Top tips for teaching the news
At Picture News, we really value the learning that can be gained from the news. We think that the lessons children can learn from real-life situations is incredibly powerful but we also believe it’s important that children learn more about the news; from analysing the credibility of sources to how to write it and present it. We believe it will lead to a better understanding of what it is that’s being said and the message it’s conveying – considering content with a critical eye.
Credit: Kelly B
We’ve come up with our top 3 tips to help you teach the news in school:
- Use images! You may have noticed how much we value images, but it’s worth saying again. Images can be an incredibly powerful tool to portray non verbal messages – as the saying goes… ‘a picture tells a thousand words’! Using images can also help to engage reluctant readers and very young children. Make sure the children use and find images to support any articles they produce.
- It may seem obvious – but encourage children to ask themselves; ‘is this interesting for others?’ It’s easy to pick a topic or news story that’s of interest to you but as a wide range of people are likely to be reading your news article. Is there something happening that will capture their attention? Will it engage people who may otherwise not be interested in the topic?
- CHECK all the details and facts. These days, it’s very easy to research information and find what appear to be facts online. It’s very easy to just assume they are correct and include them. There’s so much misinformation around, it’s a very valuable lesson in itself to encourage children to question everything they read. Particularly in modern day society, with the viral nature of content being shared on social media and reports of ‘fake news’ surrounding us.