It is often difficult to make sense of a news story without enough background, and, for this reason, many people feel intimidated by the thought of trying to "follow" current events. If students can develop an appreciation for current events at an early age, they will be able to keep abreast of important events which will allow them to make well-informed decisions for their lives.
We live in a mass media culture, which means that most students have been exposed to many different types of news stories. Since the media experiences of individual students is bound to differ greatly, we have not assigned a specific grade level to particular NewsDEN activities. Instead, activities are designed to inform and challenge students throughout the Grade 6 to 12 range.
NewsDEN has eight basic aims. They are:
NewsDEN guides students through a variety of current events topics, inviting them to use innovative, multimedia learning tools not found in the newspaper or on television. NewsDEN shows:
Our NewsDEN quiz tests students' comprehension of the news stories and new vocabulary learned. A progress report tracks the cumulative quiz results for individual students. Our students' discussion group, Have Your Say, gives students an opportunity to respond to issues raised in the stories. This interactive approach allows students to develop their interests while engaging in discussions with their peers.
Using NewsDEN will allow students to select, organize and modify information to solve questions raised in news stories while enhancing their familiarity with information technology tools. Knowledge of these tools will help students to understand the mass media and will give them the technical skills they will need to compete in the constantly evolving high-tech job market they will face in the future. By experimenting with research and information manipulation, students will gain confidence in their ability to find and evaluate information that they can use critically to make important decisions that will affect their lives.
For your reference, you can link to the B.C. Ministry of Education to view:
Information Technology K-7 Integrated Resource Package 1996
Grade 8 to 10 IRP
Grade 11 to 12 IRP
Each week, NewsDEN features three news stories: one local event, one national event and one international event. All stories are stored in an archive and can be easily found using our archive search. Each story is accompanied by the following features which are accessed by clicking on the appropriate icon. Complex words, terms and expressions in the stories are hypertext linked to their definitions on the More Info page. Each feature (except for the creative graphic, which appears with the story text) is presented on its own webpage. New story packages are launched online each Tuesday afternoon.
| Feature: | Description: | Purpose: |
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a map showing the location of the news event | - to put the story in geographic context
- to develop students' map-reading skills |
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key visual summary | - to present story content in a visible framework
- to display essential information on the story without using complex language |
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a students' newsgroup used to discuss issues raised in the news stories | - to improve communications and critical thinking skills
- to improve debating skills |
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an eight-question quiz on each news story | - to test comprehension of the story
- to test comprehension of new vocabulary used in each story |
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a list of definitions of any complex words, terms and expressions used in each news story and links to external WWW sites relevant to issues in some news stories | - to explain any complex language or concepts
- to provide background information on some news stories - to encourage independent WWW research |
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a description of the purpose of headlines, with an opportunity for students to create their own alternative headlines for each news story | - to explain the purposes and uses of headlines
- to encourage creative expression |
You will find the following buttons on these pages: Map, Story-At-A-Glance, Have Your Say, Quiz, Quiz results, More Info and Making Headlines. (For example, if you are on the national Map page, you can use the second button below to return to the national story. There are no buttons that take you to the international or local story from the national Map page.)
| Button: | Purpose: |
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- takes you back to the international story |
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- takes you back to the national story |
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- takes you back to the local story |
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- takes you back to NewsDEN's front page |
The following are some suggestions for using NewsDEN in your classroom:
Identifying the "5Ws" of a news story
Class discussion: Relating to the news story
Discussion of vocabulary terms
Discussing the key visual and creating new ones
Online map and geographic info-hunt
Class debate
Group headline brainstorm
Online research projects
Aim: students will enhance their analytical skills, communication skills and critical thinking abilities while reinforcing their comprehension of the news story
A basic news story seeks to identify the 5Ws -- also known as: who, what, where, when and why. After students have read all three of the week's stories, ask them to identify the 5Ws of each. Record their answers. Discuss which of the 5Ws is given the most attention. Why is this W the most important? Could another W be more important if the story were focused differently? This is effective as both a class discussion and as a weekly written exercise.
