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LESSON PLAN:
CITIZEN JOURNALISM
By Greg Timmons, educational consultant and Executive
Director of The Constitution Project
Subject(s):
Civics, Current Events, government, journalism
Grade
Level: 7-12
Estimated
time of completion: Two class periods
Overview:
There have been numerous surveys, recently conducted, that report
on teens' and early twenty-somethings' use of the Internet as a vehicle
to express their creative thoughts. At the same time, other surveys have
reported a disturbing lack of student understanding of the First Amendment,
specifically the freedom of the press. This lesson explores the first
concept - students as citizen journalists - and its relationship to a
free press, by examining the rights and responsibilities of those who
participate in citizen journalism. This lesson contains an opening activity
and two main activities. Extension activities are also provided. Assessment
can be done on student participation in discussions and papers or projects
produced.
Lesson
Objectives
Students will:
- Examine
the news media and analyze its usefulness to their needs.
- Understand
the core values of American democracy and their relationship to the
Declaration of Independence, their importance to a free and independent
media, and their importance to the people who consume and produce information.
- Examine
the results of a resent survey on student use of the Internet and compare
their personal use with the survey's results.
- Discuss
the ethics of downloading copyrighted material on the Internet.
- Examine
several examples of citizen journalism practiced in the United States
and evaluate its value to furthering the concept of a free press.
To make
these lesson plans better 
Correlation
to National Standards
Materials
Procedures
Opening Activity:
1. Divide
students into small groups of 4-5 and distribute Student
Handout 1 "News Media Survey" to all students.
2. Give them some time to complete the survey and discuss the follow-up
questions. Then hold a general discussion on the survey focusing on
the follow-up questions.
3. Have students summarize their general thoughts on how they use the
news media, the extent of government influence or regulation of information,
and who can or should publish the news.
Activity
Two:
Looking at "Core Values of American Constitutional Democracy"
1. Keep
students in their small groups. Distribute Student
Handout 2 "Core Values of American Constitutional Democracy." Have
students review the handout and then address the questions at the end
in their small group.
2.
Discuss with them the Core Values, the rights and responsibilities that
surround them, and how they affect a free and independent press.
*The five discussion questions could be reviewed by students as a homework
assignment and then reviewed in the small group class discussion.
Activity
Three: "Teen Content Creators and Consumers"
1. Divide
the class into groups of five or six. Make sure the mix is evenly balanced
among students.
2. Distribute Student Handout
3 "Citizen Journalism" to all students. Review the directions
with them. Have students go to the Pew Internet & American Life
Project survey report entitled, "Teen Content Creators and
Consumers" at http://www.pewtrusts.com/pdf/PIP_Teens_1105.pdf.
Have them review the "Summary of Findings." These four pages
could be downloaded, printed, and distributed to students as an option.
3. Then, direct students to go to the NewsHour Web page at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/july-dec05/citizen_11-16.html
and review the segment, "The Rise of Citizen Journalism."
It is highly recommended that students watch the streaming video of
the segment while reviewing the transcript as it contains visual as
well as audio information. (Reviewing these Web sites could be done as
homework.)
4. After viewing the segment and reading the transcripts, have students
answer the questions on the handout in their groups. Tell them they
will need to take notes on the discussion using the chart on the second
page to write a news story.
Extension
Ideas:
1.
Several surveys have been conducted over the past few years on teen-agers'
knowledge and understanding of the freedom of the press, the practice
of journalism, and students' use of the "new media." Have
students review Student Handout
4 "Survey Results" presenting the questions from different
surveys and report the findings by going to the surveys' Web sites.
Students can present their report as a paper, presentation, or posting
their summary on a Web page or blog.
2. Have students conduct their own survey of how students in their school
use the Internet. You can use any of the surveys mentioned in the above
activity as a model. This is a good opportunity to incorporate math
skills as students gather a large sampling and convert the results into
percentages displayed in graphs and tables. Students can tabulate results
and publish their account in a student publication.
3. Have students publish their news stories from Activity 3 in the student
newspaper or online on the class or school Web site. Invite readers to
comment on the stories through letters to the editor or through blogs
or list serves set up on the school's Web site
Resources:
"What Works in Youth Media" http://www.makeaconnection.org/
This organization is a global initiative that equips young people around
the world with essential "life skills" - including greater self-confidence
and the ability to think creatively, communicate effectively, relate to
others, and give back to society.
"Listen
up! Youth Media Network" http://www.pbs.org/merrow/listenup/
Listen Up! is a youth media network that connects young video producers
and their allies to resources, support, and projects with the goals of
developing the field and achieving an authentic youth voice in the mass
media.
"Teach
the First Amendment" http://www.teachfirstamendment.org/
Sponsored by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the site provides
resources, information, and ideas on teaching the First Amendment.
"Student
Press Law Center" http://www.splc.org/
The Student Press Law Center is an advocate for students' free-press rights
and provides information, advice, and legal assistance at no charge to
students and the educators who work with them.
"The
Youth Free Expression Network" http://www.yfen.org
The Youth Free Expression Network is a national coalition of teens and
adults committed to defending the free expression rights of youth.
Standards
National Standards based on McREL standards and benchmarks:
McRel
K-12 Standards Addressed:
Civics
Standard
3: Understands the sources, purposes, and functions of law, and
the importance of the rule of law for the protection of individual rights
and the common good.
Standard 8: Understands the central ideas of American constitutional
government and how this form of government shaped the character of American
society.
Standard 9: Understands the importance of Americans sharing and
supporting certain values, beliefs, and principles of American constitutional
democracy.
Standard 26: Understands issues regarding the proper scope and
limits of rights and the relationships among personal, political, and
economic rights.
Language
Arts
Standard
4: Gathers and uses information for research purposes.
Standard 7: Uses reading skills and strategies to understand
and interpret a variety of informational texts.
About
the Author Greg Timmons is a teacher, curriculum writer and Executive
Director of The Constitution Project in Portland, Oregon. He has taught
middle school and secondary Social Studies for over 30 years, wrote lessons,
and directed institutes on U.S. Constitution-related issues. He is a member
of the Board of Directors of the Oregon Council for the Social studies.
He resides in Bellevue, Washington.
To find out
more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman
at extra@newshour.org.
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