Global Lesson

Like several others, I posted this as a comment first so I am posting it again here...

I chose the Newsday Journalism activity through the website GlobalSchoolNet.org to expose my English students to the journalistic style of writing by having them create an online newspaper.

My students will connect with students in Brazil to produce a newspaper focusing on the World Cup.  They will watch the games, research key facts about the results, and write up game summary articles.  The students will then use Skype to layout the newspaper together.  Prior to completing the steps necessary to produce this newspaper, my students will be required to research information on the history of the World Cup and information on the host country, Brazil. 

Students will use various web tools to connect with and communicate with students from another culture to determine who will cover which games and to edit and revise the articles. Then the two classes will Skype to work on the layout of the newspaper using the program InDesign.  Once the online World Cup newspaper has been produced, it will be shared through GlobalSchoolNet.org.

Part of the curriculum at the school where I teach English is to expose the students to a wide range of writing styles during their freshman year. This global awareness assignment spurred me to explore and develop an assignment that will expose my students to the style of journalistic writing.  While exposing them to this additional style of writing, there is the added excitement of connecting with students their own age half a world away!