Grade focus: 9-12
Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame
Collect science stories over a period of
time. Mount them on paper or a display
board. Evaluate at least 10 articles. Use
multiple sources. Determine the ratio
of “good” news to “bad” news being
reported. These sources may be print or
electronic news stories or features. Did you
find more good or bad stories? Develop
a comprehensive graph of your findings.
Present this to your class.
Good news
Bad news
Hall of Fame/Hall of Shame
Indiana High School
Academic Standards:
English Grade 9
9.2.8: Make reasonable statements and draw
conclusions about a text, supporting them with
accurate examples.
9.7.4: Use props, visual aids, graphs, and electronic
media to enhance the appeal and accuracy of
presentations.
9.7.7: Make judgments about the ideas under
discussion and support those judgments with
convincing evidence.
9.7.15: Deliver expository (informational) presentations
that:
• Provide evidence in support of a thesis and
related claims, including information on all relevant
perspectives.
• Convey information and ideas from primary and
secondary sources accurately and coherently.
• Make distinctions between the relative value and
significance of specific data, facts, and ideas.
• Include visual aids by employing appropriate
technology to organize and display information on
charts, maps, and graphs.
• Anticipate and address the listeners’ potential
misunderstandings, biases, and expectations.
• Use technical terms and notations accurately.
English Grade 10
10.1.2: Distinguish between what words mean literally
and what they imply, and interpret what words imply.
10.2.5: Make reasonable statements and draw
conclusions about a text, supporting them with
accurate examples.
10.5.8: Write for different purposes and audiences,
adjusting tone, style, and voice as appropriate.
10.7.8: Compare and contrast the ways in which media
genres (including televised news, news magazines,
documentaries, and online information) cover the same
event.
10.7.19: Deliver descriptive presentations that:
English Grade 12
12.2.5: Analyze an author’s implicit and explicit
assumptions and beliefs about a subject.
12.3.2: Evaluate the way in which the theme or
meaning of a selection represents a view or comment
on life, using textual evidence to support the claim.
• Establish a clear point of view on the subject of the
presentation.
12.4.4: Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained
and persuasive way and support them with precise and
relevant examples.
• Establish the relationship with the subject of the
presentation (whether the presentation is made as an
uninvolved observer or by someone who is ersonally
involved).
12.4.8: Use systematic strategies to organize and
record information, such as anecdotal scripting or
creating annotated bibliographies.
• Contain effective, factual descriptions of appearance,
concrete images, shifting perspectives, and sensory
details.
English Grade 11
11.2.3: Verify and clarify facts presented in several
types of expository texts by using a variety of
consumer, workplace, and public documents.
11.4.4: Structure ideas and arguments in a sustained
and persuasive way and support them with precise and
relevant examples.
11.4.7: Develop presentations using clear research
questions and creative and critical research strategies,
such as conducting field studies, interviews, and
experiments; researching oral histories; and using
Internet sources.
12.4.10: Accumulate, review, and evaluate written work
to determine its strengths and weaknesses and to set
goals as a writer.
12.5.6: Use varied and extended vocabulary,
appropriate for specific forms and topics.
Journalism
JRN.3.2: Analyze and evaluate news stories, feature
stories and columns (human interest, profile/
personality, sports, in-depth, special occasion, humor,
sidebars), op ed pages, commentaries, and editorials
in local, national, international newspapers and
magazines as well as online news sources (electronic
copy, blogs, convergence) for:
• Cccuracy,
• Balance,
11.4.10: Review, evaluate, and revise writing for
meaning, clarity, achievement of purpose, and
mechanics.
• Fairness,
11.6.1: Demonstrate control of grammar, diction,
paragraph and sentence structure, and an
understanding of English usage.
JRN.3.5: Compare and contrast coverage of the same
news stories in a variety of newspapers or non-print
media.
• Proper attribution, and
• Truthfulness or credibility.
Activity Adaptations
Grades K-2
Grades 3-5
Look through the comics in your newspaper over
several days. Find some showing good behavior and
others showing inappropriate or “bad” behavior. Put
these in a booklet. Write what is good or bad about
them on the bottom of the pages. Have at least three
examples of each. When you search the comics,
keep a journal of how many of each you find. Tell the
class what you believe this means. How could bad
behaviors be changed to good?
Read your newspaper Sports section for a week or
more. Collect stories about positive things happening
in sports. Also look for stories reporting negative
things. Do any of these articles report on health or
physical conditions of the athletes? Divide a piece of
paper into two sections. Write down positive things on
one side and negative on the other. Create a Hall of
Fame and a Hall of Shame on a piece of cardboard.
Place the articles in the appropriate sections and
present to the class.
Grades 6-8
Look through the classified ads in your newspaper.
Find job openings you believe you might like when
you’re older. Find other examples of occupations you
would NOT like. Place the examples on a display
board labeled positive and negative. You may have to
research in magazines, online newspapers and the
Internet to get a good variety of occupations to choose
from. When you find the occupation you like most right
now, find out what education you need and where
you would perform your duties. (Example: doctor in a
hospital, tool & die maker in a factory, etc.) Keep good
notes. Place this information in a graph.