IN THE NEWS. 1. All About Me

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1 1. All About Me Create an All About Me collage using pictures and words from the newspaper. In a small group, share collages. Take turns telling each other why you chose each item on your collage. When everyone is finished, talk about ways in which you are similar and ways in which you are different. Find one thing that is unique about each of you and one thing you all have in common to share with the rest of the class. 2. Highlights Newspaper headlines tell the main idea of a news story. Describe the highlights of your life so far in a series of 5 headlines. Before you begin, examine newspaper headlines to see how they are written. Here are some tips: Most headlines answer the questions Who? and What? (Sometimes they also add When? or Where? or Why?) Example: Smith family gets baby girl for Christmas Headlines are usually written in the present tense, even if the event took place in the past. Example: Sue Smith wins skating trophy Certain words, like a and the, are left out of headlines. Example: Stray cat moves into Smith home Share your headlines with a partner. Are any of your headlines similar? 5

2 3. Differences Look through today s newspaper and choose a picture or article about someone who is different from you in some way. Glue the newspaper item onto a piece of paper, or save it to your computer. Underneath, write how this person is different from you. Now list five things that you and this person might have in common. Share your ideas with a partner or group. 4. Interview Pretend you are a reporter for your school newspaper. You have been asked to Interview someone in your class whom you don t know well. Before you begin, write down 5-10 questions to ask. Try to include questions that the person will have to answer with more than just a yes or no. For example, instead of asking Do you have any brothers or sisters? you might say Tell me about your family. Interview your classmate, and write down the main ideas of what he or she says. What is the most interesting thing you learned? What makes this person unique? Use this information at the beginning of a newspaper-style story about your classmate. Remember to answer the 5 Ws (Who? What? When? Where? Why?) and How? 6

3 5. Needs and Wants With your class, discuss the difference between a need and a want. With a partner, divide a large piece of paper in half. At the top of one half, write NEED, and at the top of the other half, write WANT. On each half, paste or describe newspaper pictures and words that show things you need or want. Do you and your partner always agree on where to put each item? If not, why not? Are there some items that could be both a need and a want, depending on the person or situation? (For example, a man might need a car for his job, while a teen wants a car to impress his friends.) 6. I Need You One of the things people need is other people to care for them, to share things with, to learn from, to have fun with, to help them if things go wrong, etc. Make a list of some of the people you need and why. Find a newspaper picture or story about someone who needs another person or group for some reason. Write a sentence summarizing whom this person needs and why. Thanks for being you! 7

4 7. Groups List all the different groups to which you belong (family, class, friends, clubs, etc.). Beside each, write down some of the different reasons you belong to each group. Share your thoughts with a partner. As a class, find newspaper stories about groups. Discuss why you think each group exists. How do the group members benefit from being in the group? Does the rest of the community benefit from the group s existence? Why or why not? 8. Families In a group, list all the different kinds of families that exist today. Discuss how they are different from the families of yesterday. How are they the same? Look through several issues of the newspaper to see how many different kinds of families are represented. Create a collage. Which kinds of families are shown most often? Which are not represented? Why do you think that might be? 8

5 9. Children s Rights What do you think every child in the world deserves to have? Enough food? Proper clothing? What else? With your class, develop a list of Children s Rights. Post it in your classroom. Now find newspaper stories about children from around the world. How do their lives compare to yours? Do the children in each of these stories enjoy all the rights you listed? If not, why not? What do you think should be done? Is there anything you could do? Follow-up: Develop a list of Students Rights or Friends Rights. 10. Responsibilities Follow-up: Other Help Wanted or Career ads you might try to write include: Good Son/Daughter, Good Brother/Sister, Good Parent, Best Friend, Teacher or Principal. As a class, discuss the meaning of the word responsibility. List all the responsibilities of a student (e.g. to listen to the teacher, keep your desk tidy, do your homework, etc.). Write a Help Wanted or Career ad for a Good Student. Include the qualifications needed, the responsibilities, the hours, benefits, etc. Check Career ads in the newspaper to see how they are written. 9

