Currents in Literacy

Read All About It! Thompson Fifth Graders Start Student Newspaper

By Linda Hanson

Seven Thompson fifth graders teamed up in the fall of 1999 to start a student-run newspaper which they have named The Union Street Journal: The Kids' Voice. Five editions of the Journal will be produced over the course of the year. These young journalists cover topics ranging from current book and movie reviews to "Weird Science," "This Month In History," sports, "Look It Up" brain teasers, poetry, interviews, and more.

Student Initiative

Following a conversation between a fourth grader and Thompson principal Mike McCabe in the spring of 1999, several students expressed an interest in writing and producing their own newspaper. As a result, parent volunteers, The Hood Children's Literacy Project at Lesley University, and School-Linked Services at the Thompson School were tapped to provide support for the project. As a Hood Literacy Project staffer, I was asked to organize the newspaper. Several other adults soon agreed to help. The adult advisors who became involved wanted to help this group of budding young journalists get off the ground, but it was decided early on that the students would make all of the major decisions related to the running of the newspaper. It would be their project.

How It Works

At semimonthly meetings in the Thompson library, students choose topics, share draft versions of articles they have written, and decide on the layout for the next edition. As the students read and comment on each other's drafts, many interesting and important discussions crop up pertaining to issues real writers face every day, such as audience ("Would that review make sense to students who hadn't seen the movie?"), word choice ("Was Harry Potter's father a wizard or a warlock?"), and focus ("If you are interviewing someone about Y2K, why do you ask them a question about new technology in the next century?"). These discussions are very productive and lead to improved pieces.

The staff takes the job of reviewing the copy very seriously. Some terrific conversations and learning experiences occur during these exchanges. Here is one recent example. Martin, a self-proclaimed "history nut," writes a column entitled "Top Events in History for the Month of February" (or whatever month it happens to be). While reviewing his column, several students picked up on an item he had included for February 14, 1929 which stated: The "St. Valentine's Day Massacre" occurred! The students wanted to know what the massacre was. Martin admitted that he was a little sketchy on the details, but he thought it had something to do with gangsters in Chicago killing people. He also thought Al Capone might have had something to do with it. Who died? the students wanted to know. Were they civilians or gangsters? A parent volunteer, who at one time lived around the corner from the site of this notorious event, agreed that Martin's facts needed some beefing up, and sent the students off to do a little research.

In a flash, four students had different volumes of the encyclopedia in their hands. One student was trying "S" for Saint Valentine, another had "V" for Valentine, two others shared the "C" volume trying Capone and Chicago. The race was on to see who could come up with the correct information first. Capone and Chicago won. Students read of how Al Capone's gang was accused, but never convicted, of shooting four gangsters from the Bugs Moran gang. Armed with this information, the staff "history buff" added details to his column that would help everyone better understand the events that transpired on that day. This is the final result, "February 14, 1929: Al Capone's gang was accused of shooting members of Bugs Moran's gang in Chicago. This was known as the 'St. Valentine's Day Massacre.'"

It's obvious that these writers really care about the content and quality of their work. The forum of the newspaper club, and the goal of publishing something that will make sense and inform the readers, motivates these students to revise and clarify the content of their articles.

Production

The Union Street Journal has a rotating editorial staff. Two students work with an adult volunteer to do the final editing and technical production (computer formatting) for each issue. Ann Putney is the parent volunteer who took on this task. In a written interview, Ann explains how she organizes this aspect of the newspaper.

"I looked for a way in which the students could do the layout, position the articles and artwork as well as calling out typefaces themselves. The Macintosh computer in the school library provided such an opportunity in a program called 'Writer's Workshop.' This became key to the way The Union Street Journal is published. Since I have a copy of the program at home, I knew I could type the children's articles onto my home computer, then transfer them to the library on a floppy disk. I followed this system for the first two editions. It worked, but was a bit cumbersome."

"Sometime during the production of the third edition it occurred to me to try a novel approach. I had one student try copying his submission into the body of an e-mail message and sending the article to me electronically. I then attempted to directly import the article into a 'Writer's Workshop' document. It worked perfectly! Receiving the articles in the text of an e-mail message, rather than getting them as attachments, minimized the translation difficulties between software programs and operating systems that different students were using at home. This approach turned out to be a real time saver. Once I've imported all of the articles into the 'Writer's Workshop' document at home, I take it to school for the students to edit."

"At the editorial meetings, I meet with the two designated editors for that issue. This is a lively, extended exercise in which headlines are written, fonts chosen, and the layout accomplished. Then I take the finished layout back home where I print it out on a high resolution printer in order to give the master copy better resolution. This is a very involved project for a volunteer, but now that we have established a routine, the whole process flows more smoothly."

"This has been a rewarding experience for me as a parent and a volunteer. The enthusiasm of the seven children involved has continued since the beginning of the year. The students have learned a lot about compromise, and they consistently put forth top quality work in an extracurricular setting."

Student Feedback

Students were also asked to respond in writing about their reasons for participating in the newspaper club. Many of the responses included a reference to the fact that they joined the club because they like to write. Emily's response typified this sentiment, "I come [to the Thompson Newspaper Club] because it's spending time with my friends, we have fun, and I like writing." It was interesting to note that most of the students mentioned the pleasure they get out of helping their fellow staff members revise and edit their work. Maxim noted, "I just love writing and I love correcting people, and there are mistakes in this club!" When asked if they felt that the experience of working on the paper has helped them with their writing, the response was mixed. For those that answered in the affirmative, the following reasons were given: Emily: "Yes, because it made me have more enthusiasm with writing," George: "Yes! Because now I usually write random and funny stories." And Maxim: "Yes, because you need to write good articles."

Finally, The Union Street Journal, staff was asked if they had any advice for other students who might want to start a newspaper club at their school. They advised: plan carefully, start with a small group, and get people to write about different ideas. Other advice included "Having good article titles like Y2K, or Why 2K (Maxim)." Finally, Andrew responded this way, "Call the Hood Literacy Project to get it started. Then tell everyone in your grade!"

A Final Word

The seven students involved in the creation and production of The Union Street Journal: The Kid's Voice, have come a long way since they first thought starting a student newspaper sounded like "a fun idea." They have experienced first-hand the rigors of deadlines, group process, and subjecting their own writing to a peer review. They have participated admirably in the discussions that lead to more clarity, richer language, and cleaner prose. They have challenged themselves to try out new forms of writing such as interviews, biographies, poetry, and book or movie reviews. When editors are needed, volunteers have always stepped forward. The Journal staff also takes responsibility for folding and counting out classroom sets of the journal (xeroxed in-house on 11" x 17" paper) for the third, fourth, and fifth grade students at the Thompson School who receive the paper. The seven students who call themselves reporters for The Union Street Journal, have learned what it takes to produce a first-rate student newspaper, but they have also learned what it takes to work together as a team.

The students' enthusiasm for the project has even infected their parents. Although we lost one parent volunteer to a time conflict, we gained two more! In fact, one parent and son team designed and produced a Union Street Journal t-shirt that each staff member now wears with pride. The official t-shirt is also the prize that is awarded to students who win the various contests that appear in each issue.

All of these fifth graders will be moving on to the Middle School next year, but they will carry with them the skills they have gained through their participation in the newspaper program. Who knows, someday we may read their byline in the school newspaper's namesake -- The Wall Street Journal.

Linda Hanson is a Consulting Teacher of Reading currently working with the Hood Children's Literacy Project at the Thompson School. She is also a parent of a second grade student at the Thompson School.