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KEYS TO LEARNING

I’VE GOT A GREAT IDEA!

OBJECTIVES• Studentswillworkinasmallgrouptoviewand

evaluateanewsstory.

• Studentswillwriteacritique.

• Asaclass,studentswillcompilealistofcriteriatoevaluatenewsprograms.

MATERIALS• AccesstotheInternet

• Paperandpencils

PROCEDURE1. RemindstudentsthattheirfieldtriptoCNNis

comingupsoon.andthattheywillhavetheopportunitytoseemanypeopleinvolvedinwriting,editing,producingandbroadcastingthenews.Tellstudentsthatmanythingsmustbeconsideredinthewritingandproductionofanewsbroadcast.Todaystudentswillhaveanopportunitytoevaluatethepresentationofanewsstorywithinagroup.

2. Dividestudentsintogroupsoftwotothreestudentseach.

3. AskstudentstogotoCNN Student News orCNN.com tofindastorythatisofinteresttothegroup.Advisory: Pre-screen current news content to determine if it is age-appropriate for your students. Askstudentstoevaluateandwriteacritiqueofthestory,answeringthefollowingquestions:

a. What is the story about?(Answerwho,what,when,where,whyquestions.)

b. What is the headline or lead-in to the story? Is it effective?

c. What images or video are used to tell the story? Do these images add to the story? Why or why not?

grade 9 pre-visit activity - 90-minutesLANGUAGE ARTS

LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS

ELA9RC2 Thestudentparticipatesindiscussionsrelatedtocurricularlearninginallsubjectareas.Thestudent:

b.Respondstoavarietyoftextsinmultiplemodesofdiscourse.

d.Evaluatesthemeritsoftextsineverysubjectdiscipline.

e.Examinestheauthor’spurposeinwriting.

ELA9RC3 Thestudentacquiresnewvocabularyineachcontentareaandusesitcorrectly.Thestudent:

a.Demonstratesanunderstandingofcontextualvocabularyinvarioussubjects.

b.Usescontentvocabularyinwritingandspeaking.

c.Exploresunderstandingofnewwordsfoundinsubjectareatexts.

ELA9W1 Thestudentproduceswritingthatestablishesanappropriateorganizationalstructure,setsacontextandengagesthereader,maintainsacoherentfocusthroughout,andsignalsclosure.Thestudent:

a.Establishesaclear,distinctive,andcoherentthesisorperspectiveandmaintainsaconsistenttoneandfocusthroughout.

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KEYS TO LEARNING

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?

d. Do you think the story is presented in a balanced way? Why or why not?

e. Is the story subjective or objective? How do you know?

f. Are there any questions you have about the story that were not answered?

g. How does the way the story was presented impact your reaction to it?

4. Askeachgrouptoreadtheircritiquetotheclass.Whenallgroupshavehadanopportunitytopresenttheircritiques,workwiththeclasstodevelopalistofcriteriatousewhenevaluatingnewsreports.

CLOSINGOncetheclasslisthasbeencompleted,haveaclassdiscussionbasedaroundthisquestion:

Is it important to evaluate and critique the messages and presentations of various news programs?

ASSESSMENT1. Assessthecritiquemadebyeachgroup.

2. Informallyassessthediscussion.

GIFTED CONNECTIONAskgiftedstudentstoviewavarietyofdifferentpresentationsofoneparticularnewsstoryduringthecomingweek.(Studentsmayviewtelevision,newspapers,Internet,etc.)Studentsshouldcritiquethepresentationofthestoryineachmedium,aswellascompareandcontrastthemessageeachstorypresented.

L.A. STANDARDS (CON’T)

ELA9W1 b.Selectsafocus,structure,andpointofviewrelevanttothepurpose,genreexpectations,audience,length,andformatrequirements.

c.Constructsarguabletopicsentences,whenapplicable,toguideunifiedparagraphs.

d.Usespreciselanguage,actionverbs,sensorydetails,appropriatemodifiers,andactiveratherthanpassivevoice.

e.Writestextsofalengthappropriatetoaddressthetopicortellthestory.

f.Usestraditionalstructuresforconveyinginformation(i.e.,chronologicalorder,causeandeffect,similarityanddifference,andposingandansweringaquestion).

g.Supportsstatementsandclaimswithanecdotes,descriptions,factsandstatistics,andspecificexamples.