6 11. Switching Roles List all the things you are responsible for during the week. Include school, chores, activities, etc. Now choose an adult in your life, and write down all of his or her responsibilities. If you were to switch roles, which responsibilities do you think each of you would find most difficult? Imagine you are making your own movie in which you and this adult switch roles. Write a description of the movie, and design a movie ad to promote your film. 12. Irresponsible As a class, discuss what it means to behave irresponsibly. Have you or someone you know ever been told you behaved irresponsibly? Why? In a smaller group, choose a news story about someone who has behaved irresponsibly. Discuss the following: What did he or she do that was irresponsible? Was a rule or law broken? Did he or she put someone s safety at risk? Why do you think this person did what he or she did? Do you think everyone would find this behaviour unacceptable? Are there any circumstances in which it might be acceptable? Elect a group leader who, with your help, will write a brief summary of your discussions and share it with the rest of the class. 10

7 13. Great Advice Read several advice columns in the newspaper (e.g. Annie s Mailbox) to see how they are written. Now write a letter to an advice columnist about someone who is not living up to his or her responsibilities at home, at school or in their group. (For example: I share a room with my brother. He refuses to pick up his stuff and my mom yells at both of us for having a messy room. What should I do? ) Switch questions with a partner and give each other advice, orally or in writing. 14. No Rules Imagine that for one day there were no rules or responsibilities in your home or classroom. What might happen? Write a news story or draw a cartoon strip about the day. Note: Must remember the 5 Ws & How... 11

8 15. Quebec Diversity Use different parts of the newspaper (news, entertainment, food, business, sports, etc.) to create a collage or scrapbook showing that Quebec is home to people from many different backgrounds. Share your work with a partner or small group. With your class, make a list of ways in which people who are different from us can enrich our lives. 16. Diversity News Create a school newspaper focusing on diversity. Use the content and writing styles of your daily newspaper for ideas. Include news, opinion, ads, entertainment, sports, etc. For example, you might include a profile of someone from another culture, a recipe for an ethnic dish, news about culturally diverse clubs at school, a comic strip reflecting cultural differences, information about upcoming religious holidays, etc. 12

9 17. Conflict Differences between individuals and groups can sometimes lead to conflict. Discuss why you think this is so. Find a newspaper article dealing with a conflict resulting from differences between people. With your group, identify what the conflict is about and who is involved. Try to determine the motivations behind each side in the conflict. Make a list of possible solutions and their probable consequences. (See the Problem-Solving Model in the Appendix to this guide.) Follow-up: If this is an ongoing story, use the newspaper to follow the events as they unfold. Is the issue resolved? If so, how? What are the consequences? 18. Stereotypes Follow-up: Can you find stereotypes being used in advertisements in today s newspaper? What are the stereotypes? Why do you think they are used? Discuss the meaning of the word stereotype. What are some of the stereotypes we have of the following individuals: people who wear thick glasses people with red hair guys with lots of muscles guys with no muscles beautiful girls with blond hair people who dye their hair green people who wear black leather and chains Look at the comics in today s newspaper. Do any of them reflect stereotypes? If so, how? Explain why you think the artist used these stereotypes. Now draw your own cartoon or comic strip showing discrimination being taken to an extreme e.g. a waiter refusing to serve someone because he has a wart on his nose. 13

10 19. Discrimination Follow-up: Write an editorial describing how you feel about the article. Start by expressing your opinion (without the words I think ), then support your opinion with facts, and devote some space to what others are saying. Conclude with a summary of your thoughts. Sometimes individuals or groups of people are discriminated against because they stand out as being different. Discuss the meaning of the word discrimination. Find a newspaper article that shows an example of discrimination in your area. Discuss: What kind of discrimination does the article show race, religion, language, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical handicap, etc.? List the views of those who are discriminating vs. those of the individual or group being discriminated against. How do you think the individual(s) being discriminated against felt? Have you ever been the victim of discrimination? Have you ever discriminated against anyone else? If so, why do you think you did it? What can we, as individuals, do to prevent discrimination? 20. Around the World Look through the newspaper to identify places around the world where discrimination is a problem. Discuss what kind of discrimination is involved and how severe it is. Are steps being taken to correct the situation? Do you think these cases affect you in any way? Do we have a moral responsibility to defend people in other countries against discrimination? If so, what might we be able to do? 14

