When I taught 3rd and 5th grade at Northside Elementary, I saw how the well-run Cougar News Network (CNN) not only shared important information (such as lunch menu changes) but also celebrated and sustained our life as a learning community. We were used to seeing student and teacher-made PhotoStory clips on everything from the Character Word of the Week to the ongoing development of the baby chicks. One morning, we were watching a PhotoStory that at first appeared to celebrate one of the teacher's birthdays. Then,as we watched, our eyes grew bigger as it dawned on us that this video clip was actually a marriage proposal. It ended with the teacher being asked to step out into the hall to let her boyfriend know if she'll marry him! Of course, this magic moment was captured on video and shown the next day.
Deciding to produce a show is also a commitment, not quite the marriage kind, but it does take planning and ongoing learning and maintenance (kind of like marriage). CNN has a specific structure:
- CNN is produced live every morning from the media center and usually lasts 10 minutes. Team members are given scripts (typed by one of the co-sponsors using a basic outline) the day before and arrive 15 minutes before the show begins.
- It begins with a video clip (using PhotoStory3) of photos of the news team with music they've chosen. Each student in the school has a chance to be on CNN by helping to lead the pledge and by being part of a Character Ed skit or video clip.
- A 6-person news team is chosen from each 5th grade class. The first team starts several weeks into the new school year and each team produces the newscast for about 6 weeks. During the last 4 weeks of school, an "All Star" team- made up of the best of the homeroom teams- produces the show. They also train chosen 4th graders, who produce the show during the last week of school and during the first several weeks of the new school year.
- Team members are encouraged to personalize their set, what they wear, and themes they want to incorporate with the approval of the sponsors. Each day has a theme, such as 'Movie Monday' when a video clip is shown, or 'Thoughtful Thursday' when a trivia question is asked and correct responses are gathered for a drawing for a trinket.
- News team members have specific roles and job responsibilities (such as anchor, switcher, director, camera person, etc.). They rotate these each week. One of the roles is to watch the newscast on a monitor in another location and to take notes on what worked and what needs improvement. After the newscast, the team sits down with the two co-sponsors and this person gives feedback. The co-sponsors also use this time to do further training.
5 comments:
I think your ideas are great, especaially the one about CNN news. Seems as though the students really enjoy telling the news and it really motivates them too. I sorry to here students are crying because they do not get a turn to proform. May be you should pull students names from a hat or do it on a rotational basis. I believe this would help. Then you want have all these angry parents.
Unfortunately, the homeroom team rotational model was already in place as well as the number of students (6) that could be chosen. What I changed was the way the selection occurred for my homeroom team. Typically it was just the 6 people that the homeroom teacher wanted. I thought having auditions and a rubric for team selection made more sense and was more objective. Only one parent was unhappy about it because her daughter didn't meet the "getting to school on time" and the "turning work in on time" and the "does quality work" categories. Plus her daughter didn't want to try out- was embarrassed that she wouldn't do well. But her daughter still wanted to be on the news team- where you had to get to school early, perform under pressure, and keep up with your school work.
I sort of feel glad that I am at a school where this type of work is already done for the school community by the video production class, but I will say that your ideas and presentations sound fantastic. Keep up the great work!
Being at a new school where the morning news show is not up and running yet, I gained some inspiration from your post! I will have to mention to my mentor about Photostory 3 and see if she's used it before. We've had so many hurdles to over come just to get the classrooms ready for a news show viewing. I can't wait to see one come to life! I appreciated your insight into everything from selecting the student news team members to the items and info the morning show presents. I think it's a wonderful opportunity your school is providing to the kids by allowing them to take responsibility for production of the show - and it's obvious they really enjoy it! Perhaps some budding newscasters or film directors are passing through your hallways as we speak!
I do like the newscast. As I said in another post it builds self-esteem while also bonding the school (everyone felt a part of the marriage proposal). At my son's elementary school only the Target (accelerated) students run the news cast. I wonder how the parents of the non-Target students feel. I am not sure why this was decided. It has been done that way since the school opened five years ago. It is interesting to see how the schools do this. At the same time, it is sad to see that all schools don't do it.
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