Maycomb Tribune. Group of Grade 11 s take over the Tribune and embark on inquiry project

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1 PVSD Maycomb Tribune V OLUME 1, I SSUE 1 N OVEMBER 30 TH, 2010 INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Group of Grade 11 s take over the Tribune and embark on inquiry project ELA 20 Miss Johnston The Maycomb Tribune has been sold! After many years Mr. Underwood has decided to pass on his responsibility of editor. The new owners, a group of ELA 20 students, has a new vision for the beloved, local newspaper: a focus on the hard-pressing issues of this decade the 1930 s. You, as a Grade 11 student, is to take on the role of a reporter for The Maycomb Tribune. You have the freedom to decide on topics of your choice. But, you are not alone! This newspaper is run by a team of you and two peers. Each of you will research and write articles on different topics on the 1930 s. Every team member will have a specific role. The Editor will read over and edit each article for mistakes and clear writing. The Designer will create the design of the newspaper. He or she will format all the articles and photos so the newspaper is attractive and easy to read. The Bibliographer will create the Works Consulted page in the proper format. He or she will make sure that the writers have cited sources properly and completely. Make the newspaper as interesting as possible. It must be 1930 s themed. Use photos and ads that would have appeared in this decade to make the newspaper appealing and accurate. Choose topics that are interesting to you, but keep your audience in mind while you write them. Use other newspaper articles as models for your own. Dill selling copies of the now redesigned and more informative Tribune I have included advice and guidelines for creating your publication. Make sure you check over the marking scheme before you decide to publish. Down to a science: Formula for a well-written news article The trick to a news article is to catch the reader s attention with an interesting headline. Next you can use the following formula to write your article. First paragraph In your first one or two sentences tell who, what, when, where, and why. Try to hook the reader by beginning with a funny, clever, or surprising statement. Go for variety: try beginning your article with a question or a provocative statement. Second/Third/Four paragraphs Give the reader the details. Include one or two quotes from people you interviewed. Write in the third person (he, she, it, they). Be objective never state your opinion. Use quotes to express others opinions! Last paragraph Wrap it up somehow (don t leave the reader hanging. Please don t say in conclusion or to finish (yawn). Try ending with a quote or a catchy phrase. Use active words, take notes when you interview. Tell the really interesting info first! (Media Awareness) Editor s Story 1 2 Editor s Story 2 2 Designer s Story 1 2 Designer s Story 2 3 Bibliographer s Story 1 Bibliographer s Story 2 Resource Page 6 SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: The Scottsboro Trials Toys in the 1930 s The Jim Crow Laws Living through the depression Abolition of slavery Morphine addiction Cotton farming Emmett Till 4 5

2 P AGE 2 V OLUME 1, I SSUE 1 Internet Research Tips Finding Reliable Internet Sources By Grace Fleming, About.com Guide The Internet is a great resource, but it is also a public forum, where anyone can make a claim or an assertion. If you find an article that provides relevant information for your research topic, you should take care to investigate the source to make sure it is valid and reliable. It is your responsibility as a researcher to find and use the trustworthy sources. There are several ways to investigate your source. Author In most cases, you should stay away from Internet information that doesn't list an author. While the information you find may be true, it is more difficult to validate information if you don't know the credentials of the author. If the author is named, you will want to find his/her web page to: Verify educational credits Discover if the writer is either published in a scholarly journal Verify that the writer is employed by a research institution or university URL If the information is linked to an organization, try to determine the reliability of the sponsoring organization. One tip is the url ending. If the site name ends with.edu, it is most likely an educational institution. Even so, you should be aware of political bias. If a site ends in.gov, it is most likely a reliable government web site. Government sites are usually good sources for statistics and objective reports. Sites that end in.org are usually non-profit organizations. They can be very good sources or very poor sources, so you'll have to take care to research their possible agendas or political biases, if they exist. For instance, collegeboard.org is the organization that provides the SAT and other tests. You can find valuable information, statistics, and advice on that site. PBS.org is a non-profit organization that provides educational public broadcasts. It provides a wealth of quality articles on its site. Other sites with the.org ending are advocacy groups that are highly political in nature. White it is entirely possible to find reliable information from a site like this, as always, you should be mindful of the political slant and acknowledge this in your work. Online Journals and Magazines A reputable journal or magazine should contain a bibliography for every article. The list of sources within that bibliography should be pretty extensive, and it should include scholarly, non-internet sources. Check for statistics and data within the article to back up the claims You can show pictures sources like this if you wish: made by the author. Does the writer provide evidence to back up his statements? News Sources Every television and print news source has a web site. To some extent, you can rely on the most trusted news To catch the reader's attention, place an interesting sentence or quote from the story here. sources, but you should not rely on them exclusively. After all, network and cable news stations are involved in entertainment. Think of them as a stepping stone to more reliable sources.

3 M AYCOMB TRIBUNE P AGE 3 Works Cited Media Awareness Network. Formula for a Well-Written News Article. Media Awareness Network. Web. Nov Flemming, Grace. Internet Research Tips. About.com. Web. Nov

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6 PVSD Primary Business Address Your Address Line 2 Your Address Line 3 Your Address Line 4 Phone: Fax: someone@example.com This would be a good place to insert a short paragraph about your organization. It might include the purpose of the organization, its mission, founding date, and a brief history. You could also include a brief list of the types of products, services, or programs your organization offers, the geographic area covered (for example, western U.S. or European markets), and a profile of the types of customers or members served. Your business tag line here. It would also be useful to include a contact name for readers who want more information about the organization. Back Page Story Headline We re on the Web! example.com Organization This story can fit words. If your newsletter is folded and mailed, this story will appear on the back. So, it s a good idea to make it easy to read at a glance. A question and answer session is a good way to quickly capture the attention of readers. You can either compile questions that you ve received since the last edition or you can summarize some generic questions that are frequently asked about your organization. A listing of names and titles of managers in your organization is a good way to give your newsletter a personal touch. If your organization is small, you may want to list the names of all employees. If you have any prices of standard products or ser- Caption describing picture or graphic. vices, you can include a listing of those here. You may want to refer your readers to any other forms of communication that you ve created for your organization. You can also use this space to remind readers to mark their calendars for a regular event, such as a breakfast meeting for vendors every third Tuesday of the month, or a biannual charity auction. If space is available, this is a good place to insert a clip art image or some other graphic.