The Front Page - Lesson

Lesson Plan

Level(s): Grade 9 to 12

Author: This five lesson unit was adapted from News is Not Just Black and White, a workbook of classroom activities dealing with representations of race and ethnicity in the newspaper. The workbook was created by the Canadian Newspaper Association (CNA) as part of their Newspapers in Education program.

Overview

This is the second of five lessons designed to teachstudents to think critically about the way aboriginal peoples and visible minorities are portrayed in the press."The Front Page" begins by helping students to identify andunderstand the different aspects of the newspaper. Using these skills, students will then collect and identify front-page newsstories and categorize them according to subject matter. Specialemphasis will be placed on their representation of visible minorities.

Learning Outcomes

Students will:

• understand the purpose and structure of daily newspapers
• understand terminology associated with newspapers
• become aware of the importance of the front page of the newspaper
• become aware of the types of stories and elements that typically appear on the front page of a newspaper
• understand the role played by editors in determining story selection and placement
• recognize bias and slant in written work
• recognize the differences between fact and opinion
• become aware of the ways in which ethnocultural minorities are represented in newspapers

This lesson and all associated documents (handouts, overheads, backgrounders) is available in an easy-print, pdf kit version.

Lesson Kit:

Lesson_Front_Page.pdf