle school and a four-year high school.

1,800 students were enrolled during the 2010-11 school year. Black River Falls high school serves roughly 550 students. Seventy-seven percent of the student body identify themselves as Caucasian while 19% identify as Native American. There are also smaller numbers of Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander and African American students.12.6 percent of our students are classified as disabled. District-wide, 46% of students qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The district employs 279 people. District-wide, 71% of staff live in district; breaking that grouping down further, 81% of support staff live in-district while 55% of non-represented and 64% of teachers live in-district.

Curriculum Context

The journalism classes at Black River Falls High School are delivered to 10-12 grade students. Writing 1, the first level, is also a production class for the newspaper, yearbook and a new broadcast program. It is staffed with all first-year publications students. The focus of Writing 1 is to give students the basics in the First Amendment, legal and ethical issues surrounding journalism, journalistic writing, photography and video.

Writing 2 is available to all second and third-year students. Writing 2 students are usually editors and manage the activities of the student publications.

Lesson Plan One

The Institute session(s) source as relevant: Cindy Royal: Trends in Online Media

Key theme

Inspiration Overload: Using Tools to Manage Media and Localize Stories

Overview and rationale for unit (a paragraph)

The internet is a big place, and the flow of information is endless…and overwhelming. Instead of turning off the flow of unchecked information, students will learn to use tools to manage news feeds and use them for inspiration.

Goals for understanding (Common Core):

CC.K-12.W.R.9 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

CC.K-12.W.R.8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

CC.11-12.R.I.7 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CC.11-12.W.4 Production and Distribution of Writing: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Essential Questions: Focus of the topic, what is most important to understand, short, open-ended, the question to which this material is the answer (e.g, What is censorship? What makes news?)

·  What is an RSS reader?

·  How is an RSS reader used?

·  What is localization?

Critical Engagement Questions: Focus of the unit, smaller piece of topic, more specific, connects students to essential question (e.g., GT: The news; EQ: What makes news?; CEQ: What criteria are used to determine the news?)

·  How can reading a variety of news make me a better journalist?

·  Which available sources are best suited to me, my beat and my audience?

·  How can I localize interesting, relevant issues?

Activities (Performances of understanding):

Day 1:

  1. After logging into their school Google accounts, students will locate Google Reader (http://www.google.com)
  1. Students will then locate 10-15 news outlets, including newspapers, magazines, blogs and twitter accounts that pertain to their beats or that could serve as inspiration for their own writing.
  1. Upon finding each source, the students will add the site’s RSS feed to their Google Reader account.
  1. Students will brainstorm a list of people, places and events that frequently appear on their beats (ie, quarterback’s name for a football reporter, etc.).
  1. Using that list of keywords, students will add a Google Alert (http://www.google.com/alerts) for each keyword

Day 2:

  1. After monitoring the reader feeds added for 24 hours, students will choose 2-3 stories they find interesting. These stories should have the potential to affect people locally.
  1. In a group of 3-4, students will discuss stories and find 2-3 local angles and sources for each topic.
  1. Students will choose one or two of the best story ideas, present the article that inspired it and describe the local angle(s) and sources.

Assessment

Students will submit 2-3 story ideas with local angles and a list of possible sources. This will be graded as follows:

3 Two or more story ideas submitted. Each has a local angle that is interesting and relevant; the story idea passes the “who cares” test. Each story has three or more possible sources identified. Sources could be considered experts or could speak knowledgeably about the topic.

2 Two or more story ideas submitted. Each has a local angle, but one or more angles could be more interesting or relevant. Each story has two or more possible sources identified. Sources could speak knowledgeably about the topic.

1 Only one story idea submitted. The story or stories may be lacking a local angle. Too few or no sources were identified. Sources may not be able to speak knowledgeably about the topic.

Recommended readings and sources

Google Alerts Guide

Google Reader Getting Started Guide

Contact

Julie Tiedens, Black River Falls High School,


Lesson Plan Two

The Institute session(s) source as relevant: Cindy Royal: Trends in Online Media

Key theme

Using Social Networks to Engage Readers

Overview and rationale for unit (a paragraph)

When a student newspaper is online, it’s important to keep promoting the paper to your audience. One way to do this is with social networking.

Goals for understanding (Common Core):

CC.K-12.W.R.8 Research to Build and Present Knowledge: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

CC.11-12.R.I.7 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas: Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in different media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively) as well as in words in order to address a question or solve a problem.

CC.11-12.W.4 Production and Distribution of Writing: Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.

Essential Questions: Focus of the topic, what is most important to understand, short, open-ended, the question to which this material is the answer (e.g, What is censorship? What makes news?)

·  What is social networking?

·  What is social media?

·  How do journalists use social networking to connect with their audience?

Critical Engagement Questions: Focus of the unit, smaller piece of topic, more specific, connects students to essential question (e.g., GT: The news; EQ: What makes news?; CEQ: What criteria are used to determine the news?)

·  How can we be more effective as we engage our audience on social media sites?

·  How can I create more traffic to our site and more interaction at our site?

Activities (Performances of understanding):

  1. After displaying and discussing four different post types, students will practice writing a update for their most recent story in each different type: asking a question/seeking user input, call to read/take a closer look, personal reflections/behind-the-scenes, or posts with catchy/clever language.
  2. Students will choose their favorites and share them among a small group of 3-4.
  3. Students will then choose one of their updates and post it on their own Facebook pages. They will also be prepared to report back the results of their updates.

Assessment

Students will submit the text of their update as well as a screen capture of their status update 12-24 hours after it was posted. With this, they must write a one to two-paragraph reflection of what they’ve learned and how they can use it in the future.

Recommended readings and sources

How People are Engaging Journalists on Facebook and Best Practices

Contact

Julie Tiedens, Black River Falls High School,