For this assignment, students will be writing their own parody of their school newspaper.
First, students will examine stories from The Onion, and then perform research in the computer lab to find a corresponding story from a "real" news source (bbc.com, nytimes.com, news.bbc.co.uk, cnn.com). What are the similarities in the stories? Where do they differ? Where is the "humor" in the parody piece? What are some common characteristics of a "parody" news article? How much is based on real facts or events? What is the audience of each piece?
Next, students will examine past issue of their school newspaper to find stories that they find particularly interesting (or poorly researched/reported). Then they will write a parody of this article. We will try to get a wide variety of stories and subjects (national, local, sports, etc) and we may then attempt to construct an actual newspaper that we can distribute in the school. (Of course, we'll probably have to get check with the administration to get the okay).
Rationale: By using stories that have relevance to students lives, it will help to engage students in the process of incorporating the news into their lives. By producing work for an authentic audience of their peers, students will be more likely to put serious effort into their work (as opposed to an assignment that is for the "teacher's eyes" only). This assignment will give them experience doing multi-media research online as well as the experience of analyzing and evaluating messages from the news.
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Hey Center,
ReplyDeleteI think that this (like most of your crazy schemes) is a good idea. The jokester (or cynical) side of me thinks that many students probably want to "mock" their newspaper in some way - so this would be a good way to give them that outlet - and they might unveil some truths in the process. Some friends of mine wrote really hilarious oped pieces for the Hamlin newspaper and I am sure that it was most of the audience's favorite part!
- Joe