ELA9C2 Thestudentdemonstratesunderstandingofmanuscriptform,realizingthatdifferentformsofwritingrequiredifferentformats.Thestudent:

a.Produceswritingthatconformstoappropriatemanuscriptrequirements.

� �

KEYS TO LEARNING

PROCEDURE (CON’T)

grade 9 pre-visit activity - 60 – 90-minutesLANGUAGE ARTS

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KEYS TO LEARNING

WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?

L.A. STANDARDS (CON’T)

ELA9C2 b.Produceslegibleworkthatshowsaccuratespellingandcorrectuseoftheconventionsofpunctuationandcapitalization.

c.Reflectsappropriateformatrequirements,includingpagination,spacing,andmargins,andintegrationofsourcematerialwithappropriatecitations(i.e.,in-textcitations,useofdirectquotations,paraphrase,andsummary,andweavingofsourceandsupportmaterialswithwriter’sownwords,etc.).

ELA9LSV1 Thestudentparticipatesinstudent-to-teacher,student-to-student,andgroupverbalinteractions.Thestudent

a.Initiatesnewtopicsandrespondstoadult-initiatedtopics.

b.Asksrelevantquestions.

c.Respondstoquestionswithappropriateinformation.

e.Offersownopinionforcefullywithoutdomineering.

f.Volunteerscontributionsandrespondswhendirectlysolicitedbyteacherordiscussionleader.

g.Givesreasonsinsupportofopinionsexpressed.

h.Clarifies,illustrates,orexpandsonaresponsewhenaskedtodoso;asksclassmatesforsimilarexpansions.

grade 9 pre-visit activity - 60 – 90-minutesLANGUAGE ARTS

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KEYS TO LEARNING

CNN HEROES grade 9 pre-visit activity - 60 - 90 minutesLANGUAGE ARTS

OBJECTIVES• StudentswillreadbiographiesofCNNHeroes.

• Studentswillidentifyandwriteanominationforaherooftheirchoice.

• Studentswillanalyzethedifferencebetweenacelebrityandahero.

MATERIALS• AccesstotheInternet

PROCEDURE1. Discussthemeaningoftheword“hero.”Listonthe

boardheroesidentifiedbystudentsintheclass.DividethelistintocategoriessuchasSportsFigures,Humanitarians,etc.

2. Askstudentstolistwhattheyfeelaretheimportantcharacteristicsthatarecommontoalltheheroeslistedontheboard.

3. Askstudentstogotohttp://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/index.html andvieworreadthetranscriptsofafewofthevideosaboutnomineesforCNNHeroes.Allowstudentsabout20minutestoexplorethesite.Discusswithstudentswhatcharacterqualitiestheseindividualsseemtohaveincommon.

4. Havestudentslookagainatthelistofheroesmadeatthebeginningofclassandanswerthefollowingquestions:Are there any people on the list who are celebrities, but lack the qualities of an actual hero? What is the difference between a celebrity and a hero?

5. Askstudentstore-readtwoorthreebiographiesofpeoplenominatedfortheCNNHerohonor.Askstudentstochooseeithersomeoneintheirownlife,orsomeonetheymightknowof,whotheythinkisahero.Havestudentswriteanominationforthatperson.StudentsmayneedtodoresearchthroughpersonalinterviewsortheInternettogaininformationontheirselectedhero.Studentsmaywanttogoto

LANGUAGE ARTS STANDARDS

ELA9RC2 Thestudentparticipatesindiscussionsrelatedtocurricularlearninginallsubjectareas.Thestudent:

b.Respondstoavarietyoftextsinmultiplemodesofdiscourse.

c.Relatesmessagesandthemesfromonesubjectareatothoseinanotherarea.

d.Evaluatesthemeritsoftextsineverysubjectdiscipline.

ELA9W1 Thestudentproduceswritingthatestablishesanappropriateorganizationalstructure,setsacontextandengagesthereader,maintainsacoherentfocusthroughout,andsignalsclosure.Thestudent

a.Establishesaclear,distinctive,andcoherentthesisorperspectiveandmaintainsaconsistenttoneandfocusthroughout.

b.Selectsafocus,structure,andpointofviewrelevanttothepurpose,genreexpectations,audience,length,andformatrequirements.

c.Constructsarguabletopicsentences,whenapplicable,toguideunifiedparagraphs.

d.Usespreciselanguage,actionverbs,sensorydetails,appropriatemodifiers,andactiveratherthanpassivevoice.

