News Reporting

News Reporting is a drama technique whereby one or more performers speak about events that have occurred in a text. It is a very accessible and familiar drama form for young students. News reporting enables students to explore both sides of an issue and focus on the different points of view contained in any event. Teachers can also expand on this strategy for junior grades and use it to explore how events can be biased or distorted by the media. News reporting is a great strategy for students to not only improve on their communication skills, but simultaneously allows them to practice creativity. 

There are many ways teachers can use news reporting both in primary and junior grades. For example, in the primary classroom, a teacher might read a storybook to the class as a read-aloud and then have students news report on different events throughout the book in small groups. Different students will be playing different roles and this can really help students in understanding point of view and the perspectives or thoughts/feelings of various characters in different situations. This strategy can easily be incorporated into various academic subjects such as history, social studies, science, language arts, and media literacy. For example, in a junior classroom, teachers may be studying current events with students and have students select one of interest to them, either individually or in groups. Students will then present the information they found on this topic and act it out as an actual news report airing on TV and discuss various characters involved in the event and their point of view. This can also be adapted to social studies and history where students study historical events and present them as a news report. Furthermore, students can use this in language arts by studying fictional characters and events in stories and in science by discussing new discoveries or information about earth, for example. If students do not feel comfortable presenting to the class as themselves, they could also use puppets and hide behind a table covered with blankets or have permission to have their script with them on stage.

News reporting is an excellent strategy to use across subjects as it is engaging for students and promotes knowledge and deeper understandings of the topics being studied. Additionally, news reporting allows students to think critically, be creative, and can even allow them to be humorous and have fun throughout the entire process.