7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting In Middle School

In “7 Reasons I Teach Newspaper Reporting in Middle School,” episode #106, Meredith Curtis shares how she hones in our children’s writing before they start high school by teaching them to write like reporters. Not only do they learn to write clearly and concisely, they have fun putting together a newspaper and write with a purpose—for others to read their writing. Not only that, newspapers played a huge part in the history of the United States, so studying newspaper writing, though the newspaper industry is fading away, helps children understand our past with clarity by putting on their reporter and editor hats. Getting children ready for essays, research papers, and literary analysis doesn’t have to be boring. Writing like a reporter is super-fun and so is creating your own newspaper. Be inspired to enjoy middle school English while investing in your children’s long term growth as writers.

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Show Notes

Common questions: “How do you teach English in middle school?” and “How do you get kids ready for high school.

One thing I do in middle school is teach my children to think like reporters.

Some time in middle school we do a newspaper writing course.

We learn to write headlines, bylines, news stories, and put together a newspaper to share with others.

How a newspaper works with editor, reporters, columnists, and business side

History of newspapers

This is really fun to do with another family or two or in a co-op setting if you don’t have a big family.

Here are the Skills I Teach:

Reporters

Asking questions

Find way around newspaper

Lead

Who, what, where, and when in the first sentence. Why and/or how in second.

What is really happening?

What is important and what isn’t?

Headlines & Bylines

Bylines: who wrote it and where

Headlines: brief, eye-catching, make reader want to know more

Font

Editing

Editing matters because people will be reading your work

Grammar & spelling in a practical way

Editor marks

Supplemental grammar/spelling

Creating a Newspaper

So much involved from writing to editing to business side

Everyone gets a job

Everyone writes an article

Mom is publisher and possibly editor-in-chief too

Making and selling ads

Teamwork

History

Brief look at history of newspapers

American history—federalist and anti-federalist papers

Different Slant and honest about compared to today

Yellow Journalism

Fun!

Joy of creating something other people enjoy!

Joy of working together on a big project

Joy of growing as a writer

Joy of people reading your writing—writing has a purpose

English Courses

If you would like to use my English courses in your own homeschool, they are all available for sale in print at Amazon and as E-books from PowerineProd.com, PayHip, and TeachersPayTeachers.

You can learn about individual English courses:

Whatever path you choose for English in your own high school home school, I hope it will include lots of classic literature and writing. I think back to the basics is best!