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$22

weekly
or $150 for 7 classes
Class

News You Can Use With Ms. Judy!

Ages 8-13
Live Group Class
Explore the news from around the world each week with kid-friendly sources and activities!

Live video meetings
1x per week, 7 weeks
2-8 learners per class
50 min

What's included

7 live meetings
5 hrs 50 mins in-class hours

Class Experience

US Grade 3 - 6
Each week, students will be reading and responding to age-appropriate local and global sources of news. Articles are selected each week so that they are timely, and cover topics such as: sports, world news, history and government. We will spend class time reading the article together and then students will have an opportunity to respond - either verbally or in writing. The articles themselves will have a range of vocabulary. Some articles will be harder than others so that we can practice decoding and context clues. 
Each session, students will respond to articles in writing with Reader Response questions which ask the student to offer some critical analysis of the news, as well as offering some evidence of the practical application of the readings.  Students will have an opportunity to engage and exchange ideas with classmates. While I will be a guide and gatekeeper, students will be sharing opinions and expressing how they feel about timely events in a secure and supportive environment.  One focus each week will be allowing each student to have a voice and an opportunity to read an article or express their opinion. Readers each week will be rotated so that every student is participating and sharing in some way. 
In addition, we will cover media literacy concerns: how to easily spot misinformation, and ways to tell if a website is biased or even fake. We will review how to look for clues that a website is not what it appears to be, as well as review websites that students can trust to use for their research and homework. 
A focal point of discussion will be non-fiction writing and the difference between writing for entertainment (fiction) and writing to inform (non-fiction). Students will debate, discuss, and interview as we end the course by constructing our very own newspaper with non-fiction articles written by the students themselves. This will be done using the online resource: Bookcreator.com. This free resource also allows for the students to purchase a copy of the final product.

Learning Goals

Students will read non-fiction news stories for comprehension, analyze written passages, use textual evidence to support written responses, and define unknown vocabulary terms using context clues.

Syllabus

7 Lessons
over 7 Weeks
Lesson 1:
Welcome and Class Overview
 *Review simple media literacy vocabulary
*First news article 
50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 2:
Reviewing Websites
 *Spotting fake and biased information
*Real vs Fake Kahoot Game 
50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 3:
Sources! Sources! Sources!
 *Review of trusted sources and information gathering
*Activity: Use or Lose? 
50 mins online live lesson
Lesson 4:
Entertainment vs Information
 *Matching Game: Educaplay
*Compare/Contrast Articles 
50 mins online live lesson

Other Details

Parental Guidance
News articles will be read each week for reading comprehension and reader response questions. Class articles will come from the following sources: https://www.twinkl.com/newsroom https://newsforkids.net/ https://www.timeforkids.com/g56/?age=child https://www.dogonews.com/ https://scholasticnews.scholastic.com/ We will be using the Google suit of products: Google Docs to answer comprehension questions and writing assignments during our meetings and Google Slides to start each week. Each meeting will have an agenda that includes a two articles and one activity. Often these activities will take place on Padlet or Miro, as we meet to share ideas and respond to the articles. Kahoot.com will be used for review quizzes to assess reading and comprehension and does not require a student to create an account. Similarly, Padlet.com will be used as a fun way to have the entire class participating as one. The students will follow a code that I give them, and will not be required to create an account. Bookcreator.com will be used to create stories and an online newspaper simply and easily. Students will not need to create an account for this website. They will be provided a link in class to utilize this resource.
Supply List
All of the articles shared can be found online for free!
Sources
https://www.twinkl.com/newsroom https://newsforkids.net/ https://www.timeforkids.com/g56/?age=child https://www.dogonews.com/ https://scholasticnews.scholastic.com/ Note: NPR, BBC, and Reuters will also be used to cultivate news articles, however students will be using the above resources in class.

Meet the teacher

Joined October, 2022
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Virginia Teaching Certificate in English/Language Arts
Master's Degree in Education from Virginia Commonwealth University
Bachelor's Degree in English from Virginia Tech
I am certified by the state of VA as an English teacher, library media specialist, and principal.
I have taught a news writing workshop class over the summer that was open to 4th - 6th grade.
I have been an elementary library media specialist in an elementary public school system and taught these very skills.
I have been teaching online now for three years and am very excited to build on this experience!

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