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KEYS TO LEARNING

CNN HEROES

thenominationformlocatedinthetopmenuoftheCNNHeroespagetoseehownominationsaredone.

6. Oncepapersarewritten,askstudentstoonceagainnamepeoplewhotheyfeelareheroes.Comparethislistwiththelistmadeatthestartofthelesson.Has the list changed? How? Why?Discusswithstudentswhyheroesareimportant.

CLOSINGDiscusswithstudentswhytheythinkCNNhasdecidedtodedicatetimeandefforttocelebratingheroes.In what other ways might we celebrate the accomplishments of people who make a difference in other peoples’ lives?

GIFTED CONNECTIONAskgiftedstudentstoresearchaherofromanothercountryandevaluatetheircontributionstotheirnativesociety.Studentswillthencomposeasongorrapaboutthepersonresearched.

ASSESSMENT1. Assessthepaperwrittenbystudentsinstep5.

2. Informallyassessstudent’sdiscussionaboutheroes.

PROCEDURE (CON’T)

grade 9 pre-visit activity - 60 - 90 minutesLANGUAGE ARTS

L.A. STANDARDS (CON’T)

ELA9W1 e.Writestextsofalengthappropriatetoaddressthetopicortellthestory.

f.Usestraditionalstructuresforconveyinginformation(i.e.,chronologicalorder,causeandeffect,similarityanddifference,andposingandansweringaquestion).

g.Supportsstatementsandclaimswithanecdotes,descriptions,factsandstatistics,andspecificexamples.

ELA9W2 Thestudentdemonstratescompetenceinavarietyofgenres.

ELA9C1 ThestudentdemonstratesunderstandingandcontroloftherulesoftheEnglishlanguage,realizingthatusageinvolvestheappropriateapplicationofconventionsandgrammarinbothwrittenandspokenformats.Thestudent:

a.DemonstratesanunderstandingofproperEnglishusageandcontrolofgrammar,sentenceandparagraphstructure,diction,andsyntax.

b.Correctlyusesclauses(i.e.,mainandsubordinate)andmechanicsofpunctuation(i.e.,endmarks,commas,semicolons,andquotationmarks).

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KEYS TO LEARNING

CNN HEROES

L.A. STANDARDS (CON’T)

ELA9C1 c.Demonstratesanunderstandingofsentenceconstruction(i.e.,subordination,properplacementofmodifiers)andproperEnglishusage(i.e.,consistencyofverbtenses).

ELA9C2 Thestudentdemonstratesunderstandingofmanuscriptform,realizingthatdifferentformsofwritingrequiredifferentformats.Thestudent:

a.Produceswritingthatconformstoappropriatemanuscriptrequirements.

b.Produceslegibleworkthatshowsaccuratespellingandcorrectuseoftheconventionsofpunctuationandcapitalization.

c.Reflectsappropriateformatrequirements,includingpagination,spacing,andmargins,andintegrationofsourcematerialwithappropriatecitations(i.e.,in-textcitations,useofdirectquotations,paraphrase,andsummary,andweavingofsourceandsupportmaterialswithwriter’sownwords,etc.).

grade 9 pre-visit activity - 60 - 90 minutesLANGUAGE ARTS

ELA9LSV1 Thestudentparticipatesinstudent-to-teacher,student-to-student,andgroupverbalinteractions.Thestudent:

a.Initiatesnewtopicsandrespondstoadult-initiatedtopics.

b.Asksrelevantquestions.

c.Respondstoquestionswithappropriateinformation.

e.Offersownopinionforcefullywithoutdomineering.

f.Volunteerscontributionsandrespondswhendirectlysolicitedbyteacherordiscussionleader.

g.Givesreasonsinsupportofopinionsexpressed.

h.Clarifies,illustrates,orexpandsonaresponsewhenaskedtodoso;asksclassmatesforsimilarexpansions.

NOTE TO TEACHERS:

ADDITIONAL LESSON PLANS AND RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE FROM CNN STUDENT NEWS AT:

HTTP://WWW.CNN.COM/US/STUDENTNEWS/DISCUSSION/ARCHIVE/