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Aim: students will be able to give consideration to various points of view
and will develop communication skills
Plan a discussion for the entire class or divide the students into groups with one person responsible for reporting findings to the rest of the class. Ask students the following questions:
- Have you heard anything about this story before? Where? (i.e. TV, radio, Internet, etc.)
- Have you ever been personally involved in such an experience?
- Identify the different people or groups of people in the story. How do you think they view what has happened? Is one point-of-view given more attention than the others in the story? If so, why do you think that is?
- Why is the story important? Does it affect your life? Whose lives does it affect?
- Is there anything else you would like to know about the people in the story? How could you find out?
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Aim: students will expand their vocabulary
Have individual students taking turns reading each definition aloud. Have them choose a certain number (maybe 10) of terms and write a sentence using the new word in a different context.
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Aim: students will expand their analytical skills and critical thinking abilities
With all students looking at the Story-At-A-Glance graphic, read each point aloud. Ask students why they think these points have been chosen as the most important from the story. Is anything important left out of the key visual? Could another important point be presented in the graphic? Ask students to cut a story out of the newspaper and create their own key visuals, either on paper or using a draw or paint program.
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Aim: students will improve their researching and map-reading skills
For international news stories that take place in a particular country (as opposed to international stories that deal with a global issue), NewsDEN links students to country information contained in the online 1995 CIA Factbook. To prepare for this exercise, look at the online info on a country and prepare specific questions based on this info. Write each question on a separate piece of paper, put them in a box and then have each student draw out one piece of paper containing a question they must research and answer by viewing the online factbook.To make a game of this exercise, divide students into teams. Each group must answer all their research questions -- and the winning team is the team that completes the task first. (Maybe the winners can win a certain amount of free time using the computer.)
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Aim: students will expand their analytical skills, critical thinking abilities, communication skills and the ability to consider other points of view
Such a debate can range from very formal (complete with rebuttal statements and a moderator) to a more casual discussion. Present the Have Your Say (NewsDEN discussion group) question to the class, and take the debate from there. At the end of the debate, send students in small groups (up to five, depending on your computer resources available) to make a posting to Have Your Say. Then, each new group of students can respond to the postings of previous students. It is hoped that by holding a debate in class first, students will have their argument fresh in mind while making a posting.
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Aim: students will expand their analytical skills, critical thinking abilities and communication skills
Choose a NewsDEN story and discuss its headline. What kind of mood and meaning does the headline convey? (i.e. seriousness, worry, happiness, anguish, etc.) Why is such a mood being expressed? Give students a few moments to rewrite the headline in as many ways as possible, then have them read their creations to the rest of the class. Record and display selected headlines on a blackboard or overhead projector. Discuss the mood and meaning of each new headline. What makes them different from each other? Why do certain words seem more serious (happy, sad, etc.) than others? At the end of the exercise, have students add their new headlines to NewsDEN's Making Headlines.
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Aim: students will improve their online researching skills -- and more (depending on which exercises you assign)
On the More Info page of many NewsDEN stories, we include links to other websites that may offer more information on issues relevant to the story. Check out each site in advance, and prepare questions (see suggestion for map and geographic info research, above). After your preview of a site, you can prepare a number of different exercises that challenge students to find particular information. Here are some examples:
- Prepare in advance by viewing the site and finding particular details that are relevant to the news story. Prepare a game similar to the one used for the map and geographic info exercise.
- Ask students to look at how the info from an external website supports one of the views presented in a news story. Have them write a short essay elaborating that other point of view. Encourage students to read their essays for the rest of the class and discuss or to post them in NewsDEN's Have Your Say.
- Ask students to rewrite the news story using additional information found in the other websites.
- Ask students to view the external website and record five additional points of interest related to the news story. Ask them to write a short essay explaining how their views may have been changed by reading this new info. Do the students think more of this additional info should have been included in the original story?
