Students will play different roles in the newscast -- one student may be the anchor, the other a business reporter, the other a human interest and editorial commentator. Students with reading difficulties can still participate in this hands-on activity, even if they have difficulty with English, with concentrating for a long period of time, or with reading in general, but brighter and more engaged students can use the assignment as a way of responding creatively to the news.

Resources and materials: Students must have access to online or real-life newspapers. Before they break up into groups, a monitor should be present to show students an example of a nightly newscast, which they will be replicating. If the students' own newscasts are to be televised, this will require a camera as well.

Evaluation: one of the positive aspects of evaluating students in this activity is that criteria can vary based...

Also it makes use of creative elements beyond the purely verbal, and gives students with other talents a chance to shine. The gifted child may have a chance to explore and showcase more of his or her abilities by choosing a challenging article and assuming a larger role in the presentation, but a student with reading or behavioral difficulties might find it empowering to be judged more on performance, than upon the written word.
Evaluations will be based upon the quality of the students' responses to the worksheet that he or she must fill out in regards to the article, his or her choice of article, and finally his or her performance in the newscast.

Works Consulted

Hudgeons, Connie. "An approach to current events." Academy Curricular Exchange Columbia

Education Center Social Studies. Retrieved 24 Jul 2008 at http://ofcn.org/cyber.serv/academy/ace/soc/cecsst/cecsst049.html