December 2018 – THE BEGBIE BUZZ

The Begbie Buzz – Our First Interview

CELEBRITY PROFILE

After Mr. Cortens answered all of our questions, the Junior Journalists watched (and re-watched) the recorded footage from their interviews for research purposes.

The students then all wrote their very first article.

Below every article you will find a soundbite from the reporter. Our Junior Journalists recorded their own reflections about their experience as first time reporters! They used the app called “Voice Memo” to share what they felt they were good at, and to express what they would like to work on in terms of writing future articles. The students talked about…

being able to summarize key points
writing a short paragraph that makes sense and is cohesive
coming up with a catchier headline
using interesting words in their articles
making sure to tell readers facts about our subject
creating a nice presentation or layout so that it catches readers’ eyes

For newspaper article templates, full credit goes to the owners of the following sites. Please click on the following links…

Enjoy reading the character profiles on Mr. Cortens, and celebrate what the students have learned from this task!

3, 2, 1…and Action!

On the morning of December 3rd, the kids were all abuzz with excitement, as they waited for our interview subject to arrive.

Mr. Cortens showed up in our room, but before we started our activity, the class made sure to ask for permission to videotape our person of interest. After getting verbal consent, the students took turns interviewing our school principal, asking some very interesting questions and showcasing their oral communication skills along the way.

They loved being reporters!

Check out a few soundbites below.

Preparing for our First Interview

BEHIND THE SCENES IN THE NEWSROOM

We prepared for our first interview by coming up with questions for our person of interest: our school principal, Mr. John Cortens.

The students divided into small groups, and were responsible for jotting down questions regarding one of the following parts of Mr. Corten’s life:

his baby years
his childhood years
his teaching career
his role as a principal
his thoughts on the new school
his future and interests

The kids came up with some really fascinating, original questions for Mr. Cortens.

Some examples include:

Were you a big or small baby when you were born?
What colour was your hair when you were a baby?
What kinds of toys did you like playing with when you were a little kid?
Do you have any brothers or sisters?
When you were a teacher, what grades did you teach?
Where did you teach?
What do you like most about being a principal?
What’s your favourite thing to do when you aren’t being a principal?
Can you tell us your favourite places to visit?

And finally, one of my all time faves…

What do you want to do after you get taller? 😉

What is Digital Citizenship?

Thanks to SET-BC, we currently have 6 iPads for our class to use for our special newspaper project. With the iPads, the students will learn to use technology to enhance and showcase their learning with tools such as photos, video recording, Voice Memos, or apps such as Book Creator and Explain Everything. My hope is that this tech project will indirectly help increase students’ interest in verbal or written communication, as well as motivate students to write with purpose.

“Great communication begins with connection.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

Before we could even start to play with our 6 iPads and begin our newspaper blog, it was important and necessary for our class to talk about Digital Citizenship.

During our Tech Time lessons, we learned that all good digital citizens:

protect private information for themselves and others: “I will log out, and not share my login or password with others.”
respect themselves and others: “I will always ask for consent or permission before I take anyone’s photos or record a video of someone.”
balance the time they spend online and using media: “I will keep the device safe and secure at all times. I will use the device only for the assigned task.”
stay safe online: “I will visit appropriate websites that promote learning and are for educational purposes.”
respect copyright and intellectual property.
carefully manage their digital footprint: “I will use kind words and remember my digital footprint should never harm others.”
stand up to cyberbullying if/when they see it happening.

As Spiderman once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” 🙂

Hello, World.

Our Junior Journalists are pleased to share the latest news with you on our newspaper blog. Throughout the school year, the students will learn about the different features that make up a newspaper: interviews, weather forecasts, community news, entertainment news, comic strips, editorials, and more!

Visit often for the latest scoop. Newest posts are usually found nearest to the top; scroll down for older posts.

Please enjoy THE BEGBIE BUZZ.

What is a Newspaper?

Using an inquiry approach to learning, the students worked together in small groups to make their own discoveries about what a newspaper is. They looked at a simple newspaper called West Coast Reader.

There was good discussion between group members, with students noticing that newspapers often have the following features:

title
date
page numbers
photos
words (with titles being bigger, and stories being smaller)
thin newsprint paper
weather news
sports news
news about shows or movies
comics
news about the community or world
reminders about upcoming events
names of reporters
word search or crossword puzzles or sudoku puzzles

When asked what is the purpose of newspapers during a class discussion, the children’s responses included:

to tell us what is going on near us
to give us information

My hope with this special newspaper project is for students to learn the power of communication, and to be personally invested in sharing the written word with their readers.

“I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world.” ~ Henry Luce