Brief Description

The students asked for a sponsor who would help them create a school newspaper, format it, and create an e-version that has a link on the REACH website.  They want to begin with one edition per quarter, culminating in at least one, newsprint edition in May. The following is the project created by the students.  “Ink on Trees” is the name they selected for their paper.

Standards and Frameworks

Technology Standards

Standard 1: Fundamental Operations and Concepts

• 1T-E1. Communicate about accurate terminology
• 1T-E2. Demonstrates increasing sophisticated operations of technology components
• 1T-E3. When a system is not working properly, demonstrate an understanding of hardware, software and connectivity problem solving processes
• 1T-P2. Make informed choices among technology systems, resources, and services

• 2T-F2. Practice responsible use of software
• 2T-E1 Discuss basic issues related to responsible use of technology and information and describe personal consequences of inappropriate use.
• 2T-E3 Demonstrates knowledge of current changes in technologies and the effect those changes have on the workplace and society.

• 3T-E1. Use formatting capabilities of technology tools for communicating and Illustrating
• 3T-E3 Publish and present information using technology tools

• 4T-E2 Use technology tools for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create curricular relates products for audiences inside and outside the classroom
• 4T-P2. Manage and communicate personal and professional information utilizing technology tools and resources

• 5T-E1. Locate information from electronic resources
• 5T-E2. Evaluate the accuracy, relevance, appropriateness, comprehensiveness and bias of electronic information sources

• 6T-P2 Routinely and ethically use productivity tools, communication tools and research skills to solve a problem.

• Language Arts W-P1 Writes in a variety of forms in order to communicate a specific message for a specific audience.

Academic

• The students will meet their challenge of creating a school newspaper by organizing a publishing company, creating their guidelines and rubrics for their newspaper, producing and distributing their school paper in hardcopy and on line.

• The students will use a variety of types of technology to complete their project.

The students must demonstrate proper use of:

• computers and a variety of software
• scanner
• printer
• digital camera

• computers and software
• scanner
• printer
• digital camera
• paper
• press passes
• telephone

Students create an editorial staff who then designate work teams and create jobs. Students with limited English can gain support from team members.  Students with various limitations share their strengths and obtain support from other members of the staff.  They select a “student expert” who will agree to be available for questions.  All students share in leadership opportunities, and over the course of the year, all students try out various jobs and risk-taking experiences.

Procedures

Organization-

1. Create a newspaper community and designate times and places for work.  (During early meetings, invite the editor from Bear Essential News and members from other local school papers to visit, present, and do a Q and A with the students.)

2. Students will create the form of their publishing company. They must decide how to establish agreements understand rules of publishing (plagiarisms, and how distribute responsibility for different aspects of publishing their paper.

3. The students research and analyze news publications, such as local school newspapers or the Bear Essential News, to select the name, format, paper, layout style etc. for their paper.

4. The students determine their editorial policy. Example issues to address:

a. What will be norms for their publishing community?
b. What will be appropriate to print?
c. What will interest their market / audience
d. Where they will find their stories
e. Who will do the reporting, editing, writing, formatting on the web link
f. Who will have the final say in what is printed
 
5. Using the organization and policies established by the students, with appropriate permission from administration, begin gathering the articles, and features to be printed.

6. They also decided to create an e-edition of their paper and an interactive website for their paper, both of which will be linked to the school website.

1. Students meet with their items to be published.  (Ideally, they have features and articles on disc or emailed to the computer they will use for the e-version.)

2. They apply their editing procedures and policies to each piece to be considered, and verify the originality and obtain permission to publish from the author of each item, prior to considering lay-out for the galley version.

3. If the students have opted for a newsprint format, then they will need to follow the guidelines of the printer company they have chosen. If they are going to do a newsletter type, Xerox printable version, they will need to follow the guidelines from graphics and printing.

4. The e-edition can have interactive links that allow students to submit on line questions to the advise editor, letters to the editor, and responses to surveys or the advise column.

5. Bear Essential News offers technical support.  The students create their own formats for galleys, their own editorial policy, so there is no single formula from year to year.  This year’s class decided to keep the ‘rag’ name from last year.  boomer@bearessentialnews.com

6. Other support sources can be found at: webmaster01@oracle.k12.az.us

1. Students met with the principal to discuss editorial policy and to establish agreements about the guidelines for the paper.  One criterion is meeting the agreements in each edition.  Galley proofs are submitted to Ms. Gault before each edition is sent to press.
2. Students interview student readers to determine the interest of their market and to meet market interests by making changes in each upcoming edition.
3. The students create a writing rubric that will be applied to the e-edition and the hardcopy.  Two Language Arts classes will each have the responsibility for publishing one edition of the paper.  Those students will be graded using the Six Traits of Writing and their class rubric for the newspaper.
4. Prior to going to press, the literary quality of the newspaper is assessed by student and adult editors.  The ultimate evaluation is the response of the market, which has been mixed thus far this year.
5. The e-edition of the paper is created using all of the technology available.  The students use the equipment independently, appropriately, and effectively.