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Newspapers
and Magazines
Program
Areas
This guide
has been designed to fit into the Media Studies Unit of the Grade10
English course immediately after the study of the format, layout
and design aspects of newspapers and magazines. It is recommended
that this unit be implemented early in the term as these topics
are covered in the second unit of study in Grade 10 Geography.
You may wish to coordinate the timing of this unit with the Geography
Department.
Learning
Outcomes
Teaching, learning and evaluation will focus on the student’s
ability to:
- Locate
newspaper and magazine articles on specific issues and identify
the issue in terms of a problem;
- Organize
the information about an issue provided by newspapers and magazines
in a given conceptual framework;
- Analyze
and evaluate the points of view presented by print media on
an environmental issue.
Classroom
Development
The following activities and lines of inquiry range from simplest
to most complex and are included here to help you develop this
topic in the classroom.
- Students
collect newspaper and magazine articles related to the following
issues which are studied in the Grade10 Geography course: to
log or not to log, the solution to water pollution, the transportation
of oil, the disappearance of agricultural land, and fast food
litter. All students should search for and save articles on
all of the topics. Sort the articles according to environmental
issue.
- Students
are asked to form small groups. Each group selects an issue
to analyze. As a group, the students identify the issue, name
the person or group represented in the articles, and state the
position taken by the person or group, and the reason for the
position taken. It will be necessary for the teacher to explain
the following terms: aesthetic, economic, ecological, legal,
cultural, educational, and egocentric.
- Each
small group completes and makes an overhead transparency of
its “Issue Analysis Report” to present to the class.
These presentations should allow for questions from the class
and discussion of possible solutions.
- Following
the presentations, the class selects one problem from those
presented on which to take action. The class then decides what
possible action it could take. It could be simply to write a
letter to a government official or one of the parties involved,
voicing concern for the issue.
Timing
- One
period to read, identify, clip and sort articles
- One
period for the Issue Analysis Report
- 10-15
min per group for presentations
- One
period to develop an action plan
Resources
A collection
of newspapers and magazines for clipping.
Have back issues (although relatively current issues) of national
newspapers available.
Handout: “Issue Analysis Report” form, contained in
this document.
Cross-disciplinary
Links
Geography—Efforts
should be made to coordinate this activity with the study of the
same issues in the Grade 10 Geography course.
Note: This guide sheet has been adapted from the article, “A
Technique for Analyzing Environmental Issues” by John L.
Ramsey, Harold R. Hungerford, and Trudi Volk in Journal of Environmental
Education, Vol 21:1, Fall 1989
Student Activities
Issues
Analysis Report
Issue Selected
for Analysis:
Create a
Table with the following headings:
Person or
Group represented
Point of
View presented by the person or groups
Is the reason
based on aesthetic, economic, ecological, legal, cultural, educational
or egocentric values?
Questions
- Summarize
the main points of view presented.
- What
additional information must be obtained in order for you to
make an informed decision concerning this issue?
- Do the
solutions posed by those represented address the real environmental
problem, or do they simply reflect other interests?
- After
presenting your report to the class, decide on the best solution
to the problem and decide how you could help make this solution
come about.
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