Monday, October 24, 2011

Fourth Grade Newspaper

Last month I had  an idea of putting together a fourth grade newspaper.  I asked my teacher and she thought it was a good idea. I was going to be the editor and students in my class would participate. At the end, the newspaper would be handed out to the entire forth grade class.

As editor of the newspaper, I had many different tasks that I had to do. First, I had to come up with a title.  The title of my newspaper is Krauss' Korner because that is the name of my teacher.  I came up with a couple of different names and the class voted which one they liked best.  It is important for the editor to include the whole class in decisions and not be bossy.

Next, I had to come up with sections that are going in the newspaper. Sections that were in our newspaper were:   4th Grade News, Sports Section, Book Review, Games Section, Fun Facts and Story Section. We also needed a photographer to take photos and an artist to draw illustrations. The students that wanted to participate picked what they wanted to do and had to email their article by the deadline that I set.  The goal was to have a newspaper ready before Halloween.  If they didn't send in the article on time, it was not included. If the article didn't make sense, then I would send it back and ask them to make some changes to make it better. Some of the students made the necessary changes and then their article was included in the newspaper. In addition to being an editor, I also contributed an article about the 4th grade teachers and made a Halloween cross word puzzle. The cross word puzzle was a section that someone else was supposed to do, but did not complete. As an editor, I was responsible to make sure that all sections were completed even if that meant that I have to do it myself.

Once I received the article by email,  I would copy it into Microsoft Word,  read through it and edit it for spelling and grammar mistakes. I also created a border around each article to make it looked nice, and made sure that all the articles had the same font and font size.   My mom taught me how to insert clip art pictures from Microsoft Word to make the articles look more interesting. I first drew a text box in the location where the clip art needed to go and then I added artwork that fit with the article.  There were two students in our class that are great artists and they created some beautiful illustrations of  ghosts, skeletons, and pumpkins for the newspaper.  I had to scan the illustrations and insert them into the newspaper.  We also had one student that took photographs of school activities. I had to choose the best photos and place them in the correct places. It was also very important to give credit to the person that was responsible for either writing the article, drawing or taking the photos. The newspaper could not have been completed without everyone's hard work and participation.

At the end, my Mom and I proofed everything. I showed it to my teacher and she made the final corrections.  Then I printed one copy from my home computer. My teacher took my copy, photocopied it on orange paper and I gave it out to all the fourth grade students. The newspaper had 9 pages. Here are photos of some of the pages.




Cover Page
4th Grade News Section


















Fun Facts Section
Book Review Section
















Games section







































What do you think of our newspaper? What sections do you recommend we do next time? Is there anything we should do differently next time?

    22 comments:

    1. Dear Miriam,

      Well done of coming up with this concept of putting a fourth grade newspaper together.

      From reading all the different elements you and your other fellow students have done an outstanding job.
      I, just love the whole edition of your newspaper it is just awesome.

      I remember way back in high school we just did a year book and I found it to be a bit of a challange.But not you Miriam you really are just amazing. :)

      Super work and keep it up!

      From your friend down under,
      AA.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Wow! I teach 4th grade, and I am going to show this to my students. I bet they would LOVE to do something like this!

      I think it's awesome that you stuck with it and did the extra work to put it all together. Sounds like you have a great mom helping out, too! :)

      Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing your ideas!

      ReplyDelete
    3. @ Miriam,

      I should have proof read my comment.

      Sorry what I was wanted to say is that "But Miriam you really are so amazing."

      I, also agree with Patti Grayson you have got a wonderful mum she really is just wonderful. She is a real role model.

      AA.

      AA.

      ReplyDelete
    4. Hello Miriam,

      This is an inspirational post.I have run a school newspaper and have organised Grade 5 students to take on assorted roles but I never had a student set up one of their own.

      Your post shows what can be achieved by someone who has an idea and works to make it happen. Well done.

      Ross Mannell (teacher)
      NSW, Australia

      ReplyDelete
    5. Dear Miriam,

      I am exceeding proud of your resourcefulness and leadership! Wow!

      I was so glad that you brought us a copy to read. Because we only had one copy, we took the staple out and now four people can read the paper at one time! Are we clever or what?

      About how many hours do you think it took you to get it to print?

      Which is easier, having a blog or printing a newspaper?

      The art work you included was an excellent touch! Thanks for bringing Nic with you when you dropped off the copy!

      Well done, Miriam!

      Your proud former teacher,
      Mrs. Y♥llis

      ReplyDelete
    6. @AA,

      Thank you for vising my blog and leaving me a comment. You are always the first to leave me a comment and it is so nice to know that someone follows my blog. Thank you.

      At our school we have a year book too. We have a photographer that takes photos at recess and lunch, and puts the yearbook together. My older cousin is in 12th grade and is putting a yearbook together for his school and he says it is a lot of fun.


      Your blogging buddy,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    7. @Mrs. Grayson,

      Thank you for your comment. I think your fourth graders will have a great time making a newspaper. My mom is a writer and is excellent in Microsoft Word and taught me a lot of new things I can do in it.

