Teaching Suggestions

Washington Week Simulation

Divide the class into groups of five. Have one student act as the moderator and four students act as reporters. The reporters are responsible for researching and reporting on a specific issues. In addition, each reporter must be prepared to ask the other reporters a question on their issues. The moderator is responsible for being informed on all four issues. He/she is also responsible for introducing the issues, moving the discussion along and allowing each reporter enough time to speak. The group should set up a preliminary editorial meeting where each brings a number of possible topics for discussion. The moderator will serve as managing editor of the group and choose the final four topics, but reporters should be prepared to argue strongly for their issues. Have groups take turns presenting their discussions to the class.
[skills: making choices involved in planning aspects of media production, small group presentations, current events, media literacy, interpersonal communication]

On Friday, announce the issues from the Washington Week email newsletter (distributed on Thursday afternoon). Divide the class into groups and assign each group an issue. Ask the groups to bring in other forms of media coverage on the issue such as clippings from newspapers or newsmagazines, printouts from Internet news sites or students' written summaries of coverage on television or radio news. The following week, the students can share and discuss the differences in coverage and possible reasons for the differences. How does the coverage of the issues in other media compare to that of Washington Week? How does the coverage compare across media.
[skills: understanding the characteristics of a wide range of media, elements that recur across media, how types of media affects coverage of events or issues, purpose of the media]

Have each student select a specific issue currently in the news and perform a search on that issue in the transcripts section of this Web site. Using information from the transcripts, the student can create a timeline of the issues' developments, including setbacks, controversies and changes in the policies and players.