11 21. Universal Freedoms Discuss what you think it means to live in a free society. Review the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for a list of the rights and freedoms to which all human beings are entitled. (A summary of the text is included in the appendix to this guide, along with a link to the official text.) Use items from today s newspaper to create a poster showing that we live in a free society. Under each item, identify the appropriate right from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For instance, real estate ads show that we have the right to own property, and travel ads reflect our right to travel inside and outside our country. Now find newspaper stories that show that not all countries are as free as ours. In each story, which rights are being denied? Why? Are there times when human rights are being denied in our own country? 22. Freedom of the Press Freedom of the press is a valued right in our society. Imagine we lived in a society where newspapers were not allowed to print anything that criticized the government. With a highlighter, mark all items in today s newspaper that would have to be deleted or rewritten in such a society. (Or, if you re reading the digital newspaper, list all of the offending items.) 15

12 23. You be the Editor An individuals right to privacy in his or her personal life sometimes conflicts with what the media maintains is the public s right to know. As a group, can you find any items in the newspaper that you think should not have been printed, because they infringe on someone s privacy? Why do you think they were included? Develop a list of guidelines you think a newspaper editor should follow in deciding whether or not to include information about the personal life of a public figure. Share your code of ethics with the rest of the class. 24. Standing Up Some people feel it is important to stand up for what they believe in, regardless of the consequences. Find a news story describing such a situation. Discuss: What does this person believe in? How is he or she trying to change things? What are the short-term consequences of this person s actions? What do you think will be the long-term consequences? Do you agree with what he or she is doing? Are there things you believe in very strongly? What are they? Would you be willing to stand up for your beliefs, regardless of the consequences? Write a paragraph or two describing your thoughts. 16

13 25. Top 5 Values As a class, list all the values you think are important in our society (honesty, compassion, hard work, etc.). Discuss why each is important. Find a way to decide on the five most important values. Write a news story about the results. Describe the decision process, the results, and the reasons behind the selections. Remember to answer the 5 Ws and How. 26. Comic World Follow-up: Discuss how different this world is from the one in which we live. Read the comics page in the newspaper for several days. Now imagine that there was a world inhabited only by comic characters from this page. With a group, write a play showing what you think this world would be like. What values would be important to the inhabitants? What laws or rules would govern their actions? Who do you think would be the leader? What conflicts do you think would arise? What would be the best things about this world? Perform the play for your class. 17

14 27. Autonomy Find a story in the newspaper about a group or area of the world that is seeking independence. Write a summary of the situation. Include answers to the 5 Ws and How. (Where is the situation taking place? Who is involved? When did the issue of independence arise? Why do these people want independence? What is happening in the dispute? How can the conflict be resolved?) You may need to do some additional research. Pretend you are a TV reporter, and present your summary as if you were appearing on the evening news. 28. Globalization Discuss what it means to be globally interdependent. How are we dependent on other countries, and they on us? Use examples from the newspaper. Now list five newspaper articles dealing with world issues or events. Beside each, write a paragraph about how this issue or event might affect your life. Is there a direct link? If not, can you think of a situation in which it might affect your life? 18

15 29. Power Gather newspaper stories about different leaders from around the world. With your class, discuss their leadership styles. Do they make decisions alone (authoritarian), or do they study the ideas of others before deciding (democratic)? Are they very structured and follow procedures (bureaucratic) or charming, energetic and inspiring (charismatic)? Which leadership style do you feel is most effective? Why? 30. Tolerance Follow-up: Discuss whether or not showing tolerance for individual differences means accepting everything someone else does. Is there such a thing as being too tolerant? Why or why not? Use issues and events in the news as examples. As a class, discuss the meaning of the word tolerance. Do you think Quebecers are basically tolerant of each other s differences? Use newspaper articles to support your position. Write a poem or rap song describing what you think about the state of tolerance in Quebec. 19