      I hope you visit again. Our next edition of the newspaper will be on Thanksgiving.

      From,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    8. @Mr. Mannel,

      Thank you for your lovely comment. Making a newspaper is a lot of fun and I learned so much about the whole process. What roles did your fifth graders have? Maybe you can have a student run a newspaper next time?

      From,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    9. @Mrs. Yollis

      Thank you for your complimentary comment. I think it is a very clever idea to have four students read one page of the newspaper at a time.

      The whole process took 2-3 weeks. Once I got the articles, I spent the entire weekend putting everything together into one newspaper. I think having a blog is easier because you only have to do one post at a time. With a newspaper, there needs to be a lot of articles and a lot of students involved. I think the second edition will be easier because I will be more familiar with Microsoft Word. While I was putting the newspaper, I didn't have very much time to blog.

      We are lucky to have a lot of great artists in our class. Nic and Tara did a great job on their illustrations.

      From your former student,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    10. Dear Miriam,
      Congratulations with your new project, hopefully you will continue and publish more school newspapers.
      We are very proud of you. You have such a wonderful skills as writing, organizing other students, make a deadline and complete your work on time.
      When I was in school( long time ego) we also had a newspaper, but we did not have computers and everything has to be handwritten.
      All the students did a great job and hopefully will participate in the future.
      Love you,
      Grandma Tanya and Grandpa Eugene

      ReplyDelete
    11. Miriam!

      I love your newspaper! Can you send me a copy, it doesn't have to be on orange paper. You already have great sections. After seeing them, it's hard to think of what you can add. Maybe you could do a "Dear Abbey" section, do you know what that is?

      Just from reading your post, it's clear how much more sophisticated your writing has become, you are really impressive. Love you so much,

      Elana

      ReplyDelete
    12. Dear Miriam,

      Hi! I'm a student in Williamsburg, Ohio. I'm also a sixth grader.

      This was an absolute amazing idea. You seem to be very creative, and very supportive and considerate, because of choosing articles, fun facts, pictures and things.

      What did you learn about this experiance? I learned that even when you have a hard job, you have to pull through and not let anyone down!

      Please tell your friends that you all did such an amazing job on the newspaper.

      Hopefully we can be friends!

      Sincerely,
      Taigan

      ReplyDelete
    13. Hi Miriam,

      I am so impressed with the work you have done with your class. It takes a lot of courage to work on something new, not knowing if it would be successful. I thought your classmates had work well together with you and this will definitely create a better bond among yourselves.

      Your mum must be the motivating factor behind all this. Isn't it wonderful to know that there's somebody there for you, supporting you? (Give your mum a kiss and thank her for being there for you.)

      I like your post documenting all the steps involved in making the newspaper. Others will be able to learn so much from you. (I'm going to show this to my class.)

      Thanks for sharing this with us. You are so amazing!

      Sophia :)

      ReplyDelete
    14. Dear Miriam,

      Congratulations on putting together a great newspaper. It is very informative and well organized. Another job well done!!!
      I think it’s a really good idea to dedicate a section of the paper to an upcoming holiday. Perhaps you can add the current events in the nation and world (just a suggestion).

      Best,
      Great-aunt Olga

      ReplyDelete
    15. Dear Sophia,

      Thank you for your complimentary comment. I am so glad that you are my mentor for the student blogging challenge.

      It is wonderful to know that my mom is always there when I need her. I just gave her a kiss just like you told me to. I am sure that your class will like my newspaper and maybe one of your students will want to make their own class newspaper. What grade do you teach?

      Your blogging buddy,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    16. Dear Grandma Tanya,

      Thank you for your lovely comment. It was probably very hard to make the newspaper by hand. Do you remember what was your job in the newspaper?

      From,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    17. Dear Taigan,

      Thank you for your complimentary comment. I learned to never give up and to patiently wait to receive articles from fellow classmates. Do you think you might want to make a sixth grade newspaper? Hope you visit again!

      Your new blogging buddy,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    18. Dear Aunt Olga,

      Thank you for leaving me a lovely comment. I was thinking about adding a current event section but by the time the newspaper will be given out, the news won't be current anymore. I hope you visit again.

      From,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    19. Dear Elana,

      Thank you for your lovely comment. I don't know what a Dear Abby section is but maybe when you come over you can explain it. I will give you a copy of the newspaper when you come.

      Hope you visit again!

      From,
      ♥Miriam♥

      ReplyDelete
    20. Hi again,

      I teach Primary 4 in Singapore. That's equivalent to fourth grade over at your side.

      It's almost the end of our school term this year and no one is in the mood to do anything except have fun. We will work on something small scale this time.

      Thanks again for sharing.

      Sophia

      ReplyDelete
    21. Dear Sopia,

      Singapore must be a great place to be. Where are you from originally? How long have you been in Singapore?

      I forgot that since we have different time zones we have different seasons too and you are almost done with the school year. What will you be doing during your break?

      From,
      Miriam

      ReplyDelete

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