Overview of Howe Newspaper Project

The Howe School Gazette will be published three times this school year:

• First Issue: second week of November
• Second Issue: February
• Third Issue: End of May

Newspaper Curriculum lends itself to writing forms which are tested on the IGAP:

• Narrative (e.g. a how-to)
• Expository (e.g. article on ants in last year's issue of the Gazette)
• Persuasive (e.g. pieces for the Editorial Page)

What the Newspaper Project Offers you

• Project-based learning using writing
• Support for teachers interested in doing classroom newspapers with their students
• The newspaper as a teaching tool (e.g. article on ants as an example of expository writing)

HOWE WE CAN DO IT:

Teachers, please choose or have your class vote for two students to serve on the newspaper staff during the 1996-97 school year.

Optional Each classroom designate and decorate a Newspaper Box to be used to collect student-selected writings and other items such as artwork for submission to the newspaper. Submissions can be any writing or artwork students have done in class for review and possible submission to the newspaper staff.

Classroom Editorial Board in each classroom made up of 3 students (different from the two newspaper staffers) who with the classroom teacher select 3-4 works from the Newspaper Box for submission to the newspaper or the editorial board selects a small group of writing samples which the authors then read back to the entire class and the class selects 3-4 writings for submission to the newspaper

Classroom editorial board members with the newspaper staffers in each classroom present the newspaper project and how to submit articles, etc. to their fellow students.

Newspaper Staff

Three sessions/week Mon-Wed-Fri from 1:45-2:30 p.m. starting Monday, September 30. Students may come with work done in class which has been selected by you and your students. (approximately four pieces per class)

• Do not send students if they need to be in class.
• Students in the main building will be met near the office and escorted to the Computer Lab, Room #318 in the primary building.
• Students in the primary building should come to the Computer Lab with a hall pass.
• Students serving on the newspaper staff

Ideas and Activities related to the Newspaper

• Some classes will work on developing a home page on the World Wide Web. Student work will be eligible for inclusion on the school's website. This is an activity in which some students on the newspaper staff will participate.
• Connect with other schools with newspapers and/or Web sites to exchange material
• Some of these schools may want their students to "keypad" with Howe students. A continuing saga where students add to a story over a period of time might be an inspiration to many
• Students will have the opportunity to attend an after school newspaper club (more later)
• We will establish a newspaper exchange with other schools via mail
• We can download and print pages from other school newspapers online

Hardware: 2 Macintosh Computers, 23 Apple IIes, ScanMaker E3 Color Scanner, Connectix QuickCam Camera, HP LaserJet 5MP, School Photocopier

Software: PageMaker 4.0, ClarisWorks 4.0, EasyBook, QuickPICT, MicroScan

Eight Howe staff members are currently on the Newspaper/Reading & Writing Across the Curriculum Team and others are invited to join us. This team is one of Howe's Collaborative Learning Centers' Project teams for the 1996-97 school year in partnership with Northeastern Illinois University and its Chicago Teachers' Center.

For more information, contact Doris Monti Email: D-Monti@neiu.edu phone: 773-534-6067 or David Sperling Email: D-Sperling@neiu.edu phone: 312-733-7330 ext. 436