16 31. A Just World Write your own definition of justice. Compare it to the dictionary definition. Discuss whether or not it would be possible to have a totally just world. Choose a page from today s newspaper and rewrite the headline and lead paragraph of each story as they might appear if we lived in a totally just world. 32. Justice/Injustice Divide a large sheet of paper in two. At the top of one half, write JUSTICE ; on the other half, write INJUSTICE. Under each heading, glue or list items from the newspaper that you think show justice or injustice in action. Which side has most examples? Why do you think this is so? Are there any items that could go on either side, depending on your point of view? (For example, a story about a poor person jailed for stealing food might be considered justice by one person, injustice by another.) Discuss your selections with your classmates. Do they agree with your choices? 20

17 33. Star Justice Find a newspaper story about a famous person (a sports hero, for instance, or a movie star) who has broken the law. Discuss: What did he or she do? What was the punishment? Do you think this person was treated differently from others because he or she is famous? If so, what do you think would have been an appropriate punishment? Rewrite the news story as you think it should have appeared. 34. Court Case Follow-up: Follow the real court case in the news, and compare your verdict with the actual verdict. Find a newspaper article dealing with a current court case. Identify the two sides involved. Choose someone to play the person on trial and others to be the plaintiff, the defending and prosecuting attorneys, the judge, witnesses, jury and media. When both sides of the case have been heard, the jury should reach a verdict. If the person is found guilty, the judge should determine a sentence. The students representing the media should report the outcome in a newspaper-style article. 21

18 35. Choices Sometimes people who are basically good make bad decisions. They do something they know is ethically wrong, and it gets them into trouble. A teen tells a lie in order to get a job and is found out, for instance, or a parent gambles away the family s rent money. Find an article that describes a situation in which someone s choices led to problems. Discuss: What decision or choice did the individual make that got him or her (and perhaps someone else) into trouble? Why do you think this person did what he or she did? What would you have done in this situation? Do you think the consequences were appropriate? Why or why not? 36. Earth s Rules Follow-up: Try the same activity using only the comics page. You are a visitor from another planet. You have been sent to discover everything you can about the rules, regulations and laws on Earth to help establish a system for your own planet. Your only source of information is one copy of the newspaper. What can you learn about the following: the rules and regulations on Earth people s rights and freedoms people s responsibilities ways people are punished who is in charge of law enforcement who makes legal decisions how people are deterred from committing crimes Prepare a report to take back to your leaders. Make recommendations about what parts of Earth s system to copy. Justify your decisions. 22

19 Years from Now For several days, gather newspaper articles dealing with challenges that will face human beings in the years to come (environmental issues, poverty, access to health care, crime, etc.). Do you think we will find solutions to any of these problems in the next 50 years? Why or why not? Create the front page of a newspaper as you think it might appear 50 years from now. Include what you think will be the main political, social and environmental stories of the day. 38. Solving Problems For several weeks, collect newspaper articles about charitable organizations helping to solve social problems. Which do you think are most effective? Why? Design a half-page newspaper advertisement appealing for funds for one of these charitable organizations, or for another charitable group of your choice. Include information about what the money collected is to be used for. Look at advertisements in today s newspaper for good design techniques. 23

20 39. Youth Solutions Find a newspaper story about a young person who is doing something to solve a problem in his or her community. What is the problem? What is this young person doing? Do you think it will make a long-lasting difference? Write a letter to this young person congratulating him or her on the accomplishment(s). Follow-up: As a class, discuss how you could make a difference in your community, either individually or as a group. Put one of your ideas into action. 40. Equality Day Hold an Equality Day in your class or school. Some of the day s activities might include: A panel discussion on how to promote tolerance and harmony Speakers from the community talking about discrimination, tolerance, human rights, etc. Unveiling a list of Students Rights and Responsibilities for your school, developed by students in consultation with teachers Announcing the winner of a poster contest promoting equality Create ads to promote these and other Equality Day events. Invite family members and the media to participate. Write news articles and opinion pieces based on the day s events, and prepare a four-page newspaper to share with the other students. 24