NEWS TEAM COMPREHENSION + GREAT GIVEAWAYS

Hello my friends!  Long time no write.  I went to lunch with a teacher buddy, napped, caught up on laundry, and had a great visit with a family pal and . . . POOF . . . yesterday was gone.  It was 10 pm and I was headed to bed before I realized I didn't post.  No rules?  No time constraints?  No "have to" do thats? Summer is officially here.  Whoop!  Whoop!!

Although I didn't pull that bloggy trigger yesterday, I was thinking about what to post as I climbed into bed.  I started thinking about all of those activities that I have done in the past that I didn't do this last year (either I ran out of time or forgot all about it).  So, I peeked through my files of photos and found a gem of language arts ditty that I simply MUST bring back next year.  NEWS TEAM COMPREHENSION.

Okay . . . okay . . . so here's a little back story on this.  Before I became a teacher, I held a journalism/public relations degree and worked in promotions for five years. Where did I work you ask?  Any guesses?  Yup, I labored for the local television affiliates (after a one-year stint trying my hand in the horrid world of high-tech PR at Porter Novelli Public Relations in Portland, OR . . . supply chain management . . . NO THANK YOU).  Wow!  Memory lane here for sure.  I worked at FOX 30 for three years and KRCR, News Channel 7 for a little over a year before deciding to return to Chico State to snag a teaching credential.  At both stations I headed up promotions and special events.  But, at KRCR, I also wrote cheesy local commercials and had my hand in the doings of the news department (i.e. reporters and the news team in general). During this time, I learned the "ins and outs" of the biz and made lots of reporter friends.  I guess this followed me to my teaching career.  I digress . . . 

So, when I saw one of those cheap-o echo microphones in the toy bins at Target a few years ago, all of my previous training came flooding back.  Hence, NEWS REPORTER COMPREHENSION was born.  All you need is an old ugly vest or coat with a class "logo" attached (I had it correspond with my old room number - 25), a microphone of some sort, a great story, and eager minds :)

After reading a story, ask for a volunteer to be the news reporter and another to be the interviewee.  It is the reporter's job to "interview" the student in a way that gets them to retell the story.  They can ask questions like, "What happened in the beginning of the story?" or "What was the setting of the story?"  OR . . . you can have them get more detailed in their questions (i.e. "What happened after the old lady swallowed the rake?") You can feed your reporter questions or you can have them come up with them on their own.  It's your call here, and as we all know, it will largely depend on the type of class you have :).  I usually switch out reporters 2-3 times during the activity to get more people involved. The kids eat this activity up and they don't even know they are practicing their comprehension skills . . . hehehe!

Let's see.  What else do I have for you today?  Oh yes, I am participating in two very special giveaways.  One of my very best bloggy buddies, Christina, over at Mrs. Bainbridge's Class is hosting an UH-MAY-ZING giveaway to help celebrate her one year blogging birthday!  The amount of cool stuff/units you can win is sick! Don't take my word for it . . . you simply must to go check it out (click on her button below)!

I also am honored to take part in my other bloggy pal's giveaway.  Tammy over at 1...2...3...Teach With Me is hosting a giveaway to celebrate 200 followers! She too has OODLES of wonderful items up for grabs from some fab bloggers. Be sure to check this one out too . . . you won't be sorry :)

Well, that's it my dear friends.  Thank you so much for visiting.  I am hoping to work on my unit a bit (no, I am still not finished yet) before heading to the movies with my mom.  It's the last day for the Hunger Games in our area and now that I've read all of the books, I just can't miss out.  Have a fantastic day.  See you tomorrow.