LHS Advocate Class

Good morning!

Be sure to sign up on the Online Daily News Brief Schedule for a slot each week from now until the end of the semester. Let’s get this filled in today before you leave, please.

The idea is that you will have a story completed and ready to post on that day (by the end of the school day). This includes having a headline, a feature photo, and a caption on the post in SNO and ready to go. Remember to draft in your Google Doc until everything is approved and all changes are made. Then copy and paste the final version into SNO and Submit for Review.

Today I want to take a look at Riada’s brief on tips to combat the coronavirus. She has a really great lead and some good information from the school nurse. We’re going to add some other sources and talk about the Feature Photo and how to make the tips into a graphic. We’ll also discuss ways to get student comments and input for the story.

We’ll also look at the Copy Template to see how to format the story in journalistic style.

A reminder that this is what the schedule looks like for the end of this week and next.

Can’t believe it’s March already.

Today you should be working on several different things:

1. Pep Rally Story – Outline and Draft
2. African American Read-In – Outline and Draft
3. Press Conference Assault story – Outline and Draft
4. Daily News Brief – check the schedule and have your story ready on the date you are signed up for. You each have one due this week. You will be graded on the quality of the brief, and whether or not you made the deadline.

Please be sure your outlines and drafts are in the right place in Classroom.

Today I’d like us to work together to create a post about the African American Read-In from last week.

Let’s start with what we know, and complete as many of the 5 Ws as possible:
Who:
What:
Where:
When:
Why:
How:
So What:

What are some possible angles to this story? What are some different things that we can focus on about this event?

What questions will readers want answers to?

What questions do we have for the organizers?

Quotes: Who should we get quotes from?

Sources: Who are some people we want to talk to?

Today we’re going to go to the Media Center for the African American Read-in. In addition to enjoying the selections, I’d like you each to write a news brief about it. Take notes. In addition to the basic facts (5Ws) describe the room physically, the speakers, give examples of the selections and crowd reactions.

Deadline dates.

Pep Rally Brief –
Assault News Brief –
Story #1 –

Good morning.

Mr. Larson is going to come to talk to us today about the altercation that happened on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020 here at LHS. I told him that we had been looking at the way the local press had covered the story, and I asked him if he would come and have a press conference with us so that we can find out more details. He won’t be able to give us some specifics due to student confidentiality, but he can give us the basics of what happened and what is being done now.

Before he comes, I want us to come up with some specific questions for him. We’ll brainstorm some ideas at the beginning of class. Remember to ask follow-up questions.

I will record the conference, and we’ll look back over it to make a transcript and to get quotes, but you should also take some notes.

One of our angles might be to discuss how LHS is represented in the press, especially when there is something negative. The coverage between the local newspapers and television was very different, especially the headlines. (See examples below.) One used the word “melee” to describe the incident, even though there was only one student and one staff member involved.

10/11News: Lincoln High staff member assaulted by student, both sent to hospital …

Journal Star: Lincoln High staff member, student taken to hospital after altercation

KETV: Student, staff member hospitalized after fight at Lincoln High School

KLKN: Lincoln High staff member, student hospitalized after altercation

We’ve talked about how important a headline is, because often people won’t read the whole story, so it shouldn’t be misleading or inaccurate.

Last semester, a student alerted school officials that a man nearby was having some kind of convulsive seizure, and our school resource officer responded and saved the man’s life. He had had an overdose. The headlines of some of the stories made it sound like a Lincoln High student had overdosed in the school building. We contacted them, and some of them changed the headlines. Others didn’t.

Good morning!

Today I’d like us to do the following things:

1. Show you how to create your Staff Profile page for the Advocate Online in SNO (School Newspapers Online), the company that hosts our site. You’ll write a short bio of yourself and upload a profile photo. You can use your Synergy photo or use one that you’ve already taken. I can also take a new one for you.
2. Finish up the Pep Rally News Brief – we’ll look at some photos as well. A first draft of this is due TODAY by the end of the period. 
3. Make a Post SNO for the brief.

Tomorrow:
Discuss Caption Writing – which is really like writing a very short story telling what’s happening in a photo. You will do an exercise for practice.

Today we’re going to write a quick News Brief about the Winter Pep Rally. There is a document for this in Classroom. We’ll look at some photos to go with it, and we’ll try to get it posted by the end of class.

We want to include the factual (5Ws) information, but we also want interesting details and (if possible) quotes from students.

Today I want you to go out Foraging for Story Ideas. You will go out individually. Do not pair up or travel in packs. Fan out to cover more ground.

You need 10 story ideas EACH. 

Look at the world through the eyes of a hunter/forager/journalist. Imagine that your life depends on what you find.

Look for posters, look in classrooms, talk to people (students, staff, administrators, etc.), ask them what they would like to read a story about, find places that most people don’t think about, think about things that make you curious, be creative.

Take a press pass (and a notebook and pen or your phone), and walk around the building. TAKE NOTES. Look for potential stories. They can be about events, people, classes, school history, sports, activities, issues, etc. Get people’s names and grades if you can, and write down where they are this period.

Be on your best behavior in the halls, and try not to disrupt classrooms. Stay in the building. 

Come back to the room at 10:30 and enter your ideas into the spreadsheet. Be sure to put your name next to your idea.

Next, we’ll triage the list and decide which ones sound most promising.

Good morning! Welcome back from your four-day weekend! Hope you had a good snow day.

Today I’d like to talk about something that is crucial to journalism (and to everyone who reads any stories from news outlets):

How to Tell Fact From Fiction (or Opinion). 

Now, you may think this is simple, but I assure you, it’s not. Especially in today’s world where anyone can make their own website and post almost virtually anything they want.

How do we decide what is credible, reliable information and what is lies, distortion, or propaganda?

There are many different methods proposed by many different people. How do we even know if we can trust the people telling us how to figure out who to trust? What methods are successful, and which ones aren’t?

Here’s a quiz from the Pew Research Center

Here’s an article from The Guardian UK.

Between fact and opinion, there’s also the area of imprecision. Journalists and pundits often use imprecise or vague wording to avoid having to give factual information. Here’s a montage of FoxNews using the phrase “some people say” to get an unsubstantiated claim (one that’s not supported by evidence) out there. Then they build an argument off of a faulty premise (or at least one that hasn’t been verified). They’re not the only ones who do this, but it is a very common practice for them.

You should also know about logical fallacies (or errors in reasoning). Sometimes these are accidental, and sometimes they are used on purpose to deceive.

I’d like us to read an article together that may help give us some strategies or at least point out some things to watch for. It’s called, “How To Avoid Swallowing War Propaganda.”

Another way to help avoid this is to rely only on credible sources. We’ll discuss how to evaluate sources of information as well.

Good morning.

Today you’ll take the Name Quiz from our Classmate Introduction speeches.

Click on this link to take the Quiz. 

You need to identify each student by name (spelled correctly) and say one interesting thing that they learned from the presentations. You may NOT use your notes. I’ll give you a few minutes to review before the quiz

****BE CAREFUL THAT YOUR BROWSER DOESN’T AUTOCORRECT THE NAME TO SOMETHING ELSE!

After the quiz, we will brainstorm some possible story ideas.