1st Edition

Hit the Headlines Exciting journalism activities for improving writing and thinking skills

By Colin Macfarlane Copyright 2012
192 Pages
by Routledge

192 Pages
by Routledge

Hit the Headlines charts out a series of fun and inspiring, cross-curricular journalism workshops that enhance key skills and confidence in areas such as: Writing and editing. Critical assessment. Interviewing and observation. Mental flexibility and resourcefulness. Role-playing and teamwork. This book will enable teachers of 9 – 15 year-olds to involve... Read more

CHAPTER 1: introduction and theory; CHAPTER 2: a few words on how to use this book; CHAPTER 3: the secrets of fact sequencing; CHAPTER 4: the shape of a news story; CHAPTER 5: ideas for studying the newspapers together; CHAPTER 6: ‘Story Quest’ – a journalism game; CHAPTER 7: live action (why realistic scenarios are so effective); CHAPTER 8: ‘Group Scenarios’ – a dramatic way to learn; CHAPTER 9: writing and editing the group scenario stories; CHAPTER 10: ‘A Sub-Editing Challenge’; CHAPTER 11: the ‘Challenging Changes’ activity explained; CHAPTER 12: ‘Making it Real’ – creating news scenarios; CHAPTER 13: more on news scenarios and ‘some we made earlier’; CHAPTER 14: recounting, spin & bias in journalism, with exercises; CHAPTER 15: beyond print journalism in educational settings; CHAPTER 16: some suggestions for making a project newspaper; CHAPTER 17: headlines and headline games; photocopiable sheets: fictitious stories for ‘What’s the Headline?’ game; CHAPTER 18: adapting journalism techniques for any educational project; Glossary of journalistic and workshop terms

Biography

Colin Macfarlane is an educational consultant, writer, professional performing poet and ex-journalist. He has had considerable experience over the past 20 years in developing and running a great number of highly acclaimed writing workshops in schools, and intensive residential courses around the country.