PRE-GAME
MINI LESSONS

WHAT DOES AN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DO?
INTRODUCTION
Write the job title Editor-in-Chief on the board. Let students know they have a very big
job at the online magazine The Daily Byte, carrying a wide range of responsibilities.
As Editor-in-Chief, they will be responsible for all magazine content, including articles,
editorials, and photographs.
From among the list of bulleted job responsibilities on the following two pages,
choose those that you would most like students to understand as they go through the
game. In turn, write on the board each job responsibility you chose and read aloud the
accompanying question. Suggested answers are in blue italics after each question.
Have a different volunteer answer each question. Make sure that students understand
each job responsibility before going on to the next one.
AFTER THE STORM • Pre-Game Mini Lessons #1
The Editor-in-Chief of
The Daily Byte is responsible for:
MINI-LESSON
Assigning stories and other tasks to staff members
• ASK: If you assigned a news story to a reporter, what would you expect
the reporter to do first? (e.g., research the topic, write down ideas, outline
the story, conduct an interview)
Overseeing magazine operations and policies
• SAY: In this context, operations means “the activity of a business.” Give
students an example of a business operation (e.g., system for paying bills,
keeping up computer equipment).
• SAY: Policies means “overall plans for carrying out the goals of an
organization.”
• ASK: What is my policy about cell phones in this class? (Or ask a preferred
related question.)
Making sure your staff are doing their best possible work
• SAY: Imagine you are running a staff meeting. All your Daily Byte
employees are there. You’ve noticed that a few of them have been
slacking off lately.
Editor-in-Chief’s Staff
AFTER THE STORM • Pre-Game Mini Lessons #1
• ASK: How would you handle this problem in the meeting? (Accept all
reasonable answers, but students should understand that the
Editor-in-Chief would not single out employees by name and might
choose to motivate staff in a positive way, e.g., giving them a
meaningful goal that will have an impact on the magazine.)
Checking facts to ensure all articles and editorials are correct
• ASK: Why is it important for an Editor-in-Chief to check the facts
in articles and editorials? What might happen if he or she did not?
(e.g., inaccurate reporting, misinformed readers)
Ensuring website technology is running smoothly
• ASK: Why do you think The Daily Byte would lose money if its website
wasn’t working for a day or two? (e.g., might permanently lose readers,
advertisers would be angry because they’d lose revenue)
Writing articles and editorials
• SAY: The Editor-in-Chief of an online magazine only has time to write the
most important content.
• ASK: Which of the following would the Editor-in-Chief be most likely to
write? Why? 1. Message to readers that the magazine will begin charging
them to access certain content; 2. Article on how to plant window box
flowers; 3. Review of a hot new movie (#1, because, e.g., readers would
want to hear directly from the Editor-in-Chief on why they’re being asked
to spend money.)
Editing website content
• SAY: Your job as an editor is to help your writers shine. You want to make
sure their main ideas and opinions are clear and well-supported, and that
they chose only details that strengthen their main points.
• Read aloud this quote from the writer’s handbook, Elements of Style by
Strunk and White, then discuss its meaning with the class:
“Vigorous writing is concise.
A sentence should contain no unnecessary words,
a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.”
AFTER THE STORM • Pre-Game Mini Lessons #1
What Do Your Students
Know about Hurricanes?
MINI-LESSON
Materials
• Overhead projector or SMART Board®
• As many of the following magazine or Internet photos as possible:
tornado funnel, diagram of hurricane being formed, hurricane
surge, graphic showing how a tornado forms, property damage caused
by a blizzard, property damage caused by a hurricane
Prepare (5 minutes)
• Before students play After the Storm, write the word hurricane on
the board.
• Choose volunteers to contribute one fact about hurricanes they know.
Write students’ facts on the board. Tell them that at the end of the
lesson you’ll all check the list again.
Read Aloud (2-3 minutes)
• Let students know you’re going to read them a passage about hurricanes.
They should jot down any words they don’t know, science ideas they
don’t understand, or questions that occur to them as you’re reading. Read
aloud the following:
One hurricane you’ve probably heard about is Hurricane Sandy, which first
hit land near Kingston, Jamaica and traveled as far north as Canada.
Like all hurricanes, Sandy began over the ocean and developed as a
result of five atmospheric conditions being present: 1) Warm ocean waters
—over 80 degrees; 2) Winds coming together and forcing air upward;
3) Rising humid air making storm clouds; 4) Higher up, winds flowing
outward so air below can rise; 5) Light winds blowing outside the storm to
steer it and let it gain power. These five conditions were all in play with
Sandy, but what was unusual was its perpendicular angle as it approached
New Jersey. This angle caused its winds to go up the coast and inland
at the same time.
In After the Storm, you’ll find out the damage a hurricane as
powerful as Sandy can do—destroying buildings and knocking out services
people depend on.
AFTER THE STORM • Pre-Game Mini Lessons #2
Damage caused by a hurricane
Discuss & Reteach (5-10 minutes)
• Discuss any questions students wrote down.
• To reteach, you might read the passage again, pausing to explain difficult
concepts and vocabulary. Alternatively, you might want to draw on the
board a diagram of a hurricane forming and discuss the five conditions
with the class.
Apply (5-10 minutes)
• Play a brief game with students based on the photos you brought in.
Using a SMART Board® or overhead projector, display each picture
for 2-3 seconds and call out its number (1, 2, etc.). Have students write
down the number of each picture related to a hurricane.
• When you’re finished displaying the pictures, call on volunteers to share
the numbers they wrote before you identify the correct ones.
• Project the correct pictures (diagram of a hurricane being formed;
property damage caused by a hurricane; hurricane surge), and have
volunteers explain how each picture relates to hurricanes.
Review (5 minutes)
• Return to the list on the board. With the class, delete or edit any
questionable facts. Then work with the class to add new hurricane facts
that students learned today.
AFTER THE STORM • Pre-Game Mini Lessons #2