Newsproject

You will get to watch some English speaking news broadcast, read on-line news from multiple English speaking countries, do weekly summaries of the main headlines worldwide and in groups get to represent a English speaking country in your very own live news broadcast.

Study Plan

Week one: Introducing News Project. Introducing groups. Group discussions on news. How to summarize. Introducing News Summary Assignment.

Week two: First News Summary Europe(of three major headlines)! 

Week three: Second News Summary The Americas!

Week four: Third News Summary India, Australia and New Zeeland! 

Week five: Work in groups to decide on your group project. Check with teacher before proceeding.

Week six: Presentation/recording of group projects. 

Criteria:

A:

Listening and Reading: You understand both the main parts as well as detailed information of news broadcasts and news articles from different English speaking areas.You show your understanding by commenting on and analyzing the information in a well-spoken and mature way.

Writing: You present your weekly summaries and your group work report in a rich, varied (use synonyms and different ways of expressing yourself), clear (no bad grammatical- or spelling mistakes) way and you stick to the point throughout. You do this without staying too close to your source (i.e: NO COPYING!)

Speaking: You present your broadcast in a clear (good pronunciation), fluent (don't get lost in what your saying),  and mature way, without reading notes. You also comment on the news you are presenting.

Internet: You choose sources that are relevant to what you are doing and you comment on how trust-worthy they are.

C:

Listening and Reading: You understand the main parts as well as important details of news broadcasts and news articles from different English speaking areas. You show your understanding by commenting on and discussing them with appropriate language.

Writing: You present your weekly summaries and your group work report in a mainly clear (not too many grammatical- or spelling mistakes), with some variation (you try to express yourself in different ways) language and you mainly stick to the point. You do this without staying too close to your source (i.e: NO COPYING!)

Speaking: You present your broadcast in a clear (good pronunciation), mostly fluent way that suits a broadcast. You don't read from your notes but use them as support for your thoughts.

Internet: You choose sources that are relevant to what you are doing and you comment on how trust-worthy they are.

E:

Listening and Reading: You understand the main parts as well as clear details of news broadcasts and simple news articles.

Writing: You present your weekly summaries and your group work report in a mainly clear (not too many severe mistakes), language and you mainly stick to the point. You do this without staying too close to your source (i.e: NO COPYING!)

Speaking: You present your broadcast in an understandable way that suits a broadcast. 

Internet: You choose sources that are relevant to what you are doing.

Here are some suggested news sites:

On-line Newspapers of the English Speaking World

 British News:

 www.bbc.co.uk

 www.guardian.co.uk

 Irish News:

 www.irishnews.com

Canadian News:

www.ctvnews.ca

U.S.A News:

www.nytimes.com

www.usatoday.com

www.huffingtonpost.com

Australian News:

www.abc.net.au

New Zeeland News:

www.nzherald.co.nz

Indian News:

www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com

www.indianexpress.com

South African News:

www.news24.com

www.mg.co.za

Swedish News in English

www.thelocal.com

Uppgifter

Group discussions

Introduction to News Project Discuss in your groups and answer the following questions together: (Write down the answers on a piece of paper) * What is news? * Who decides what news is? * Do you think that we are leaving something out in our traditional view of what news is? * How do you get information about news and current events? * What does a typical news broadcast look like? * How is it structured? If you have time: How do you think the view on news has changed throughout history? A New(s) Project After watching a live news broadcast, get back to your groups and discuss the following questions. Take notes as we will bring up the questions for further discussion in class. * Did the news broadcast consist of the parts you expected? * If not, what was different from your prediction? * Can you summarize the content of the major headlines? * In what way was this broadcast different from the broadcasts you are used to? * Why do you think the broadcasts are so similar all over the world? * How would you improve a news broadcast to make it more accessible for the viewers? (If possible…)

News Summaries from Europe

Your first weeks three summaries should focus on news from English Speaking Europe. Refer to the links on on-line newspaper to find good souces. Your summaries should include answers to the following question: * What has happened? * Where did it happen? * What are people saying about it? * How will this affect the area? * Why is this important news for the country reporting it? * What is your opinion about what has happened? In you summary you also need to include links to the original articles. The summaries should be 1/2 page - 1 page in total.

News summaries from the Americas and South Africa

Your second weeks three summaries should focus on news from America (The U.S.A and Canada) and South Africa. Refer to the links on on-line newspaper to find good sources. Your summaries should include answers to the following question: * What has happened? * Where did it happen? * What are people saying about it? * How will this affect the area? * Why is this important news for the country reporting it? * What is your opinion about what has happened? In you summary you also need to include links to the original articles. The summaries should be 1/2 page - 1 page in total.

News summaries from Australia, India and New Zeeland

Your final three summaries should focus on news from India, Australia and New Zeeland. Refer to the links on on-line newspaper to find good sources. Your summaries should include answers to the following question: * What has happened? * Where did it happen? * What are people saying about it? * How will this affect the area? * Why is this important news for the country reporting it? * What is your opinion about what has happened? In you summary you also need to include links to the original articles. The summaries should be 1/2 page - 1 page in total.

Group work

Your group is a News Broadcast Team (NBT) from an English speaking country. In the near future you will be recording a live newscast. Today is your first meeting, which means it is time for you to start outlining your newscast. it is important that you decide together on the structure of your show. Answer the following questions and ask your teacher to review your answers before starting your research. What different parts will your broadcast consist of? Who is responsible for which part? What, specifically, will you try to write about in the different areas? If you need to research something, how will you try to find this information? How do you wish to structure your broadcast? Show me your answers, and start writing. Remember to not only scratch the surface. Write follow up questions and try to do in depth coverage of your stories.