Reporting Live...from St. Bride's

I. Briefly review the project proposal form. Discuss the project theme, outline and time line; review the project and curriculum objectives.

Project Title: Reporting Live...from St. Bride's

Project Theme: Creating a newspaper of the community of St. Bride's.

Project Outline: The grade three class at Fatima Academy created an online newspaper of their community by using the following steps:

  1. They studied the local and provincial newspapers in addition to newspapers on the Internet to examine the different parts and sections of a newspaper.
  2. They had a full group discussion on what to include in the newspaper (what articles).
  3. They were put in pairs according to their connection with specific topics.
  4. Each pair did the research needed to complete their article.
  5. Each group wrote their article, proof read it, and wrote their final draft on the computer. They also added pictures taken with the digital camera.
  6. The whole group created a front page to create links to their own pages.

Project Time Line: It took about one month from start to finish. It was completed during May and June of this year.

Project/Curriculum Objectives:

  • To learn more about the community they live in.
  • To learn how to conduct interviews and to do research.
  • To learn how to collaborate in pairs.
  • To learn how to do Internet searches,
  • To learn how to write for a particular audience (general public).
  • To learn how to use the basic tools in Netscape Composer.

II. Show the audience the outcome of the project proposal.

Results and a tour of the project can be seen at: http://www.k12.nf.ca/fatima/news3.htm

III. Briefly comment on any successes or problems that were encountered throughout the life of the project.

Successes of the Project: The level of difficulty of the project was appropriate to the grade level of the students. The students seemed to really enjoy doing the project and seeing the finished product. The students worked very well in pairs and showed a lot of cooperation.

Difficulties of the Project: The amount of time that was allotted was not sufficient enough, thus we seemed to be rushed. Completing the Internet searches was sometimes difficult.

IV. Comment on any aspects of the project that you would do differently.

Aspects of the project that I would have done differently were:

  • I would have allotted more time to complete the project.
  • I would have had the students get more in depth with their research.
  • I would have completed more stories on the community itself and not on the school.
  • I would have asked the students to vary their web pages more (add more graphics, change format, etc.).

V. Comment on if and how the project can be expanded next year.

Some ways to expand my project next year:

  1. Add new stories to the existing newspaper.
  2. Ask the new grade three class to add their own stories.
  3. Add links to other newspapers.
  4. Do a second edition of the same newspaper