PBS NewsHour Extra Student Reporting Labs

Lesson 2.1: Finding Story Ideas

Developed by Renee Hobbs

Standards

• McRel: Writing, 4 Students will be able to gather and use information for research purposes.
• ISTE: Media Concepts, 3.0 Students will be able to interpret and evaluate various media presentations within their context.

Overview

Students develop a short oral presentation to pitch a specific idea for a news story. In the process, they consider the relationship between news and lived experience and strengthen intellectual curiosity by developing ideas for news stories through identifying potential sources and gathering background information.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

·         Generate news stories based on research and personal experience

·         Determine the newsworthiness of these stories  

·         Generate a list of sources and other information that can be used to turn these ideas into actual stories.

·         Make a short persuasive oral presentation to pitch a news story idea to an editor

Advance Preparation

Make copies of the assignment worksheet and check your school’s filter to make sure you can view the videos, which are available on You Tube.

Engage Interest

Ask: Is anything in your life newsworthy? Is there anything newsworthy in the stories you hear among your family, friends and in your community? Why or why not?

Encourage students to generate different responses to this question. Many students will not be aware that much news is generated from the ordinary and extraordinary stories of daily life.

Gain Knowledge

View and discuss these videos to build students’ knowledge of how news stories get created from the events of daily life. Being a good listener and considering the five news values is the key to finding and developing local stories.

Ira Glass on Storytelling, Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/user/reporterscenter#p/c/613B2CEDAFF29783/2/loxJ3FtCJJA

Ira Glass explains how TV and radio broadcasts develop from real-life anecdotes in story form and how a series of questions and answers keeps people’s attention.

Tips for Making the Local Global

http://www.youtube.com/user/reporterscenter#p/c/1B175D9C0278F69C/6/7ReoVB-s4SI

Kwame Dawes shares his insight on how to tell a local story that has global significance, and how to make it resonate with a global audience.

Associated Press: How to Pitch a Story

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vut4gPPzEac

AP editors Jon Resnick and Associated Press Editor Donna Cassata explain how to prepare your story idea and pitch it to a news editor.

Activity: Generate News Stories from Life

Pass out the worksheet and introduce the activity. Students can work on this in class or as homework. Set a firm but short deadline of perhaps one class period. This is an exercise to get students thinking, not a final project. Use the criteria on the worksheet to offer students feedback about their oral presentations.

Time for Performance

Each individual student performs a pitch. Offer “warm” and “cool” feedback. Warm feedback is positive and acknowledges strengths. Cool feedback offers comments and suggestions to help the learner reflect and improve.

Reflect

Ask: What did you learn from working on this project? What did you like best about it? What did you dislike and why?

Ask: What might be the consequences of your news story actually getting into the public eye? What could be some possible positive consequences? What might be some possible negative consequences? Can a powerful and effective news story change the world? Why or why not?

Extension Exercise:

Students will create a 2 minute video about the retention rates at their high school. Please see Worksheet B for a script and details.