Newspapers+in+Education

A valuable resource I have come across in my teaching experience is the website [|//Newspapers in Education//]. Geared towards teachers in the intermediate division, this site offers lesson plans, rubrics and a culminating activity, while highlighting curriculum expectations. I believe newspapers are a great educational resource because most schools have a subscription, and they are relatively easy to acquire compared to textbooks. Furthermore, material in textbooks can become outdated, while newspapers are current and topical. They are also a great way to introduce local, national, and international events in the classroom.

I prefer this site because it features Canadian content. It also encourages student interest in journalism, focusing on Canadian newspaper articles as exemplars of writing. Although it is intended for intermediate students, I have made use of this site in teaching both grade 10 and grade 12 English. In particular, I used parts of the lesson on news story organization in OSSLT preparation and also used editorial exemplars in the non-fiction writing unit in Writer’s Craft (“Downloading youth get a legal education” proved to be a particularly scintillating editorial that resulted in an extended debate of the content of the material as well as the satirical tone). Although most of the sample articles are more than five years old, they still proved to be engaging, as students are not completely oblivious to the content. Also, they provide a good frame of reference when selecting your own articles from more current news stories. Although I wouldn’t follow all the lesson plans offered on this site, as they may prove to be too simple, they provide a great framework to develop your own plans to incorporate current events in every classroom.