It was about a year ago when I began dreaming of a class newscast. You know the teacher life though; dream big and you'll get to it someday. Well it finally happened! With the help of my first graders, we planned and carried out our first newscast a month or so ago. It has been such a hit that I think you should give it a try too! And it's easy! Watch this if you aren't quite sure yet.
Here's the run down:
- In the first newscast I choose 3 students who would make great guinea pigs! In following weeks, I require a job application to be completed before they can serve on the News Crew.
- On Monday or Tuesday we have a News Crew meeting (3 students and the teacher). In this meeting we discuss:
- Expectations of the News Crew
- Who will serve as two anchors and one recorder
- News Crew Report: they start working together to find current news that should be included in the newscast for the week.
- On Wednesday or Thursday they work together to turn their News Crew Report notes into a script. They do the talking, I do the typing. I'm certain to send home the script at least one day in advance so families of the anchors have a chance to practice. I also remind them to not wear green on Friday (that could cause a major green screen issue)!
- On Friday we record! The News Crew is responsible for setting up the equipment in the hallway (small table, green screen, iPad, 2-4 chairs, etc.). I am also their to guide and help them when needed.
- After the recording is finished and they approve of their work, I begin producing the segment with DoInk (an easy to use green screen app).
- I use PowerPoint to create the images (save as JPEG) I want in the background - including the corner images that change throughout the newscast.
- With DoInk, I am able to overlap the recording and the images.
- Press SAVE and SHARE on Seesaw! We also put it out in our weekly school news bulletin.
You can find all of the documents here.
